Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 39

4 So the rising sun appears, Shedding radiance o'er the spheres; So returning beams of light Chase the terrors of the night.

237. C. M. Watts.

Ascension and Reign of Christ.

1 O for a shout of sacred joy To G.o.d the sovereign King!

Let every land their tongues employ, And hymns of triumph sing.

2 Jesus, our G.o.d, ascends on high; His heavenly guards around Attend him rising through the sky, With trumpet's joyful sound.

3 While angels shout and praise their King, Let mortals learn their strains; Let all the earth his honors sing; O'er all the earth he reigns.

4 Speak forth his praise with awe profound; Let knowledge guide the song; Nor mock him with a solemn sound Upon a thoughtless tongue.

238. L. M. Watts.

Example of Christ.

1 My dear Redeemer, and my Lord, I read my duty in thy word: But in thy life the law appears, Drawn out in living characters.

2 Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal, Such deference to thy Father's will, Such love, and meekness so divine, I would transcribe, and make them mine.

3 Cold mountains, and the midnight air, Witnessed the fervor of thy prayer, The desert thy temptations knew, Thy conflict, and thy victory, too.

4 Be thou my pattern; may I bear More of thy gracious image here; Then G.o.d, the Judge, shall own my name Among the followers of the Lamb.

239. C. M. Enfield.

The Same.

1 Behold, where, in a mortal form, Appears each grace divine; The virtues, all in Jesus met, With mildest radiance s.h.i.+ne.

2 To spread the rays of heavenly light, To give the mourner joy, To preach glad tidings to the poor, Was his divine employ.

3 'Midst keen reproach and cruel scorn, Patient and meek he stood; His foes, ungrateful, sought his life; He labored for their good.

4 In the last hour of deep distress, Before his Father's throne, With soul resigned, he bowed, and said, "Thy will, not mine, be done!"

5 Be Christ our pattern and our guide!

His image may we bear!

O, may we tread his holy steps, His joy and glory share!

240. C. P. M. Medley.

Excellency of Christ.

1 O, could we speak the matchless worth, O, could we sound the glories forth, Which in our Saviour s.h.i.+ne, We'd soar, and touch the heavenly strings, And vie with Gabriel, while he sings, In notes almost divine.

2 We'd sing the characters he bears, And all the forms of love he wears, Exalted on his throne: In loftiest songs of sweetest praise, We would, to everlasting days, Make all his glories known.

3 O, the delightful day will come, When Christ our Lord will bring us home And we shall see his face; Then, with our Saviour, Brother, Friend, A blest eternity we'll spend, Triumphant in his grace.

241. L. M. Doddridge.

Christ's Submission to his Father's Will.

1 "Father divine," the Saviour cried, While horrors pressed on every side, And prostrate on the ground he lay, "Remove this bitter cup away.

2 "But if these pangs must still be borne Or helpless man be left forlorn, I bow my soul before thy throne, And say, Thy will, not mine, be done."

3 Thus our submissive souls would bow, And, taught by Jesus, lie as low; Our hearts, and not our lips alone, Would say, Thy will, not ours, be done.

4 Then, though like him in dust we lie, We'll view the blissful moment nigh, Which, from our portion in his pains, Calls to the joy in which he reigns.

242. L. M. Bache.

"Greater love hath no man than this."

1 "See how he loved!" exclaimed the Jews, As tender tears from Jesus fell; My grateful heart the thought pursues, And on the theme delights to dwell.

2 See how he loved, who travelled on, Teaching the doctrine from the skies; Who bade disease and pain be gone, And called the sleeping dead to rise.

3 See how he loved, who never shrank From toil or danger, pain or death; Who all the cup of sorrow drank, And meekly yielded up his breath.

4 Such love can we unmoved survey?