20 the transporting, rapt'rous scene,
That rises to my sight!
Sweet fields array'd in living green,
And rivers of delight!
3 There gen'rous fruits that never fail
On trees immortal grow:
There rocks, and hills, and brooks, and vale, With milk and honey flow.
4 All o'er those wide-extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son for ever reigns,
And scatters night away.
5 No chilling winds nor pois'nous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and fear'd no more.
6 When shall I reach that happy place,
And be for ever bless'd?
When shall I see my Father's face,
And in his bosom rest?
7 Fill'd with delight, my raptured soul
Would here no longer stay!
Though Jordan's waves around me roll,
Fearless I'd launch away.
8 There on those high and flowery plains
Our spirits ne'er shall tire;
But in perpetual joyful strains
Redeeming love admire.
My span of life will soon be done,
The passing moments say;
As length'ning shadows o'er the mead
Proclaim the close of day.
O that my heart might dwell aloof
From all created things,
And learn that wisdom from above
Whence true contentment springs! 2 Courage, my soul, thy bitter cross, In every trial here,
Shall bear thee to thy heaven above,
But shall not enter there.
The sighing ones that humbly seek
In sorrowing paths below,
Shall in eternity rejoice,
Where endless comforts flow.
3 Soon will the toilsome strife be o'er
Of sublunary care;
And life's dull vanities no more
This anxious breast insnare.
Courage, my soul, on God rely,
Deliv'rance soon will come;
A thousand ways has Providence
To bring believers home.
4 Ere first I drew this vital breath,
From nature's prison free,
Crosses in number, measure, weight,
Were written, Lord, for me:
But thou, my Shepherd, Friend, and Guide,
Hast led me kindly on,
Taught me to rest my fainting head
On Christ, the corner-stone.
5 So comforted, and so sustain'd,
With dark events I strove,
And found, when rightly understood,
All messengers of love;
With silence and submissive awe,
Adored a chast'ning God,
Revered the terrors of his law,*
And humbly kiss'd the rod.
548 Alderton-p. 190.] 4th P. M. 886, 886. HOW happy is the pilgrim's lot;
How free from every anxious thought,
From worldly hope and fear!
Confined to neither court nor cell,
His soul disdains on earth to dwell,
He only sojourns here.
2 This happiness in part is mine,
Already saved from low design,
From every creature-love!
Bless'd with the scorn of finite good,
My soul is lighten'd of its load,
And seeks the things above.
3 The things eternal I pursue;
A happiness beyond the view
Of those that basely pant
For things by nature felt and seen;
Their honours, wealth, and pleasures mean,
I neither have nor want.
4 I have no babes to hold me here:
But children more securely dear
For mine I humbly claim:
Better than daughters or than sons,
Temples divine of living stones,
Inscribed with Jesus' name.
5 No foot of land do I possess ;
No cottage in this wilderness :
A poor wayfaring man,
I lodge awhile in tents below;
Or gladly wander to and fro,
Till I my Canaan gain.
6 Nothing on earth I call my own;
A stranger to the world, unknown,
I all their goods despise ;
I trample on their whole delight,
And seek a city out of sight,
A city in the skies.
7 There is my house and portion fair,
My treasure and my heart are there,
And my abiding home;
For me my elder brethren stay,
And angels beckon me away,
And Jesus bids me come!
8 I come, thy servant, Lord, replies;
I come to meet thee in the skies,
And claim my heavenly rest!
Now let the pilgrim's journey end;
Now, O my Saviour, Brother, Friend,
Receive me to thy breast!
549 Atwood-p. 262.] 10th P. M. 8 lines 8s. TILL out of the deepest abyss
Of trouble, I mournfully cry:
And pine to recover my peace,
And see my Redeemer, and die.
I cannot, I cannot forbear,
These passionate longings for home :
O! when shall my spirit be there;
O! when will the messenger come!
2 Thy nature I long to put on,
Thine image on earth to regain ;
And then in the grave to lay down
This burden of body and pain.
O Jesus, in pity draw near,
And lull me to sleep on thy breast;
Appear, to my rescue appear,
And gather me into thy rest!
3 To take a poor fugitive in,
The arms of thy mercy display,
And give me to rest from all sin,
And bear me triumphant away;
Away from a world of distress,
Away to the mansions above,
The heaven of seeing thy face,
The heaven of feeling thy love.
Tand humbly own to thee
HEE we adore, eternal Name!
How feeble is our mortal frame,
What dying worms we be !
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 Great God! on what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
Th' eternal states of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings!
6 Infinite joy, or endless wo,
Attends on every breath;
And yet how unconcern'd we go
Upon the brink of death!
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