PILGRIMS in this vale of sorrow,
Pressing onward toward the prize,
Strength and comfort here we borrow,
From the Hand that rules the skies.
2 'Mid these scenes of self-denial,
We are called the race to run;
We must meet full many a trial
Ere the victor's crown is won.
3 Love shall every conflict lighten,
Hope shall urge us swifter on,
Faith shall every prospect brighten,
Till the morn of heaven shall dawn.
4 On the Eternal arm reclining,
We at length shall win the day;
All the powers of earth combining,
Shall not snatch our crown away.
BENEVOLENT EFFORTS.-Eccl. 11:1.
AST thy bread upon the waters,
Thinking not 'tis thrown away;
God himself saith, thou shalt gather
It again some future day.
2 Cast thy bread upon the waters;
Wildly though the billows roll,
They but aid thee as thou toilest
Truth to spread from pole to pole.
3 As the seed, by billows floated,
To some distant island lone,
So to human souls benighted,
That thou flingest may be borne.
4 Cast thy bread upon the waters;
Why wilt thou still doubting stand?
Bounteous shall God send the harvest,
If thou sow'st with liberal hand.
5 Give then freely of thy substance-
O'er this cause the Lord doth reign
Cast thy bread, and toil with patience,
Thou shalt labor not in vain.
"BROTHER'S KEEPER."-Gen. 4: 9.
BLESSED angels, high in heaven
the penitent rejoice;
Hast thou for thy brother striven
With an importuning voice?
2 Art thou not thy brother's keeper?
Canst thou not his soul obtain ?
He that wakes his brother sleeper
Double light himself shall gain.
3 Then, when ends this life's short fever,
They, who many turn to God,
Like the stars shall shine for ever,
In eternal brotherhood!
ATHER, hear the prayer we offer!
Not for ease that prayer shall be,
But for strength that we may ever
Live our lives courageously.
2 Not forever by still waters
Would we idly quiet stay;
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along our way.
3 Be our strength in hours of weakness
In our wanderings, be our guide;
Through endeavor, failure, danger,
Father, be thou at our side!
CONTRIBUTION.—Prov. 3: 9.
WITH my substance I will honor,
My Redeemer and my Lord;
Were ten thousand worlds my manor,
All were nothing to his word.
2 While the heralds of salvation
His abounding grace proclaim,
Let his friends, of every station,
Gladly join to spread his fame.
3 Be his kingdom now promoted,
Let the earth her Monarch know;
Be my all to him devoted;
To my Lord my all I owe.
MY God, my Father, while I stray
Far from my home, on life's rough way,
Oh, teach me from my heart to say,
Thy will be done, thy will be done!"
2 What though in lonely grief I sigh
For friends beloved no longer nigh;
Submissive still would I reply,
"Thy will be done, thy will be done!"
3 If thou should'st call me to resign
What most I prize,-it ne'er was mine;
I only yield thee what was thine:
"Thy will be done, thy will be done!"
4 If but my fainting heart be blest
With thy sweet Spirit for its guest,
My God, to thee I leave the rest;
"Thy will be done, thy will be done!"
5 Renew my will from day to day;
Blend it with thine, and take away
Whate'er now makes it hard to say,
"Thy will be done, thy will be done!"
6 Then when on earth I breathe no more,
The prayer oft mixed with tears before
I'll sing upon a happier shore:
"Thy will be done, thy will be done!”
BLESS thee, Lord, for sorrows sent
To break the dream of human power,
For now my shallow cistern's spent,
I find thy fount and thirst no more.
2 I take thy hand and fears grow still;
Behold thy face, and doubts remove;
Who would not yield his wavering will
To perfect truth and boundless love!
3 That truth gives promise of a dawn,
Beneath whose light I am to see,
When all these blinding vails are drawn,
This was the wisest path for me.
4 That love this restless soul doth teach
The strength of thy eternal calm;
And tune its sad and broken speech,
To sing ev'n now the angels' psalm.
CANNOT always trace the way
Where thou, Almighty One, dost move;
But I can always, always say,
That God is love, that God is love.
2 When fear her chilling mantle flings
O'er earth, my soul to heaven above,
As to her native home, upsprings,
For God is love, for God is love.
3 When mystery clouds my darkened path,
I'll check my dread, my doubts reprove,
In this my soul sweet comfort hath,
That God is love, that God is love.
4 Yes, God is love;-a thought like this,
Can every gloomy thought remove,
And turn all tears, all woes, to bliss,
For God is love, for God is love.
OH, deem not they are blest alone,
Whose lives a peaceful tenor keep;
For God, who pities man, hath shown
A blessing for the eyes that weep.
2 The light of smiles shall fill again
The lids that overflow with tears;
And weary hours of woe and pain
Are promises of happier years.
3 There is a day of sunny rest
For every dark and troubled night;
And grief may bide an evening guest,
But joy shall come with early light.
4 Nor let the good man's trust depart,
Though life its common gifts deny;
Though with a pierced and broken heart,
And spurned of men, he goes to die.
5 For God has marked each sorrowing day,
And numbered every secret tear,
And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay
For all his children suffer here.
F life in sorrow must be spent,
So be it; I am well content;
And meekly wait my last remove,
Desiring only trustful love.
2 No bliss I'll seek, but to fulfill
In life, in death, thy perfect will;
No succors in my woes I want,
But what my Lord is pleased to grant.
3 Our days are numbered: let us spare
Our anxious hearts a needless care;
'Tis thine to number out our days;
'Tis ours to give them to thy praise.
|