STERN winter throws his icy chains,
Encircling nature round;
How bleak, how comfortless the plains,
Late with gay verdure crowned.
2. The sun withdraws his vital beams,
And light and warmth depart:
And drooping, lifeless, nature seems,
An emblem of my heart-
3. My heart, where mental winter reigns,
In night's dark mantle clad,
Confined in cold inactive chains,
How desolate and sad!
4. Return, O blissful Sun, and bring
Thy soul-reviving ray;
This mental winter shall be spring,
This darkness cheerful day.
5. O happy state, divine abode,
Where spring eternal reigns;
And perfect day, the smile of God,
Fills all the heavenly plains!
"TIS when a black o'erspreading cloud
Has darkened all the air,
And peals of thunder, roaring loud,
Proclaim the tempest near;
2. That guilt and fear, the fruits of sin,
The sinner oft pursue;
A louder storm is heard within,
And conscience thunders too.
3. The law a fiery language speaks,
His danger he perceives;
Like Satan, who his ruin seeks,
He trembles and believes.
4. But direr thunders come apace,—
The JUDGE is hasting down!
Will sinners hear to see His face,
Or stand before His frown?
5. Lord, let thy mercy find a way,
To touch each stubborn heart;
That they may never hear thee say,
"Ye cursed ones, depart!"
6. Believers, you may well rejoice!
The thunder's loudest strains
Should be to you a welcome voice,
That tells you JESUS REIGNS.
(See Hymn 354, ver. 3-6.)
C. M. The Traveller's Psalm.
HOW are thy servants blest, O Lord,
How sure is their defence!
Eternal Wisdom is their guide,
Their help Omnipotence.
2. In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by Thy care,
Through burning climes they pass unhurt,
And breathe in tainted air.
3. When by the dreadful tempest borne,
High on the broken wave,
They know thou art not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save.
4. The storm is laid, the winds retire,
Obedient to thy will;
The sea that roars at thy command,
At thy command is still.
5. In midst of dangers, fears, and deaths,
Thy goodness we'll adore;
We'll praise thee for thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.
463 L. M. The Mariner's Psalm.
WOULD you behold the works of God,
His wonders in the world abroad?
Go with the mariners, and trace
The unknown regions of the seas.
2. They leave their native shores behind,
And seize the favours of the wind,
Till God commands, and tempests rise,
That heave the ocean to the skies.
3. When land is far, and death is nigh,
Lost to all hope, to God they cry;
His mercy hears their loud address,
And sends salvation in distress.
4. He bids the winds their wrath assuage;
The furious waves forget their rage;
'Tis calm; and seamen smile to see
The haven where they wish to be.
5. O may the sons of men record
The wondrous goodness of the Lord!
Let them their grateful offerings bring,
And in the church his glory sing.
464 L. M. The Mariner's Song of Deliverance. C. WESLEY.
GLORY to Thee, whose powerful word,
Bids the tempestuous wind arise;
Glory to Thee, the sovereign Lord,
Of air, and earth, and seas, and skies!
2. Let air, and earth, and skies obey,
And seas thine awful will perform :
From them we learn to own thy sway,
And shout to meet the gathering storm.
3. What though the floods lift up their voice?
Thou hearest, Lord, our louder cry;
They cannot damp thy children's joys,
Or shake the soul when God is nigh.
4. Roar on, ye waves! our souls defy
Your roaring, to disturb our rest;
In vain to impair the calm ye try,
The calm in a believer's breast.
5. Rage, while our faith the Saviour tries,
Thou sea, the servant of His will!
Rise, while our God permits thee, rise;
But fall, when he shall say ' Be still!'
465 7s. The Seaman embarking.
LORD, whom winds and seas obey,
Guide us through the watery way;
In the hollow of thy hand
Hide, and bring us safe to land.
2. Jesus, let our faithful mind
Rest, on Thee alone reclined;
Every anxious thought repress,
Keep our souls in perfect peace.
3. Save, till all life's tempests end, All who on thy love depend; Waft our happy spirits o'er; Land us on the heavenly shore. 466 L. M. A Hymn at Meeting.
MAY He, by whose kind care we meet,
Send his good Spirit from above,
Make our communications sweet,
And cause our hearts to burn with love!
2. Forgotten be each worldly theme,
When Christians see each other thus:
We only wish to speak of Him,
Who lived and died, and reigns for us.
3. We'll talk of all he did and said,
And suffered for us here below;
The path he marked for us to tread,
And what he's doing for us now.
4. Thus, as the moments pass away,
We'll love, and wonder, and adore;
And hasten on the glorious day,
When we shall meet to part no more.
C. M. At Parting.
BLEST be the dear uniting love,
That will not let us part;
Our bodies may far off remove,
But still we're joined in heart.
2. Joined in one Spirit to our Head,
Where he appoints we go;
And still in Jesus' footsteps tread,
And do his work below.
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