I O'ER the gloomy hills of darkness,
Look, my soul, be still and gaze;
See the promises advancing
To a glorious day of grace:
Blessed jubilee,
Let thy glorious morning dawn.
2 Let the dark, benighted pagan,
Let the rude barbarian, see
That divine and glorious conquest
Once obtained on Calvary:
Let the gospel
Loud resound, from pole to pole.
3 Kingdoms wide, that sit in darkness,
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light;
Now, from eastern coast to western,
May the morning chase the night:
Let redemption,
Freely purchased, win the day.
4 Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel;
Win and conquer-never cease:
May thy lasting, wide dominions
Multiply, and still increase :
Sway thy sceptre,
Saviour, all the world around.
I ON the mountain's top appearing,
Lo! the sacred herald stands,
Welcome news to Zion bearing-
Zion, long in hostile lands:
Mourning captive,
God himself will loose thy bands.
2 Has thy night been long and mournful?
Have thy friends unfaithful proved?
Have thy foes been proud and scornful,
By thy sighs and tears unmoved?
Cease thy mourning;
Zion still is well beloved.
3 God, thy God, will now restore thee;
He himself appears thy Friend;
All thy foes shall flee before thee;
Here their boasts and triumphs end:
Great deliverance
Zion's king will surely send.
4 Peace and joy shall now attend thee;
All thy warfare now be past;
God thy Saviour will defend theë;
Victory is thine at last:
All thy conflicts
End in everlasting rest.
I SOON may the last, glad song arise,
Through all the myriads of the skies-
That song of triumph which records
That all the earth is now the Lord's.
2 Let thrones, and powers, and kingdoms be
Obedient, mighty God, to Thee;
And over land, and stream, and main,
Now wave the sceptre of thy reign.
O let that glorious anthem swell;
Let host to host the triumph tell,
That not one rebel heart remains,
But over all the Saviour reigns.
I THE morning light is breaking;
The darkness disappears;
The sons of earth are waking
To penitential tears:
Each breeze that sweeps the ocean
Brings tidings from afar
Of nations in commotion,
Prepared for Zion's war.
2 Rich dews of grace come o'er us,
In many a gentle shower,
And brighter scenes before us
Are opening every hour:
Each cry, to heaven going,
Abundant answers brings,
And heavenly gales are blowing,
With peace upon their wings.
3 See heathen nations bending
Before the God we love,
And thousand hearts ascending
In gratitude above;
While sinners, now confessing,
The gospel call obey,
And seek the Saviour's blessing-
A nation in a day.
4 Blest river of salvation,
Pursue thy onward way;
Flow thou to every nation,
Nor in thy richness stay:
Stay not till all the lowly
Triumphant reach their home;
Stay not till all the holy
Proclaim, "The Lord is come."
I YES, my native land, I love thee;
All thy scenes, I love them well :
Friends, connections, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?
Can I leave you,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
2 Home, thy joys are passing lovely-
Joys no stranger-heart can tell
Happy home, indeed I love thee:
Can I, can I say, "Farewell?"
Can I leave thee,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
3 Scenes of sacred peace and pleasure,
Holy days and Sabbath bell,
Richest, brightest, sweetest treasure,
Can I say a last farewell?
Can I leave you,
Far in heathen lands to dwell?
4 Yes, I hasten from you gladly-
From the scenes I loved so well:
Far away, ye billows, bear me:
Lovely, native land, farewell:
Pleased I leave thee,
Far in heathen lands to dwell.
I YE Christian heralds-go, proclaim
Salvation in Immanuel's name;
To distant climes the tidings bear,
And plant the rose of Sharon there.
2 He'll shield you with a wall of fire,
With holy zeal your hearts inspire,
Bid raging winds their fury cease,
And calm the savage breast to peace.
3 And when our labours all are o'er,
Then shall we meet to part no more-
Meet, with the blood-bought throng to fall,
And crown the Saviour Lord of all.
I ARISE, O King of grace, arise,
And enter to Thy rest!
Lo, Thy Church waits, with longing eyes,
Thus to be owned and blest.
2 Enter with all Thy glorious train,
Thy Spirit and Thy Word;
All that the ark did once contain
Could no such grace afford.
3 Here, mighty God! accept our vows,
Here let Thy praise be spread;
Bless the provisions of Thy house,
And fill Thy poor with bread.
4 Here let the Son of David reign;
Let God's Anointed shine;
Justice and truth His court maintain,
With love and power divine.
5 Here let Him hold a lasting throne,
And, as His kingdom grows,
Fresh honour shall adorn His crown,
And shame confound His foes.
On Him alone we build ;
With His true saints alone
The courts of heaven are filled d;
On His great love our hopes we place,
Of present grace and joys above.
2 O then with hymns of praise
These hallowed courts shall ring;
Our voices we will raise
The Three in One to sing;
And thus proclaim in joyful song,
Both loud and long, that glorious Name.
Here may we gain from heaven
The grace which we implore;
And may that grace, once given,
Be with us evermore;
Until that day, when all the blest
To endless rest are called away.
LATIN HYMN, trans. J. CHANDLER.
I COME, King of glory, come,
And with Thy favour crown
This temple as Thy dome,
This people as Thy own:
Beneath this roof, O deign to show
How God can dwell with men below.
|