Life, Death and Futurity
514. C. M. Watts
”From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
1Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home;
2Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
3A thousand ages, in thy sight,
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.
4Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
515. L. M. Cowper
1Almighty King! whose wondrous hand
Supports the weight of sea and land,
Whose grace is such a boundless store,
No heart shall break that sighs for more!
2Thy providence supplies my food,
And ’tis thy blessing makes it good:
My soul is nourished by thy word;
Let soul and body praise the Lord.
3My streams of outward comfort came
From him who built this earthly frame;
Whate’er I want his bounty gives,
By whom my soul forever lives.
4Either his hand preserves from pain,
Or, if I feel it, heals again;
From strife and sorrow shields my breast,
Or overrules them for the best.
516. 7s. M. 6l. Bowring
1Lead us with thy gentle sway,
As a willing child is led;
Speed us on our forward way,
As a pilgrim, Lord, is sped,
Who with prayers and helps divine
Seeks a consecrated shrine.
2We are pilgrims, and our goal
Is that distant land whose bourn
Is the haven of the soul;
Where the mourners cease to mourn,
Where the Saviour’s hand will dry
Every tear from every eye.
3Lead us thither! thou dost know
All the way; but wanderers we
Often miss our path below,
And stretch out our hands to thee;
Guide us,—save us,—and prepare
Our appointed mansion there!
517. C. M. Montgomery
”Looking for another country, that is an heavenly.”
1While through this changing world we roam,
From infancy to age,
Heaven is the Christian pilgrim’s home,
His rest at every stage.
2Thither his raptured thought ascends,
Eternal joys to share;
There his adoring spirit bends,
While here he kneels in prayer.
3Oh! there may we our treasure place,
There let our hearts be found;
That still, where sin abounded, grace
May more and more abound.
4Henceforth our conversation be
With Christ before the throne;
Ere long, we eye to eye shall see,
And know as we are known.
518. L. M. Doddridge
1God of eternity! from thee
Did infant time its being draw;
Moments and days, and months, and years,
Revolve by thine unvaried law.
2Silent and swift they glide away;
Steady and strong the current flows,
Lost in eternity’s wide sea,
The boundless gulf from whence it rose.
3With it the thoughtless sons of men
Before the rapid stream are borne
On to their everlasting home,
Whence not one soul can e’er return.
4Great Source of wisdom! teach our hearts
To know the price of every hour,
That time may bear us on to joys
Beyond its measure and its power.
519. C. H. M. J. Taylor
1O, what is life?—’tis like a flower
That blossoms and is gone;
It flourishes its little hour,
With all its beauty on:
Death comes, and, like a wintry day,
It cuts the lovely flower away.
2O, what is life?—’tis like the bow
That glistens in the sky:
We love to see its colors glow;
But, while we look, they die:
Life fails as soon:—to-day ’tis here;
To-morrow it may disappear.
3Lord, what is life?—if spent with thee
In humble praise and prayer,
How long or short our life may be,
We feel no anxious care:
Though life depart, our joys shall last
When life and all its joys are past.
520. L. M. Bowring
1Our times are in thy hand, and thou
Wilt guide our footsteps at thy will:
Lord, to thy purposes we bow,
Do thou thy purposes fulfil!
2Life’s mighty waters roll along,
Thy spirit guides them as they roll;
And waves on waves impetuous throng
At thy command, at thy control.
3Lord, we, thy children, look to thee,
And with an humble, prostrate will,
Find in thine all-sufficiency
A claim to love and serve thee still.
521. S. M. Edmeston
”Why sayest thou—my way is hid from the Lord?”
1Along my earthly way,
How many clouds are spread!
Darkness, with scarce one cheerful ray,
Seems gathering o’er my head.
2Yet, Father, thou art love:
O hide not from my view!
But when I look, in prayer, above,
Appear in mercy through!
3My pathway is not hid;
Thou knowest all my need;
And I would do as Israel did,
—
Follow where thou wilt lead.
4Lead me, and then my feet
Shall never, never stray;
But safely I shall reach the seat
Of happiness and day.
5And O from that bright throne,
I shall look back, and see,—
The path I went, and that alone,
Was the right path for me.
522. C. M. Needham
The Dead speaking to the Living.
1Rise, O my soul! pursue the path
By ancient worthies trod;
Aspiring, view those holy men
Who lived and walked with God.
2Though dead, they speak in reason’s ear,
And in example live;
Their faith, and hope, and mighty deeds,
Still fresh instruction give.
3Confiding in his heavenly strength,
They conquered every foe;
To his almighty power and grace
Their crowns of life they owe.
4Lord, may I ever keep in view
The patterns thou hast given;
And never wander from the road
That led them safe to heaven.
523. C. M. Barbauld
1Our country is Immanuel’s ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.
2Oft do our eyes with joy o’erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;
Yet naught but heaven our hopes can raise,
And naught but sin our fears.
3We tread the path our Master trod:
We bear the cross he bore;
And every thorn that wounds our feet,
His temples pierced before.
4Our powers are oft dissolved away
In ecstasies of love;
And while our bodies wander here,
Our souls are fixed above.
5We purge our mortal dross away,
Refining as we run;
But while we die to earth and sense,
Our heaven is here begun.
524. C. M. Watts
”We are fearfully and wonderfully made.”
1Let others boast how strong they be,
Nor death nor danger fear;
But we’ll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.
2Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o’er the land,
And fades the grass away.
3Our life contains a thousand springs,
And fails if one be gone;
Strange! that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long.
4But ’tis our God supports our frame,
The God who built us first;
Salvation to the Almighty Name
That reared us from the dust!
525. C. M. Doddridge
”Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
1These mortal joys, how soon they fade!
How swift they pass away!
The dying flower reclines its head,
The beauty of a day.
2Soon are those earthly treasures lost,
We fondly call our own;
Scarce the possession can we boast,
When straight we find them gone.
3But there are joys which cannot die,
With God laid up in store;
Treasures beyond the changing sky,
More bright than golden ore.
4The seeds which piety and love
Have scattered here below,
In the fair, fertile fields above
To ample harvests grow.
526. L. M. Newton
1A glance from heaven, with sweet effect,
Sometimes my pensive spirit cheers:
But ere I can my thoughts collect,
As suddenly it disappears.
2So lightning in the gloom of night
Affords a momentary day;
Disclosing objects full in sight,
Which, soon as seen, are snatched away.
3The lightning’s flash did not create
The opening prospect it revealed;
But only showed the real state
Of what the darkness had concealed.
4Just so, we by a glimpse discern
The glorious things within the veil;
That, when in darkness, we may learn
To live by faith, till light prevail.
527. C. M. J. Newton
1The evils that beset our path,
Who can prevent or cure?
We stand upon the brink of death
When most we seem secure.
2If we to-day sweet peace possess,
It soon may be withdrawn;
Some change may plunge us in distress
Before to-morrow’s dawn.
3Disease and pain invade our health,
And find an easy prey;
And oft, when least expected, wealth
Takes wings and flies away.
4The gourds from which we look for fruit.
Produce us often pain;
A worm unseen attacks the root,
And all our hopes are vain.
5Since sin has filled the earth with woe,
And creatures fade and die;
Lord, wean our hearts from things below,
And fix our hopes on high!
528. S. M. Doddridge
”The Fathers, where are they?”
1How swift the torrent rolls,
That bears us to the sea!
The tide that bears our thoughtless souls
To vast eternity!
2Our fathers, where are they,
With all they called their own?
Their joys, and griefs, and hopes and cares,
And wealth and honor gone.
3God of our fathers, hear,
Thou everlasting Friend!
While we, as on life’s utmost verge,
Our souls to thee commend.
4Of all the pious dead
May we the footsteps trace,
Till with them, in the land of light,
We dwell before thy face.
529. L. M. J. Roscoe
1My Father! when around me spread
I see the shadows of the tomb,
And life’s bright visions droop and fade,
And darkness veils my future doom;
2O, in that anguished hour I turn
With a still trusting heart to thee,
And holy thoughts still shine and burn
Amid that cold, sad destiny.
3The stars of heaven are shining on,
Though these frail eyes are dim with tears;
The hopes of earth indeed are gone;
But are not ours the immortal years?
4Father! forgive the heart that clings
Thus trembling to the joys of time;
And bid my soul on angel wings
Ascend into a purer clime.
530. L. M. Doddridge
To God pertain the issues of Life and Death.
1Sovereign of life! before thine eye,
Lo! mortal men by thousands die:
One glance from thee at once brings down
The proudest brow that wears a crown.
2Banished at once from human sight
To the dark grave’s mysterious night,
Imprisoned in that dusty bed,
We hide our solitary head.
3Yet if my Father’s faithful hand
Conduct me through this gloomy land,
My soul with pleasure shall obey,
And follow where he leads the way.
4The friendly band again shall meet,
Again exchange the welcome sweet;
The dear familiar features trace,
And still renew the fond embrace.
531. C. M. Heber
1Beneath our feet and o’er our head
Is equal warning given:
Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven!
2Their names are graven on the stone,
Their bones are in the clay;
And ere another day is done,
Ourselves may be as they.
3Our eyes have seen the rosy light
Of youth’s soft cheek decay,
And fate descend in sudden night
On manhood’s middle day.
4Our eyes have seen the steps of age
Halt feebly towards the tomb;
And yet shall earth our hearts engage,
And dreams of days to come?
5Death rides on every passing breeze,
He lurks in every flower;
Each season has its own disease,
Its peril every hour.
532. L. M. J. Taylor
1Like shadows gliding o’er the plain,
Or clouds that roll successive on,
Man’s busy generations pass,
And while we gaze their forms are gone.
2”He lived,—he died;” behold the sum,
The abstract of the historian’s page!
Alike, in God’s all-seeing eye,
The infant’s day, the patriarch’s age.
3O Father! in whose mighty hand
The boundless years and ages lie;
Teach us thy boon of life to prize,
And use the moments as they fly;
4To crowd the narrow span of life
With wise designs and virtuous deeds;
And bid us wake from death’s dark night,
To share the glory that succeeds.
533. C. M. Collyer
1When, bending o’er the brink of life,
My trembling soul shall stand,
And wait to pass death’s awful flood,
Great God, at thy command;—
2Thou Source of life and joy supreme,
Whose arm alone can save,
Dispel the darkness that surrounds
The entrance to the grave.
3Lay thy supporting, gentle hand
Beneath my sinking head,
And let a beam of light divine
Illume my dying bed.
534. L. M. Watts
Christ’s Presence makes Death easy.
1Why should we start and fear to die!
What timorous worms we mortals are!
Death is the gate of endless joy,
And yet we dread to enter there.
2The pains, the groans, and dying strife,
Fright our approaching souls away;
Still we shrink back again to life,
Fond of our prison and our clay.
3O! if my Lord would come and meet,
My soul should stretch her wings in haste,
Fly fearless through death’s iron gate,
Nor feel the terrors as she past.
4Jesus can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast I lean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there.
535. L. M. Anonymous
Deliverance from the Fear of Death.
1O God of love! with cheering ray,
Gild our expiring hour of day;
Thy love, through each revolving year,
Has wiped away affliction’s tear.
2Free us from death’s terrific gloom,
And all the fear which shrouds the tomb;
Heighten our joys, support our head,
Before we sink among the dead.
3May death conclude our toils and tears!
May death destroy our sins and fears!
May death, through Jesus, be our friend!
May death be life, when life shall end!
4Crown our last moment with thy power—
The latest in our latest hour;
Till to the raptured heights we soar,
Where fears and death are known no more.
536. L. M. R. Hill
Prayer for the dying Christian.
1Gently, my Father, let me down
To slumber in the arms of death:
I rest my soul on thee alone,
E’en till my last expiring breath.
2Soon will the storms of life be o’er,
And I shall enter endless rest:
There I shall live to sin no more,
And bless thy name forever blest.
3Bid me possess sweet peace within;
Let childlike patience keep my heart;
Then shall I feel my heaven begin,
Before my spirit hence depart.
537. C. M. Anonymous
”Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” Ps. 23.
1Thou must go forth alone, my soul!
Thou must go forth alone,
To other scenes, to other worlds,
That mortal hath not known.
Thou must go forth alone, my soul,—
To tread the narrow vale;
But He, whose word is sure, hath said
His comforts shall not fail.
2Thou must go forth alone, my soul,
Along the darksome way;
Where the bright sun has never shed
His warm and gladsome ray.
And yet the Sun of Righteousness
Shall rise amidst the gloom,
And scatter from thy trembling gaze
The shadows of the tomb.
3Thou must go forth alone, my soul!
To meet thy God above:
But shrink not—He hath said, my soul,
He is a God of love.
His rod and staff shall comfort thee
Across the dreary road,
Till thou shalt join the blessed ones
In heaven’s serene abode.
538. 7s. & 4s. M. Mrs. Gilbert
1When the vale of death appears,
Faint and cold this mortal clay,
O, my Father, soothe my fears,
Light me through the gloomy way;
Break the shadows,
Usher in eternal day;—
2Upward from this dying state
Bid my waiting soul aspire;
Open thou the crystal gate;
To thy praise attune my lyre:
Then, triumphant,
I will join th’ immortal choir.
539. C. M. Anonymous
1Lord, must we die? O let us die
Trusting in thee alone!
Our living testimony given,
Then leave our dying one.
2If we must die, O let us die
In peace with all mankind,
And change these fleeting joys below
For pleasures all refined.
3If we must die,—as die we must,—
Let some kind seraph come,
And bear us on his friendly wing
To our celestial home!
4Of Canaan’s land, from Pisgah’s top,
May we but have a view!
Though Jordan should o’erflow its banks,
We’ll boldly venture through.
540. L. M. Montgomery
The Hour of Death, and Entrance on Immortality.
1O God unseen—but not unknown!
Thine eye is ever fixed on me;
I dwell beneath thy secret throne,
Encompassed by thy deity.
2The moment comes when strength must fail,
When, health and hope and comfort flown,
I must go down into the vale
And shade of death, with thee alone:
3Alone with thee;—in that dread strife
Uphold me through mine agony,
And gently be this dying life
Exchanged for immortality.
4Then, when th’ unbodied spirit lands
Where flesh and blood have never trod,
And in the unveiled presence stands
Of thee, my Saviour and my God:
5Be mine eternal portion this,
Since thou wert always here with me,
That I may view thy face in bliss,
And be for evermore with thee.
541. L. M. Doddridge
1Behold the path which mortals tread,
Down to the regions of the dead!
Nor will the fleeting moments stay,
Nor can we measure back our day.
2Our kindred and our friends are gone;
Know, O my soul! this doom my own;
Feeble as theirs my mortal frame,
The same my way, my home the same.
3Awake, my soul, thy way prepare,
And lose in this each mortal care;
With steady feet that path be trod,
Which, through the grave, conducts to God.
4Father! to thee my all I trust;
And if thou call me down to dust,
I know thy voice, I bless thy hand,
And die in peace at thy command.
542. 7s. M. Pope
The Dying Christian to his Soul!
1Vital spark of heavenly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame!
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!
2Hark! they whisper! angels say,
“Sister spirit, come away!”
What is this absorbs me quite,
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3The world recedes!—it disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes!—my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount, I fly!
O grave! where is thy victory?
O death! where is thy sting?
543. L. M. Mrs. Barbauld
1Sweet is the scene when virtue dies!
When sinks a righteous soul to rest;
How mildly beam the closing eyes,
How gently heaves th’ expiring breast!
2So fades a summer cloud away,
So sinks the gale when storms are o’er,
So gently shuts the eye of day,
So dies a wave along the shore.
3Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears,
Where lights and shades alternate dwell;
How bright th’ unchanging morn appears!
Farewell, inconstant world, farewell!
4Life’s duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies;
While heaven and earth combine to say,
“How blessed the righteous when he dies!”
544. C. M. Peabody
1Behold the western evening light!
It melts in deeper gloom;
So calm the righteous sink away,
Descending to the tomb.
The winds breathe low—the yellow leaf
Scarce whispers from the tree!
So gently flows the parting breath,
When good men cease to be.
2How beautiful, on all the hills,
The crimson light is shed!
’Tis like the peace the dying gives
To mourners round his bed.
How mildly on the wandering cloud
The sunset beam is cast!
So sweet the memory left behind,
When loved ones breathe their last.
3And lo! above the dews of night
The vesper star appears!
So faith lights up the mourner’s heart,
Whose eyes are dim with tears.
Night falls, but soon the morning light
Its glories shall restore;
And thus the eyes that sleep in death
Shall wake, to close no more.
545. 7s. M. Anonymous
1Clay to clay, and dust to dust!
Let them mingle—for they must!
Give to earth the earthly clod,
For the spirit’s fled to God.
2Never more shall midnight’s damp
Darken round this mortal lamp;
Never more shall noon-day’s glance
Search this mortal countenance.
3Deep the pit, and cold the bed,
Where the spoils of death are laid;
Stiff the curtains, chill the gloom,
Of man’s melancholy tomb.
4Look aloft! The spirit’s risen—
Death cannot the soul imprison;
’Tis in heaven that spirits dwell,
Glorious, though invisible.
546. L. M. Watts
1Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb!
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room
To seek a slumber in thy dust.
2Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
3So Jesus slept; God’s dying Son
Passed through the grave, and blessed the bed;
Then rest, dear saint, till from his throne
The morning break, and pierce the shade.
4Break from his throne, illustrious morn!
Attend, O earth, his sovereign word!
Restore thy trust! the glorious form
Shall then arise to meet the Lord.
547. C. M. Watts
”Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord.”
1Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims,
For all the pious dead;
Sweet is the savor of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
2They die in Jesus, and are blessed;
How kind their slumbers are!
From sufferings and from sin released,
And freed from every snare.
3Far from this world of toil and strife,
They’re present with the Lord!
The labors of their mortal life
End in a large reward.
548. 7s. M. Wesley’s Coll
”Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord.”
1Hark! a voice divides the sky!
Happy are the faithful dead,
In the Lord who sweetly die!
They from all their toils are freed.
2Ready for their glorious crown,—
Sorrows past and sins forgiven,—
Here they lay their burthen down,
Hallowed and made meet for heaven.
3Yes! the Christian’s course is run;
Ended is the glorious strife;
Fought the fight, the work is done;
Death is swallowed up in life.
4When from flesh the spirit freed
Hastens homeward to return,
Mortals cry, “A man is dead!”
Angels sing, “A child is born!”
549. L. M. Mrs. Mackay
1Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep!
From which none ever wakes to weep;
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the dread of foes.
2Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest!
Whose waking is supremely blest;
No fear, no woes shall dim that hour,
Which manifests the Saviour’s power!
3Asleep in Jesus! time nor space
Debars this precious hiding place;
On Indian plains, or Lapland’s snows,
Believers find the same repose.
4Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine is still a blesséd sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.
550. C. M. 8l. Anonymous
1All nature dies and lives again:
The flowers that paint the field,
The trees that crown the mountain’s brow,
And boughs and blossoms yield,—
Resign the honors of their form
At winter’s stormy blast,
And leave the naked, leafless plain
A desolated waste.
2Yet, soon reviving, plants and flowers
Anew shall deck the plain;
The woods shall hear the voice of spring,
And flourish green again.
So, to the dreary grave consigned,
Man sleeps in death’s dark gloom,
Until th’ eternal morning wake
The slumbers of the tomb.
3O may the grave become to me
The bed of peaceful rest,
Whence I shall gladly rise at length,
And mingle with the blessed!
Cheered by this hope, with patient mind
I’ll wait Heaven’s high decree,
Till the appointed period come
When death shall set me free.
551. C. M. Sir J. E. Smith
The Changes of Nature Types of Immortality.
1As twilight’s gradual veil is spread
Across the evening sky;
So man’s bright hours decline in shade,
And mortal comforts die.
2The bloom of spring, the summer rose,
In vain pale winter brave;
Nor youth, nor age, nor wisdom knows
A ransom from the grave.
3But morning dawns and spring revives,
And genial hours return;
So man’s immortal soul survives,
And scorns the mouldering urn.
4When this vain scene no longer charms,
Or swiftly fades away,
He sinks into a Father’s arms,
Nor dreads the coming day.
552. Peculiar M. H. Ware, Jr.
1Lift your glad voices in triumph on high,
For Jesus hath risen, and man cannot die:
Vain were the terrors that gathered around him,
And short the dominion of death and the grave;
He burst from the fetters of darkness that bound him
Resplendent in glory, to live and to save:
Loud was the chorus of angels on high,—
The Saviour hath risen, and man shall not die.
2Glory to God in full anthems of joy,
The being he gave us death cannot destroy:
Sad were the life we must part with to-morrow,
If tears were our birthright, and death were our end;
But Jesus hath cheered the dark valley of sorrow,
And bade us, immortal, to heaven ascend:
Lift, then, your voices in triumph on high,
For Jesus hath risen, and man shall not die.
553. 7s. M. Cudworth
1Christ, the Lord, is risen to-day,
Sons of men and angels say;
Raise your songs of triumph high:
Sing, ye heavens, and, earth, reply.
2Love’s redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won;
Lo our Sun’s eclipse is o’er;
Lo! he sets in blood no more.
3Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;
Christ hath burst the gates of hell;
Death in vain forbids his rise;
Christ hath opened paradise.
4Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head:
Made like him, like him we rise;
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
554. C. M. Sir J. E. Smith
Nature Transitory—the Soul Immortal.
1See lovely nature raise her head,
In various graces dressed;
Her lucid robe by ocean spread,
Her verdant, flowery vest.
2How glorious are those orbs of light,
In all their bright array,
That gem the ebon brow of night,
Or pour the blaze of day!
3One gem of purest ray, divine,
Alone disclaims her power;
Still brighter shall its glories shine,
When hers are seen no more.
4Her pageants pass, nor leave a trace
The soul no change shall fear;
The God of nature and of grace
Has stamped his image there.
555. C. M. Watts
1There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Eternal day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.
2There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers:
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heavenly land from ours.
3Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand dressed in living green:
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
And Jordan rolled between.
4O could we make our doubts remove,—
Those gloomy doubts that rise,—
And see the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes.
5Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o’er,—
Not Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore.
556. S. M. Stennett
Surpassing Glories of Eternity.
1How various and how new
Are thy compassions, Lord!
Each morning shall thy mercies show,
—
Each night thy truth record.
2Thy goodness, like the sun,
Dawned on our early days,
Ere infant reason had begun
To form our lips to praise.
3But we expect a day
Still brighter far than this,
When death shall bear our souls away
To realms of light and bliss.
4Nor shall that radiant day,
So joyfully begun,
In evening shadows die away
Beneath the setting sun.
5How various and how new
Are thy compassions, Lord!
Eternity thy love shall show,
And all thy truth record.
557. 8s. & 6s. M. W. B. Tappan
1There is an hour of peaceful rest
To mourning wanderers given;
There is a joy for souls distressed,
A balm for every wounded breast;
’Tis found alone in heaven.
2There is a home for weary souls,
By sins and sorrows driven,
When tossed on life’s tempestuous shoals,
Where storms arise, and ocean rolls,
And all is drear—’tis heaven.
3There faith lifts up the tearless eye,
The heart no longer riven,—
And views the tempest passing by,
Sees evening shadows quickly fly,
And all serene in heaven.
4There fragrant flowers immortal bloom,
And joys supreme are given;
There rays divine disperse the gloom;
Beyond the dark and narrow tomb
Appears the dawn of heaven.
558. C. M. Christian Psalmist
1Jerusalem! my glorious home!
Name ever dear to me!
When shall my labors have an end
In joy, and peace and thee?
When shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls
And pearly gates behold?
Thy bulwarks with salvation strong,
And streets of shining gold.
2There happier bowers than Eden’s bloom,
Nor sin nor sorrow know:
Blest seats! through rude and stormy scenes
I onward press to you.
Why should I shrink at pain and woe?
Or feel at death dismay?
I’ve Canaan’s goodly land in view,
And realms of endless day.
3Apostles, martyrs, prophets, there,
Around my Saviour stand;
And soon my friends in Christ below
Will join the glorious band.
Jerusalem! my glorious home!
My soul still pants for thee;
Then shall my labors have an end,
When I thy joys shall see.
559. S. M. Mrs. Steele
1Far from these scenes of night
Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of infinite delight,
Unknown to mortal eyes.
2No cloud those regions know,
Forever bright and fair;
For sin, the source of mortal woe,
Can never enter there.
3There night is never known,
Nor sun’s faint, sickly ray;
But glory from th’ eternal throne
Spreads everlasting day.
4O may this prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love!
And lively faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.
560. L. M. Anonymous
1There is a world we have not seen,
That wasting time can ne’er destroy,
Where mortal footstep hath not been,
Nor ear hath caught its sounds of joy.
2That world to come! and O how blest!—
Fairer than prophets ever told;
And never did an angel-guest
One half its blessedness unfold.
3It is all holy and serene,—
The land of glory and repose;
And there, to dim the radiant scene,
No tear of sorrow ever flows.
4It is not fanned by summer gale;
’Tis not refreshed by vernal showers;
It never needs the moon-beam pale,
For there are known no evening hours.
5There forms unseen by mortal eye,
Too glorious for our sight to bear,
Are walking with their God on high,
And waiting our arrival there.
561. C. M. H. Ballou
1Behold, on Zion’s heavenly shore,
A pure and countless band,
Whose conflicts and whose toils are o’er,
In glorious order stand.
2From earth’s remotest bounds they came,
From tribulations great,
And, through the victories of the Lamb,
Have reached the heavenly state.
3Hunger and thirst they know no more,
From burning heats refreshed;
The Lamb shall feed them from his store,
And give them endless rest.
4God all their tears shall wipe away,
And they his wonders tell,
While in his temple they shall stay,
And God with them shall dwell.
562. 7s. M. Raffles
1High, in yonder realms of light,
Dwell the raptured saints above,
Far beyond our feeble sight,
Happy in Immanuel’s love.
2Happy spirits, ye are fled
Where no grief can entrance find,
Lulled to rest the aching head,
Soothed the anguish of the mind.
3’Mid the chorus of the skies,
’Mid the angelic lyres above
Hark! their songs melodious rise,—
Songs of praise to Jesus’ love.
563. S. M. R. Palmer
1And is there, Lord, a rest,
For weary souls designed,
Where not a care shall stir the breast,
Or sorrow entrance find?
2Is there a blissful home,
Where kindred minds shall meet,
And live and love, nor ever roam
From that serene retreat?
3Forever blesséd they,
Whose joyful feet shall stand,
While endless ages waste away,
Amid that glorious land.
4My soul would thither tend,
While toilsome years are given;
Then let me, gracious God, ascend
To sweet repose in heaven.
564. L. M. Anonymous
1There is a land mine eye hath seen,
In visions of enraptured thought
So bright that all which spreads between
Is with its radiant glory fraught;—
2A land upon whose blissful shore
There rests no shadow, falls no stain;
There those who meet shall part no more,
And those long parted meet again.
3Its skies are not like earthly skies,
With varying hues of shade and light;
It hath no need of suns to rise,
To dissipate the gloom of night.
4There sweeps no desolating wind
Across that calm, serene abode;
The wanderer there a home may find,
Within the paradise of God.
565. C. H. M. Sacred Lyrics
The Everlasting Bliss of Heaven.
1Heaven is the land where troubles cease,
Where toils and tears are o’er;—
The blissful clime of rest and peace,
Where cares distract no more;
And not the shadow of distress
Dims its unsullied blessedness.
2Heaven is the dwelling-place of joy,
The home of light and love,
Where faith and hope in rapture die,
And ransomed souls above
Enjoy, before th’ eternal throne,
Bliss everlasting and unknown.