L. M.

154.

TATE & BRADY.

Judah in Bondage, or Remembrance of Captivity. Psalm 137.

1 WHEN We, our weary limbs to rest,

Sat down by proud Euphrates' stream, We wept, with doleful thoughts oppressed; And Zion was our mournful theme.

2 Our harps, that, when with joy we sung, Were wont their tuneful parts to bear, With silent strings neglected hung

On willow-trees, that withered there.

3 Meanwhile our foes, who all conspired To triumph in our slavish wrongs, Music and mirth of us required,

"Come, sing us one of Zion's songs."

4 How shall we tune our voice to sing,
Or touch our harps with skilful hands?
Shall hymns of joy to God, our King,
Be sung by slaves in foreign lands?

5 O Salem, our once happy seat!

When I of thee forgetful prove,
Let then my trembling hand forget
The speaking strings with art to move!

6 If I to mention thee forbear,

Eternal silence seize my tongue;

Or if I sing one cheerful air,

Till thy deliverance is my song.

L. M.

155.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

Imploring the constant Presence of God.

1 WHEN Israel, of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her fathers' God before her moved,

An awful guide, in smoke and flame.

2 By day, along the astonished lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands
Returned the fiery column's glow..

3 Then rose the choral hymn of praise,
And trump and timbrel answered keen;
And Zion's daughters poured their lays,
With priests' and warriors' voice between.

4 No portents now our foes amaze;
Forsaken Israel wanders lone;

Our fathers would not know thy ways,
And thou hast left them to their own.

5 But present still, though now unseen,
When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray!

6 And, O, when stoops on Judah's path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light.

CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY.

C. M.

156.

MILTON.

The Kingdom of God on Earth. Psalms 85, 86.

1 THE Lord will come and not be slow;
His footsteps cannot err;
Before him righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger.

2 Mercy and Truth, that long were missed,
Now joyfully are met;

Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kissed,
And hand in hand are set.

3 The nations all whom thou hast made
Shall come, and all shall frame
To bow them low before thee, Lord,
And glorify thy name.

4 Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
Shall bud and blossom then,

And Justice, from her heavenly bower,
Look down on mortal men.

5 Teach me, O Lord, thy way most right,
I in thy truth will bide;

To fear thy name my heart unite,
So shall it never slide.

6 Thee will I praise, O Lord, my God!
Thee honor and adore

With my whole heart, and blaze abroad
Thy name for evermore.

7 For great thou art, and wonders great By thy strong hand are done; Thou, in thy everlasting seat, Remainest God alone.

C. M.

157.

WESLEY.

"A light to lighten the Gentiles."

1 THE race that long in darkness pined
Have seen a glorious light;

The people dwell in day, who dwelt
In death's surrounding night.

2 To hail thy rise, thou better Sun,
The gathering nations come,
With joy, as when the reapers bear
The harvest treasures home.

3 To us a child of hope is born,
To us a son is given;

And him shall all the earth obey,
And all the hosts of heaven.

4 His name shall be the Prince of Peace, Whose rule shall stretch abroad,

The Wonderful, the Counsellor,
The great and mighty Lord.

5 His power, increasing, still shall spread; His reign no end shall know;

His throne shall justice guard above,
And peace abound below.

C. M.

158.

SPIRIT OF THE
PSALMS.

The guiding Star.

1 BRIGHT was the guiding star, that led,
With mild, benignant ray,
The Gentiles to the lowly bed
Where our Redeemer lay.

2 But, lo! a brighter, clearer light
Now points to his abode;

It shines through sin and sorrow's night,
To guide us to our Lord.

3 O, haste to follow where it leads;
The gracious call obey,

Be rugged wilds, or flowery meads,
The Christian's destined way.

4 O, gladly tread the narrow path,
While light and grace are given ;
Who meekly follow Christ on earth
Shall reign with him in heaven.

11 s. M.

159.

DRUMMOND.

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

1 A VOICE from the desert comes awful and shrill : "The Lord is advancing! prepare ye the way! The word of Jehovah he comes to fulfil,

And o'er the dark world pour the splendor of day.

2 "Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven,

And be the low valley exalted on high;