Child of the dust! from torpid ruin rise—
Be earth's delusions from thy bosom hurled, And strive to measure, with enlightened eyes,
The dread importance of the eternal world. The shades of night are gathering round thee fast, Arise to labour, ere thy days be past.
WELCOME CROSS.
'Tis my happiness below
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour's power to know
Sanctifying every loss ;
Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.
God in Israel sows the seeds
Of affliction, pain and toil;
These spring up and choke the weeds,
Which would else o'erspread the soil:
Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to His feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.
Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way,
Might I not, with reason, fear
I should prove a castaway?
Others may escape the rod,
Sink in earthly, vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not, will not, if he might.
O ZION! afflicted with wave upon wave,
Whom no man can comfort, whom no man can save;
With darkness surrounded, by terrors dismayed,
In toiling and rowing thy strength is decayed.
Loud roaring, the billows now nigh overwhelm,
But skilful 's the Pilot who sits at the helm ;
His wisdom conducts thee, His power defends,
In safety and quiet thy warfare He ends.
O fearful! O faithless! in mercy He cries,
My promise, My truth-are they light in thine eyes?
Still, still I am with thee, My promise shall stand,
Through tempests and tossing I'll bring thee to land.
Forget thee I will not, I cannot, thy name
Engraved on My heart doth for ever remain ;
The palms of My hands whilst I look on, I see
The wounds I received when suffering for thee.
I feel at My heart all thy sighs and thy groans:
For thou art most near Me-My flesh and My bones;
In all thy distresses, thy head feels the pain,
Yet all are most needful, not one is in vain.
Then trust Me and fear not, thy life is secure,
My wisdom is perfect, supreme is My power;
In love I correct thee, thy soul to refine;
To make thee at length in My likeness to shine.
The foolish, the fearful, the weak are My care,
The helpless, the hopeless-I hear their sad prayer;
From all their afflictions My glory shall spring,
And the deeper their sorrows, the louder they'll sing.
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."-2 COR. iv. 17.
THE gloom of the night adds a charm to the morn,
Stern Winter the Spring-time endears,
And the darker the cloud on which it is drawn,
The brighter the rainbow appears.
So trials and sorrows the Christian prepare
For the rest that remaineth above;
On earth tribulation awaits him, but there
The smile of unchangeable love.
"Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power."-PSALM CX. 3.
SAVIOUR! though my rebellious will
Has been, by Thy blest power renewed;
Yet, in its secret workings still,
How much remains to be subdued.
Oft I recall with grief and shame,
How many years their course had run,
Ere grace my murmuring heart o'ercame,
Ere I could say, "Thy will be done."
I wished a flowery path to tread,
And thought 'twould safely lead to heaven ;
A lonely room, a suffering bed :-
These for my training place were given.
Long I resisted, mourned, complained,
Wished any other lot my own ;
Thy purpose, Lord, unchanged remained;
What wisdom planned, love carried on.
Year after year I turned away,
But marred was every scheme I planned;
Still the same lesson, day by day,
Was placed before me by Thy hand.
At length Thy patient, wonderous love,
Unchanging, tender, pitying, strong,
Availed that stony heart to move,
Which had rebelled, alas! so long.
Then was I taught by Thee to say
"Do with me what to Thee seems best ; Give, take, whate'er thou wilt away; Health, comfort, usefulness or rest.
"Be my whole life in suffering spent ; But let me be in suffering Thine;
Still, Oh, my Lord, I am content,
Thou now hast made Thy pleasure mine."
THE PATH OF DUTY.
GEMS are glittering bright before me,
India's treasures are around,
Flowers of brightest hues are o'er me,
Blooming on enchanted ground.
But these gilded baits of pleasure,
From a foreign land unknown,
May not-dare not-be my treasure,
Though I dwell a pilgrim lone!
Rather let the desert hide me,
'Till the chastening hand of love
To a better home shall guide me,
With a radiance from above.
Earth-born joys, how soon they leave us,
With an aching wounded heart;
Planting thorns that rankling grieve us
With a deep and cruel smart.
Oh, then, withering buds of beauty,
Smile not thus to bind me here,
For the lonely path of duty,
Must be mine-though dark and drear.
Israel's Shepherd! gently lead me,
Where sweet Shiloh's waters flow;
In the lowly valley feed me,
Where Thy flocks in safety go.
Teach me to Thy voice to hearken,
Humbly following Thy behest,
Then, when night the earth shall darken,
Take me to Thy fold of rest.
ETERNAL Light! Eternal Light!
How pure the soul must be,
When placed within Thy searching sight
It shrinks not-but with calm delight,
Can live and look on Thee.
Oh, how shall I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
That uncreated beam.
There is a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode ;
An Offering and a Sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit's energies,
An Advocate with God.
These these prepare us for the sight
Of majesty above :
The sons of ignorance and night
Can stand in the "Eternal Light,"
Through the "Eternal Love."
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