C. M.

,

1054

Renewing the covenant.
YOME, let us use the grace divine,

And all, with one accord,
In a perpetual cov’nant join

Ourselves to Christ the Lord ;2 Give up ourselves, through Jesus' power,

His Name to glorify;
And promise, in this sacred hour,

For God to live and die.
3 The cov'nant we this moment make

Be ever kept in mind;
We will no more our God forsake,

Or cast his words behind.
4 We never will throw off his fear,

Who hears our solemn vow;
And if thou art well pleased to hear,

Come down, and meet us now.
5 Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,

Let all our hearts receive; Present with the celestial host,

The peaceful answer give. 6 To each the cov’nant blood apply,

Which takes our sins away; And register our names on high,

And keep us to that day. 1055

C. M.
With praise and thanksgiving.
VING to the great Jehovah's praise;

All praise to him belongs;
Who kindly lengthens out our days,

Demands our choicest songs :
His providence hath brought us through

Another various year;
We all, with vows and anthems new,

Before our God appear.

2 Father, thy mercies past we own,Thy still continued care,

-
To thee presenting, through thy Son,

Whate'er we have or are :
Our lips and lives shall gladly show

The wonders of thy love;
While on in Jesus' steps we go,

To seek thy face above. 3 Our residue of days or hours

Thine, wholly thine, shall be;
And all our consecrated powers

A sacrifice to thee,-
Till Jesus in the clouds appear,

To saints on earth forgiven,
And bring the grand Sabbatic year,

The jubilee of heaven. 1056

3d P. M. 4 6s & 2 8s.
The barren fig-tree.
THE Lord of earth and sky,

The God of ages, praise,
Who reigns enthroned on high,

Ancient of endless days,-
Who lengthens out our trials here,
And spares us yet another year.
2 Barren and wither'd trees,

We cumber'd long the ground;
No fruit of holiness

On our dead souls was found;
Yet doth he us in mercy spare,
Another and another year.
3 When justice bared the sword.

To cut the fig-tree down,
The pity of the Lord

Cried, -Let it still alone :
The Father mild inclines his ear,
And spares us yet another year.

THE

4 Jesus, thy speaking blood

From God obtain'd the grace,
Who therefore hath bestow'd

On us a longer space;
Thou didst in our behalf appear,
And, lo! we see another year.
5 Then dig about the root;

Break up our fallow ground;
And let our gracious fruit

To thy great praise abound;
O let us all thy praise declare,
And fruit unto perfection bear.

BREVITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE.

S. M.

1057

On beginning a new year.
UR few revolving years,

;

How short the term of life appears

When past—but as a day ! --
2 A dark and cloudy day,

Clouded by grief and sin ;
A host of enemies without,

Distressing fears within.
3 Lord, through another year

If thou permit our stay,
With diligence may we pursue

The true and living way. 1058

C. M.
Frailty of life.
HEE we adore, eternal Name !

And humbly own to thee
How feeble is our mortal frame

What dying worms are we!

2 Our wasting lives grow shorter still,

As days and months increase; And every beating pulse we tell,

Leaves but the number less. 3 The year rolls round, and steals away

The breath that first it gave: Whate'er we do, where'er we be,

We're travelling to the grave. 4 Dangers stand thick through all the ground,

To push us to the tomb;
And fierce diseases wait around,

To hurry mortals home.
5 Infinite joy, or endless wo,

Attends on every breath;
And yet how unconcern'd we go,

Upon the brink of death!
6 Waken, O Lord, our drowsy sense

To walk this dang’rous road; And if our souls are hurried hence,

May they be found with God! 1059

C. M.
Man frail—God eternal.
GOD, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home :-
2 Under the shadow of thy throne

Still may we dwell secure; Sufficient is thine arm alone,

And our defence is sure. 3 Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame, From everlasting thou art God,

To endless years the same.

0

4 A thousand ages, in thy sight,

Are like an evening gone; Short as the watch that ends the night,

Before the rising sun. 5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,

Beai's all its sons away ; They fly, forgotten, as a dream

Dies at the opening day. 6 The busy tribes of flesh and blood,

With all their cares and fears, Are carried downward by the flood,

And lost in foll' wing years.
7 O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come;
Be thou our guide while life shall last,

And our perpetual home!

1060

L. M.
Earthly things vain and transitory.
OW vain is all beneath the skies !

How transient every earthly bliss !
How slender all the fondest ties

That bind us to a world like this! 2 The evening cloud, the morning dew,

The with’ring grass, the fading flower, Of earthly hopes are emblems true

The glory of a passing hour. 3 But though earth's fairest blossoms die,

And all beneath the skies is vain, There is a brighter world on high,

Beyond the reach of care and pain. 4 Then let the hope of joys to come

Dispel our cares, and chase our fears : If God be ours, we're travelling home,

Though passing through a vale of tears.