Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 100

3 But not when the death-prayer is said, The life of life departs: The body in the grave is laid, Its beauty in our hearts.

4 This frame, O G.o.d, this feeble breath, Thy hand may soon destroy; We think of thee, and feel in death A deep and awful joy.

5 Dim is the light of vanished years In glory yet to come; O idle grief! O foolish tears!

When Jesus calls us home.

604. S. M. Ch. Psalmody.

The Peaceful Death of the Righteous.

1 O, for the death of those Who slumber in the Lord!

O, be like theirs my last repose, Like theirs my last reward!

2 Their ransomed spirits soar, On wings of faith and love, To meet the Saviour they adore, And reign with him above.

3 With us their names shall live Through long-succeeding years, Embalmed with all our hearts can give,-- Our praises and our tears.

605. L. M. 6l. Sarah F. Adams.

"And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre."

1 The mourners came at break of day Unto the garden-sepulchre; With darkened hearts to weep and pray, For him, the loved one buried there.

What radiant light dispels the gloom?

An angel sits beside the tomb.

2 Then mourn we not beloved dead, E'en while we come to weep and pray; The happy spirit far hath fled.

To brighter realms of endless day; Immortal hope dispels the gloom!

An angel sits beside the tomb.

SUBMISSION AND RELIANCE.

606. C. M. Anonymous.

"Trust ye in the Lord."

1 When grief and anguish press me down, And hope and comfort flee, I cling, O Father, to thy throne, And stay my heart on thee.

2 When clouds of dark temptation rise, And pour their wrath on me, To thee for aid I turn my eyes, And fix my trust on thee.

3 When death invades my peaceful home, The sundered ties shall be A closer bond in time to come, To bind my heart to thee.

4 Lord,--"Not my will but thine be done!"

My soul from fear set free, Her faith shall anchor at thy throne, And trust alone in thee.

607. L. M. Doddridge.

Weeping Seed-Time and Joyful Harvest. Ps. 126.

1 The darkened sky, how thick it lowers!

Troubled with storms, and big with showers, No cheerful gleam of light appears, And nature pours forth all her tears.

2 But seeds of ecstasy unknown Are in these watered furrows sown: See the green blades, how thick they rise, And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!

3 In secret foldings they contain Unnumbered ears of golden grain: And heaven shall pour its beams around, Till the ripe harvest load the ground.

4 Then shall the trembling mourner come And bind his sheaves and bear them home; The voice long broke with sighs shall sing, Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.

608. L. M. 6l. Grant.

"He is able to save unto the uttermost."

1 When vexing thoughts within me rise, And, sore dismayed, my spirit dies; Yet he who once vouchsafed to bear The sick'ning anguish of despair, Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry, The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.

2 When, mourning, o'er some stone I bend, Which covers all that was a friend, And from his voice, his hand, his smile, Divides me for a little while; Thou, Saviour, mark'st the tears I shed, For thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead.

3 And oh, when I have safely past Through every conflict but the last, Still, still unchanging, watch beside My painful bed--for thou hast died; Then point to realms of cloudless day, And wipe the latest tear away.

609. C. M. Cotton.

G.o.d, the Refuge of the Afflicted.