THE CHRISTIAN HAPPY IN DEATH.
HEAR What the voice from heav'n proclaims
For all the pious dead!
Sweet is the savour of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
They sleep in Jesus, and are bless'd:
How kind their slumbers are!
From suff'rings, and from sins, releas'd,
And freed from ev'ry snare.
Far from this world of toil and strife,
They're safe in thee, O LORD!
The labours of their mortal life
Close in a large reward.
YET a few years, or days, perhaps,
Or moments pass in silent lapse,
And time to me shall be no more;
No more the sun these eyes shall view;
Earth o'er these limbs her dust shall strew,
And life's delusive dream be o'er.
Great GOD! how awful is the scene!
A breath, a transient breath between ;
And can I trifle life away?
To earth, alas! too firmly bound,
Trees deeply rooted in the ground
Are shiver'd when they 're torn away.
Yet, dumb with wonder, I behold
Man's thoughtless race, in error bold,
Forget or scorn the laws of death;
With these no projects coincide,
Nor vows, nor toils, nor hopes, they guide;
Each thinks he draws immortal breath.
Great cause of all, above, below!
Who knows thee, must for ever know,
That thou 'rt immortal and divine:
Thine image on my mind imprest
Of endless being is the test,
And bids eternity be mine.
THE WAY AND END OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
MY GOD! the steps of pious men
Are order'd by thy will;
Though they should fall, they rise again;
Thy hand supports them still.
To see their ways, is thy delight;
Their virtues thou approv'st:
Thou 'lt ne'er deprive them of thy light,
Nor leave the men thou lov'st.
The heav'nly heritage is theirs,
Their portion and their home:
Thou keep'st them now,and mak'st them heirs
Of blessings long to come.
Mark well, the man of righteousness;
His sev'ral steps attend;
True pleasure runs through all his ways,
And peaceful is his end.
LIFE THE PREPARATION FOR ETERNITY.
LIFE is the time to serve thee, LORD! The time t' ensure thy great reward: And, while the lamp holds out to burn, To thee, the sinner may return.
Life is the hour, which thou hast giv'n,
To fit us for the joys of heav'n;
In time of trial, mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.
The living know that they must die;
But all the dead forgotten lie:
They have no share in all that's done,
Beneath the circuit of the sun.
There are no acts of pardon pass'd,
In the cold grave, to which we haste;
Oblivion, darkness, and despair
Still reign in gloomy silence there.
Then what our thoughts design to do,
May we, with all our might, pursue;
And, wisely, ev'ry hour employ,
Till faith and hope are lost in joy!
THE WISDOM OF EMPLOYING WELL OUR TIME.
GOD of eternity! from thee
Did infant-time its being draw;
Moments and days, and months and years Revolve by thine unvaried law.
Silent, but fleet, they glide away;
Steady and strong the current flows,
Lost in eternity's wide sea,
The boundless gulph, from which it rose.
With it, the thoughtless sons of men
Before the rapid stream are borne
On to their everlasting home,
That country, whence there's no return.
Yet, while the shore on either side
Presents a gaudy flatt'ring show,
We gaze, in fond amazement lost,
Nor think, to what a world we go.
Great source of wisdom! teach our hearts
To know the price of ev'ry hour;
That time may bear us on to joys
Beyond its measure, and its pow'r.
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