This do in Remembrance of me.' 1 Cor. xi. 24.
1 EAT, drink, in memory of your friend :'—
Such was our Master's last request;
Who all the pangs of death endured,
That we might live for ever blessed.
2 Yes, we'll record thy matchless love,
Thou kindest, tenderest, best of friends!
Thy dying love, the noblest praise
Our hearts can offer thee, transcends.
3 'Tis pleasure more than earth can give Thy goodness through these veils to see; Thy table food celestial yields,
And happy they who sit with thee.
412. 8, 8, 6 M.
Serious Reflections on the Uncertainty of Life.
1. ETERNAL bliss, and lasting wo,
Hang on this span of life below;
This short, uncertain breath;
My heavenly Father only knows,
Whether another day shall close,
Ere I expire in death.
2 Before thy throne, great God! I bow,
And, in these solemn moments, now
Would learn my real state;
While life, and health, and time endure,
May I thy pardoning grace secure,
Before it be too late.
3 If in destruction's road I stray,
Teach me to choose that better way
Which leads to joys on high;
My soul renew, my sins forgive;
Nor let me ever dare to live,
Such as I dare not die.
On Occasion of a Destructive Fire.
1 ETERNAL God! our humbled souls
Before thy presence bow:
With all thy magazines of wrath,
How terrible art thou!
2 Fanned by thy breath, whole sheets of flame Like a wild deluge pour;
And all our confidence of wealth
Lies mouldered in an hour.
3 Led on by thee, in horrid pomp,
Destruction rears its head;
And blackened walls, and smoking heaps,
Through all the streets are spread.
4 Lord! in the dust we lay us down,
And mourn thy righteous ire e;
Yet bless the hand of guardian love,
That snatched us from the fire.
5 O may we view, with dauntless eyes,
The last tremendous day,
When earth and seas, and stars and skies,
In flames shall melt away!
The aged Christian's Reflections and Hopes.
1 ETERNAL Sire! enthroned on high,
Whom heavenly hosts adore;
Who yet to suppliant dust art nigh!
Thy presence I implore.
2 O guide me down the steep of age,
And keep my passions cool;
Teach me to scan the sacred page,
And practise every rule!
3 My flying years time urges on;
What's human must decay;
My friends, my youth's companions gone,
Can I expect to stay?
4 Ah! no-then smooth the mortal hour;
On thee my hope depends;
Support me with almighty power,
While dust to dust descends.
The Year crowned with Goodness. Ps. lxv. 11.
1 ETERNAL Source of every joy!
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
Whose goodness crowns the circling year.
2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
By thee the sun is taught to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.
3 The flowery spring, at thy command,
Embalms the air, and paints the land;
The summer suns with vigour shine,
To raise the corn and cheer the vine.
4 Thy hand in autumn richly pours
Through all our coasts, redundant stores;
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more a face of horror wear.
5 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive hymns of praise;
Still be the cheerful homage paid,
With morning light, and evening shade.
6 O may our more harmonious tongues
Hereafter join in nobler songs;
And in those brighter courts adore,
Where days and years revolve no more!
416. C. M.
Secret Devotion. Mat. vi. 6.
1 FATHER divine! thy piercing eye
Looks through the shades of night;
In deep retirement thou art nigh,
With heart-discerning sight.
2 There shall that piercing eye survey
My duteous homage, paid
With every morning's dawning ray,
And every evening's shade.
3 I'll leave behind each earthly care;
To thee my soul shall soar;
While grateful praise, and fervent prayer,
Employ the silent hour.
4 So shall the sun in smiles arise;
The day shall close in peace;
So wilt thou train me for the skies,
Where joy shall never cease.
417. 8, 8, 6 M.
The Parent's Prayer.
1 FATHER of all! whose sovereign will
Hath called thy servant to fulfil
The parent's tender part;
With gifts and graces from above,
With calmest care, and wisest love,
Instruct my erring heart.
2 O may I every moment see
The end for which alone to me
Thou hast my children given!
A blessed instrument divine,
Through thee, to make and keep them thine,
And train them up for heaven:
3 My first concern, their souls to rear,
And, principled with godly fear,
In virtue's paths to lead;
The hunger after thee, excite,
And stir them up with all their might
To seek their living bread.
4 Thou, Lord! my every wish prevent,
And guard whom thou to me hast lent,
And guide them by thine eye;
Conduct, or to thyself receive:
O let them to thy glory live,
Or innocently die!
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