Ye angels, the full hallelujah be singing; One chorus resound through the earth and the skies:
Chorus. Shout the glad tidings, exultingly sing; Jerusalem triumphs, Messiah is King!
THE race that long in darkness pined,
Have seen a glorious light;
The people now behold the dawn,
Who dwelt in death and night.
2 To hail thy rising, Sun of life,
The gathering nations come;
Joyous as when the reapers bear
Their harvest treasures home.
3 For thou our burden hast removed;
Th' oppressor's reign is broke ;
Thy fiery conflict with the foe
Has burst his cruel yoke.
4 To us the promised Child is born;
To us the Son is given;
Him shall the tribes of earth obey,
And all the hosts of heaven.
5 His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
For evermore adored;
The Wonderful, the Counsellor,
The mighty God, and Lord.
6 His power increasing still shall spread,
His reign no end shall know;
Justice shall guard his throne abɔve,
And peace abound below.
IME hastens on; ye longing saints,
Now raise your voices high;
And magnify that sovereign love
Which shows salvation nigh.
2 As time departs salvation comes,
Each moment brings it near:
Then welcome each declining day,
Welcome each closing year.
3 Not many years their course shall run,
Not many mornings rise,
Ere all its glories stand reveal'd
To our transported eyes.
SEE, in the vineyard of the Lord,
A barren fig-tree stands;
No fruit it yields, no blossom bears,
Though planted by His hands.
2 From year to year the tree He views,
And still no fruit is found;
Then "Cut it down," the Lord commands,
Why cumbers it the ground?"
3 But lo! the gracious Saviour pleads; "The barren fig-tree spare, Another year in mercy wait,
It yet may bloom and bear:
4" But if my culture prove in vain,
And still no fruit be found,
I plead no more; destroy the tree,
And root it from thy ground."
THE God of life, whose constant care
With blessings crowns each opening year,
My scanty span doth still prolong,
And wakes anew mine annual song.
2 How many precious souls are fled
To the vast regions of the dead,
Since to this day the changing sun
Through his last yearly period run!
3 We yet survive; but who can say,
"Or through this year, or month, or day,
I shall retain this vital breath,
Thus far, at least, in league with death?"
4 That breath is thine, eternal God;
'Tis thine to fix my soul's abode;
It holds its life from thee alone,
On earth, or in the world unknown.
5 To thee our spirits we resign,
Make them and own them still as thine; So shall they live secure from fear, Though death should blast the rising year. 6 Thy children, panting to be gone, May bid the tide of time roll on, To land them on that happy shore, Where years and death are known no more. 7 No more fatigue, no more distress, Nor sin, nor hell, shall reach that place: No groans, to mingle with the songs Resounding from immortal tongues: 8 No more alarms from ghostly foes; No cares to break the long repose; No midnight shade, no clouded sun, But sacred, high, eternal noon. 9 O, long expected year! begin; Dawn on this world of woe and sin; Fain would we leave this weary road, To sleep in death, and rest with God. HYMN 51.
AS o'er the past my memory strays,
Why heaves the secret sigh?
'Tis that I mourn departed days,
Still unprepared to die.
2 The world, and worldly things beloved,
My anxious thoughts employ'd;
And time unhallow'd, unimproved,
Presents a fearful void.
3 Yet, holy Father, wild despair
Chase from my labouring breast;
Thy grace it is which prompts the prayer,
That grace can do the rest.
4 My life's brief remnant all be thine;
And when thy sure decree
Bids me this fleeting breath resign,
O speed my soul to thee.
OW beauteous are their feet
Who stand on Sion's hill;
Who bring salvation on their tongues,
And words of peace reveal.
2 How charming is their voice;
How sweet their tidings are:
Sion, behold thy Saviour King,
He reigns and triumphs here."
3 How happy are our ears
That hear this joyful sound,
Which kings and prophets waited for
And sought, but never found.
4 How blessed are our eyes
That see this heavenly light:
Prophets and kings desired it long,
But died without the sight.
5 The watchmen join their voice
And tuneful notes employ;
Jerusalem breaks forth in songs,
And deserts learn the joy.
6 The Lord makes bare his arm
Through all the earth abroad:
Let every nation now behold
Their Saviour and their God.
RISE, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise;
Exalt thy towering head and lift thine eyes:
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
See a long race thy spacious courts adorn,
See future sons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies.
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend:
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings,
While every land its joyous tribute brings.
The seas shall waste, the skies to smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away:
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;
Thy realm shall last, thy own Messiah reigns.
HAIL to the Lord's Anointed,
Great David's greater Son,
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
2 He comes with succour speedy,
To those who suffer wrong,
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