We our happy lives employ;
Love, and long to love thee more,
Till from earth to heaven we soar.
C. M. Communion with the Worship of Heaven.
WESLEY.
HAPPY the souls to Jesus joined,
And saved by grace aloue:
Walking in all his ways, they find
Their heaven on earth begun.
2. The church triumphant in thy love,
Their mighty joys we know :
They sing the Lamb in hymns above,
And we in hymns below.
3. Thee in thy glorious realm they praise,
And bow before thy throne;
We in the kingdom of thy grace :
The kingdoms are but one.
4. The holy to the holiest leads;
From thence our spirits rise;
And he that in thy statutes treads,
Shall meet thee in the skies.
C. M. Longing for the Worship of Heaven.
FATHER, I long, I faint, to see
The place of thine abode;
I'd leave thy earthly courts, and flee
Up to thy seat, my God!
2. Here I behold thy distant face,
And 'tis a pleasant sight;
But to abide in thine embrace
Is infinite delight.
3. I'd part with all the joys of sense,
Το gaze upon thy throne;
Pleasure springs fresh for ever thence,
Unspeakable, unknown.
4. The more thy glories strike mine eyes,
The humbler I shall lie ;
Thus, while I sink, my joys shall rise
Unmeasurably high.
11 S. M. Welcome to the Sabbath.
WELCOME, sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes!
The King himself comes near,
And feasts his saints to-day;
Here we may sit, and see him here,
And love, and praise, and pray.
3. One day amidst the place,
Where my dear God hath been,
Is sweeter than ten thousand days
Of pleasurable sin.
My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this,
And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.
[To be sung on the morning of the day appointed for the celebration of the Lord's Supper.]
WELCOME to us this sacred day,
Which brings remembrance of our Lord;
To him we'll highest homage pay,
And hear his glad reviving word.
2. We'll joyful round his table sit,
And there record redeeming love,
Which saved us from the lowest pit,
And raised our hopes to life above.
3. What though affliction's keenest smart
May often cause us to bewail,
And oft temptation's piercing dart
Our feeble souls may here assail;
4. We'll mourn in hope, and hail Him nigh,
Who comes to save from every foe;
With joy we'll meet him in the sky,
And see an end of all our woe.
L. M. Sabbath Morning. J. STENNETT.
ANOTHER six days' work is done,
Another sabbath is begun;
Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest,
Improve the day thy God hath bless'd.
2. Come, bless the Lord, whose love assigns
So sweet a rest to wearied minds;
Provides an antepast of heaven,
And gives this day the food of seven.
3. O that our thoughts and thanks may rise, As grateful incense, to the skies;
And draw from heaven that sweet repose,
Which none but he that feels it knows.
4. This heavenly calm, within the breast,
Is the dear pledge of glorious rest,
Which for the church of God remains,
The end of cares, the end of pains.
5. In holy duties, let the day,
In holy pleasures, pass away;-
How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end!
Lord, I love to worship there,
When within the veil I meet
Christ upon the mercy-seat.
2. While thy glorious praise is sung,
Touch my lips, unloose my tongue;
That my joyful soul may bless
Thee, the Lord, my righteousness.
3. While the prayers of saints ascend,
God of love! to mine attend;
Hear me for thy Spirit pleads,
Hear, for Jesus intercedes.
4. While thy ministers proclaim
Peace and pardon in thy name,
Through their voice, by faith, may I
Hear thee speaking through the sky.
5. From thine house when I return, May my heart within me burn; And at evening let me say,
"I have walked with God to-day."
148th. The same.
ALL hail, delightful morn,
Thou day of sacred rest;
We hail thy kind return,
Lord, make these moments blest:
From the low train of mortal toys,
We soar to reach immortal joys.
2. Now may the King descend,
And fill his throne of grace;
Thy sceptre, Lord, extend,
While saints address thy face:
Let sinners feel thy quickening word,
And learn to know and fear the Lord.
3. Descend, celestial Dove,
With all thy quickening powers,
Disclose a Saviour's love,
And bless these sacred hours;
Then shall our souls new life obtain,
Nor sabbaths e'er be spent in vain.
GOD in his temple let us meet,
Low on our knees before him bend;
Here hath he fixed his mercy-seat,
Here on his sabbath we attend.
2. Arise into thy resting-place,
Thou, and thine ark of strength, O Lord!
Shine through the veil, we seek thy face;
Speak, for we hearken to thy word.
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