2 As the wingéd arrow flies As the lightning from the skies Bear us down life's rapid stream: 3 Thanks for mercies past receive; Bless Thy word to young and old; Fill us with a Saviour's love; And when life's short tale is told, May we dwell with Thee above. 1262 Rev. John Newton. (1725-1807.) 1779. The Close of the Year. I THOU who roll'st the year around, Yet to be revived at last At the solemn judgment-day. 3 All our follies, Lord, forgive; Cleanse each heart and make us Thine; Let Thy grace within us live, As our future suns decline; Then, when life's last eve shall come, To our everlasting home, To our Father's house on high. In the pathless wilderness Crowned with mercies large and free, 3 Who of us death's awful road Rich Thy gifts to us abound, Warm our thanks shall rise to Thee: While our grateful praises swell, All its sorrows felt no more: In the coming year shall tread? Fit us for the promised crown. 5 So within Thy palace gate We shall praise, on golden strings, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Rev. Henry Downton. (1818-) 1839. ab. For, O we stand on Jordan's strand; Our friends are passing D. S. How vain is all beneath the skies, How transient ev-ery earthly bliss; {How slender all the fond-est ties,' That bind us to a world like this. those that rest A sleep with-in the tomb. Then, O my Lord, pre- pare My soul for that great day; O wash me in Thy precious blood, And take my sins a way. 2 A few more storms shall beat On this wild, rocky shore; And we shall be where tempests cease, And surges swell no more. Cho. 3 A few more struggles here, A few more partings o'er, A few more toils, a few more tears, 4 'Tis but a little while And He shall come again, Who died that we might live, who lives That we with Him may reign. Cho. Rev. Horatius Bonar. (1808-) 1857. ab. I MAKE haste, O man, to live, For thou so soon must die; Time hurries past thee like the breeze, How swift its moments fly. 2 Make haste, O man, to do Thou hast no time to lose in cloth, 3 Up then with speed, and work; 4 Make haste, O man, to live, O sleep not, dream not, but arise, Rev. Horatius Bonar. 1857. ab ST. BRIDE. S. M. Samuel Howard. (1720-1782.) 1762. 1. LORD, let me know mine end, My days, how brief their date, That I may timely com - prehend How frail my best es tate. 1269 The Brevity and Vanity of Life. 2 My life is but a span, Mine age is nought with Thee; What is the highest boast of man But dust and vanity? 3 Dumb at Thy feet I lie, For Thou hast brought me low; Remove Thy judgments, lest I die; I faint beneath Thy blow. 4 At Thy rebuke, the bloom Of man's vain beauty flies; And grief shall, like a moth, consume All that delights our eyes. 5 Have pity on my fears; Hearken to my request; But give the mourner rest. 6 O spare me yet, I pray; Awhile iny strength restore, Ere I am summoned hence away, James Montgomery. (1771-1854.) 1821. ab. and alt. 1271 Rev. Philip Doddridge 1755. ab. and alt Triumph over Death. I AND must this body die, This mortal frame decay? And must these active limbs of mine 2 God, my Redeemer, lives, Looks down and watches all my dust, 3 Arrayed in glorious grace, 4 These lively hopes we owe We would adore His grace below, 5 Dear Lord, accept the praise Of these our humble songs, Rev. Isaac Watts. (1674-1748.) 1709. ab. and alt. 2 Death rides on every passing breeze, Its peril every hour. 3 Our eyes have seen the rosy light 4 Our eyes have seen the steps of age And yet shall earth our hearts engage, 5 Turn, mortal, turn, thy danger know; 6 Turn, Christian, turn, thy soul apply The bones that underneath thee lie, Bp. Reginald Heber. (1783-1826.) 1812. ab. and sl. alt. 13 Our labors done, securely laid In this our last retreat, Unheeded, o'er our silent dust The storms of life shall beat. 4 Yet not thus lifeless, thus inane, For o'er life's wreck that spark shall rise 5 These ashes too, this little dust, 6 Then love's soft dew o'er every eye |