REST. L. M. 777 I ASLEEP in Jesus! blesséd sleep Whose waking is supremely blest! 4 Asleep in Jesus! oh, for me May such a blissful refuge be: And wait the summons from on high. 5 Asleep in Jesus! far from thee 3 A holy quiet reigns around, 4 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Farewell, inconstant world, farewell! 5 Life's labor done, as sinks the clay, Light from its load the spirit flies, I WHY should we start and fear to die! Thy kindred and their graves may be: 2 The pains, the groans, the dying strife, But there is still a blessed sleep From which none ever wakes to weep. 778 I How blest the righteous when he dies, 2 So fades a summer cloud away; Fright our approaching souls away; Fond of our prison and our clay. 3 Oh, if my Lord would come and meet, Fly fearless through death's iron gate, 4 Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are, MERTON. C. M. 780 I DEATH may dissolve my body now, And bear my spirit home; Why do my minutes move so slow, Nor my salvation come? 781 I YE golden lamps of heaven, farewell, With all your feeble light; Farewell, thou ever-changing moon, Pale empress of the night. 2 With heavenly weapons I have fought 2 And thou, refulgent orb of day, The battles of the Lord, Finished my course, and kept the faith, And wait the sure reward. 3 God hath laid up in heaven for me 4 Nor hath the King of grace decreed 5 Jesus, the Lord, shall guard me safe 6 God is my everlasting aid, And hell shall rage in vain ; To Him be highest glory paid, And endless praise. Amen. In brightest flames arrayed, My soul, that springs beyond thy sphere, No more demands thine aid. 3 Ye stars are but the shining dust The pavement of those heavenly courts, 4 The Father of eternal light Shall there His beams display; 5 No more the drops of piercing grief 6 There all the millions of His saints Shall in one song unite, And each the bliss of all shall view CHINA. C. M. Original Form. 782 I WHY do we mourn departing friends, 2 Are we not tending upward, too, As fast as time can move? Nor should we wish the hours more slow, To keep us from our Love. 3 Why should we tremble to convey Their bodies to the tomb? There the dear flesh of Jesus lay, And left a long perfume. 2 There shall my disimprisoned soul 3 Soon, too,my slumbering dust shall hear The trumpet's quickening sound, And, by my Saviour's power rebuilt, At His right hand be found. 4 Oh, may the unction of these truths Till from her sinful cage dismissed, 784 4 The graves of all the saints He blessed, I HEAR what the voice from heaven pro And softened every bed; Where should the dying members rest But with their dying Head? 5 Thence He arose, ascending high, For all the pious dead; [claims Sweet is the savor of their names, And soft their sleeping bed. 2 They die in Jesus, and are blessed; How kind their slumbers are! From sufferings and from sin released; And freed from every snare. 6 Then let the last loud trumpet sound, 3 Far from this world of toil and strife, I THOU art gone to the grave: but we will not deplore thee, 2 Thou art gone to the grave: we no longer behold thee, 3 Thou art gone to the grave: and, its mansion forsaking, Perhaps thy weak spirit in fear lingered long ; But the mild rays of Paradise beamed on thy waking, And the sound which thou heard'st was the seraphim's song. 4 Thou art gone to the grave: but we will not deplore thee, |