Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 131

3 Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, Nor leave the broken heart unbound: The wife regains a husband freed!

The orphan clasps a father found!

4 Spare, Lord, the thoughtless; guide the blind, Till man no more shall deem it just To live, by forging chains to bind His weaker brother in the dust.

794. 8s. & 7s. M. Pierpont.

Morning Hymn for Family Wors.h.i.+p.

1 Pillows, wet with tears of anguish, Couches, pressed in sleepless woe, Where the sons of Belial languish, Father, may we never know!

2 For, the maddening cup shall never To our thirsting lips be pressed, But, our draft shall be, forever, The cold water thou hast blessed.

3 This shall give us strength to labor, This, make all our stores increase; This, with thee and with our neighbor, Bind us in the bonds of peace.

4 For the lake, the well, the river, Water-brook and crystal spring, Do we now, to thee, the Giver, Thanks, our daily tribute, bring.

795. L. M. Logan.

G.o.d's Blessing Implored on the Temperance Cause.

1 For all who love thee and thy cause, O Lord, thy blessing we implore; Who fear thy name, obey thy laws, From this to earth's remotest sh.o.r.e.

2 O grant, that, freed from low desire, And filled with joy, and love, and fear, Each breast may glow with holy fire, While seeking heaven, to serve thee here.

3 Pity, O G.o.d, the heedless wretch, Who staggers to a dreadful grave; Thy arm of love around him stretch, And show that thou art strong to save.

4 Breathe upon those who scorn our cause, Thy cause, O Lord, for thou hast blest; Show them he honors most thy laws Who loves his G.o.d and neighbor best.

796. L. M. Mrs. Sigourney.

The Upas Tree.

1 There sprang a tree of deadly name: Its poisonous breath, its baleful dew Scorched the green earth like lava-flame, And every plant of mercy slew.

2 From clime to clime its branches spread Their fearful fruits of sin and woe; The prince of darkness loved its shade, And toiled its fiery seeds to sow.

3 Faith poured her prayer at midnight hour; The hand of zeal at noon-day wrought; An armor of celestial power The children of the cross besought.

4 Behold the axe its pride doth wound; Through its cleft boughs the sun doth s.h.i.+ne; Its blasted blossoms strew the ground: Give glory to the arm divine.

5 And still Jehovah's aid implore, From isle to isle, from sea to sea, From peopled earth's remotest sh.o.r.e, To root that deadly Upas Tree.

797. 7s. & 6s. M. J. G. Adams.

Dedication of a Temperance Hall.

1 'Mid homes and shrines forsaken Of joy and peace divine, Faint hearts new strength have taken, A light is seen to s.h.i.+ne!

Its beaming revelations Are shed in mercy far; A guide to all the nations-- The glorious Temperance star!

2 Hushed be that wail of sadness, Life, life has come again; Awake the song of gladness, Swell high the choral strain!

The lost returns from straying In sin's destructive way; That curse is turned to praying, That night to blissful day!

3 G.o.d of this day! Our Father!

In humble praise to thee, Within these walls we gather-- The spared, the blest, the free; To hail thy grace far-sounding-- Our Temple dedicate To hope and life abounding In Man regenerate!

4 Rest thou within it ever, As o'er the ark of old; And here, O may we never In our great strife wax cold.

Nerve every arm and spirit For each successful blow, Till Temperance shall inherit All temples here below!

798. 6s. & 4s. M. Pierpont.

Prayer for the Abolition of Slavery.

1 With thy pure dews and rains, Wash out, O G.o.d! the stains From Afric's sh.o.r.e; And while her palm trees bud, Let not her children's blood, With her broad Niger's flood, Be mingled more.

2 Quench, righteous G.o.d! the thirst, That Congo's sons hath cursed-- The thirst for gold; Shall not thy thunders speak, Where Mammon's altars reek, Where maids and matrons shriek, Bound, bleeding, sold?

3 Hear'st thou, O G.o.d! those chains, That clank on Freedom's plains, By Christians wrought?

Those who these chains have worn, Christians from home have torn, Christians have hither borne, Christians have bought!

4 Lord! wilt thou not, at last, From thine own image cast Away all cords, Save those of love, which brings Man, from his long wand'rings, Back--to the King of kings,-- The Lord of lords?

799. L. M. Mrs. Chapman.

For Faithfulness in the Cause of Human Freedom.