Hymns and Spiritual Songs
by
Isaac Watts
Part 4 out of 7
2 His quivering lip hangs feebly down
His pulses faint and few,
Then, speechless, with a doleful groan
He bids the world adieu.
3 But, O the soul that never dies!
At once it leaves the clay!
Ye thoughts, pursue it where it flies,
And track its wondrous way.
4 Up to the courts where angels dwell,
It mounts triumphing there,
Or devils plunge it down to hell
In infinite despair.
5 And must my body faint and die?
And must this soul remove?
O for some guardian angel nigh
To bear it safe above!
6 Jesus, to thy dear faithful hand
My naked soul I trust,
And my flesh waits for thy command
To drop into my dust.
Hymn 2:29.
Redemption by price and power.
1 Jesus, with all thy saints above
My tongue would bear her part,
Would sound aloud thy saving love,
And sing thy bleeding heart.
2 Bless'd be the Lamb, my dearest Lord,
Who bought me with his blood,
And quench'd his Father's flaming sword
In his own vital blood:
3 The Lamb that freed my captive soul
From Satan's heavy chains,
And sent the lion down to howl
Where hell and horror reigns.
4 All glory to the dying Lamb,
And never ceasing praise,
While angels live to know his Name,
Or saints to feel his grace.
Hymn 2:30.
Heavenly joy on earth.
1 [Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
2 The sorrows of the mind
Be banish'd from the place!
Religion never was design'd
To make our pleasures less.]
3 Let those refuse to sing
That never knew our God,
But favourites of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad.
4 [The God that rules on high,
And thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky
And manages the seas.]
5 This awful God is ours,
Our Father and our love,
He shall send down his heavenly powers
To carry us above.
6 There we shall see his face,
And never, never sin;
There from the rivers of his grace
Drink endless pleasures in.
7 Yes, and before we rise
To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss
Should constant joys create.
8 [The men of grace have found
Glory begun below,
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.]
9 The hill of Sion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
10 Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching thro' Immanuel's ground
To fairer worlds on high.
Hymn 2:31.
Christ's presence makes death easy.
1 Why 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.
2 The 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.
3 O, if my Lord would come and meet,
My soul should stretch her wings in haste,
Fly fearless thro' death's iron gate,
Nor feel the terrors as she pass'd.
4 Jesus 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.
Hymn 2:32.
Frailty and Folly.
1 How short and hasty is our life!
How vast our souls' affairs!
Yet senseless mortals vainly strive
To lavish out their years.
2 Our days run thoughtlessly along,
Without a moment's stay;
Just like a story or a song
We pass our lives away.
3 God from on high invites us home,
But we march heedless on,
And ever hastening to the tomb,
Stoop downwards as we run.
4 How we deserve the deepest hell
That slight the joys above!
What chains of vengeance should we feel
That break such cords of love!
5 Draw us, O God, with sovereign grace,
And lift our thoughts on high,
That we may end this mortal race
And see salvation nigh.
Hymn 2:33.
The blessed society in heaven.
1 Raise thee, my soul, fly up, and run
Thro' every heavenly street,
And say, there's nought below the sun
That's worthy of thy feet.
2 [Thus will we mount on sacred wings,
And tread the courts above;
Nor earth, nor all her mightiest things
Shall tempt our meanest love.]
3 There on a high majestic throne
Th' Almighty Father reigns,
And sheds his glorious goodness down
On all the blissful plains.
4 Bright like a sun the Saviour sits,
And spreads eternal noon,
No evenings there, nor gloomy nights,
To want the feeble moon.
5 Amidst those ever-shining skies
Behold the sacred Dove,
While banish'd sin and sorrow flies
From all the realms of love.
6 The glorious tenants of the place
Stand bending round the throne;
And saints and seraphs sing and praise
The infinite Three One.
7 [But O what beams of heavenly grace
Transport them all the while!
Ten thousand smiles from Jesus' face,
And love in every smile!]
8 [Jesus, and when shall that dear day,
That joyful hour appear,
When I shall leave this house of clay
To dwell amongst them there?]
Hymn 2:34.
Breathing after the Holy Spirit;
or, Fervency of devotion desired.
1 Come, holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all thy quickening powers,
Kindle a flame of sacred love,
In these cold hearts of ours.
2 Look, how we grovel here below,
Fond of these trifling toys;
Our souls can neither fly nor go
To reach eternal joys.
3 In vain we tune our formal songs,
In vain we strive to rise;
Hosannas languish on our tongues,
And our devotion dies.
4 Dear Lord! and shall we ever lie
At this poor dying rate?
Our love so faint, so cold to thee,
And thine to us so great?
5 Come holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all thy quickening powers;
Come shed abroad a Saviour's love,
And that shall kindle ours.
Hymn 2:35.
Praise to God for creation and redemption.
1 Let them neglect thy glory, Lord,
Who never knew thy grace,
But our loud songs shall still record
The wonders of thy praise.
2 We raise our shouts, O God, to thee,
And send them to thy throne,
All glory to th' united Three,
The undivided One.
3 'Twas he (and we'll adore his Name)
That form'd us by a word,
'Tis he restores our ruin'd frame;
Salvation to the Lord.
4 Hosanna! let the earth and skies
Repeat the joyful sound,
Rocks, hills, and vales, reflect the voice
In one eternal round.
Hymn 2:36.
Christ's intercession.
1 Well, the Redeemer's gone
T' appear before our God,
To sprinkle o'er the flaming throne
With his atoning blood.
2 No fiery vengeance now,
Nor burning wrath comes down;
If justice call for sinners' blood,
The Saviour shews his own.
3 Before his Father's eye
Our humble suit he moves,
The Father lays his thunder by,
And looks, and smiles, and loves.
4 Now may our joyful tongues
Our Maker's honour sing,
Jesus the priest receives our songs,
And bears them to the King.
5 [We bow before his face,
And sound his glories high,
"Hosanna to the God of grace
"That lays his thunder by.]
6 "On earth thy mercy reigns,
"And triumphs all above;"
But, Lord how weak are mortal strains
To speak immortal love!
7 [How jarring and how low
Are all the notes we sing!
Sweet Saviour, tune our songs anew,
And they shall please the King.]
Hymn 2:37.
The same.
1 Lift up your eyes to th' heavenly seats
Where your Redeemer stays;
Kind intercessor, there he sits,
And loves, and pleads, and prays.
2 'Twas well, my soul he dy'd for thee,
And shed his vital blood,
Appeas'd stern justice on the tree,
And then arose to God.
3 Petitions now and praise may rise,
And saints their offerings bring,
The priest with his own sacrifice
Presents them to the King.
4 [Let Papists trust what names they please,
Their saints and angels boast;
We've no such advocates as these,
Nor pray to th' heavenly host.]
6 Jesus alone shall bear my cries
Up to his Father's throne,
He, dearest Lord! perfumes my sighs,
And sweetens every groan.
6 [Ten thousand praises to the King,
Hosanna in the highest;
Ten thousand thanks our spirits bring
To God and to his Christ.]
Hymn 2:38.
Love to God.
1 Happy the heart where graces reign,
Where love inspires the breast;
Love is the brightest of the train,
And strengthens all the rest.
9 Knowledge, alas! 'Tis all in vain,
And all in vain our fear,
Our stubborn sins will fight and reign
If love be absent there.
3 'Tis love that makes our cheerful feet
In swift obedience move,
The devils know and tremble too,
But Satan cannot love.
4 This is the grace that lives and sings
When faith and hope shall cease,
'Tis this shall strike our joyful strings
In the sweet realms of bliss.
5 Before we quite forsake our clay,
Or leave this dark abode,
The wings of love bear us away
To see our smiling God.
Hymn 2:39.
The shortness and misery of life.
1 Our days, alas! our mortal days
Are short and wretched too;
"Evil and few," the patriarch says, [1]
And well the patriarch knew.
2 'Tis but at best a narrow bound
That heaven allows to men,
And pains and sins run thro' the round
Of threescore years and ten.
3 Well, if ye must be sad and few,
Run on, my days, in haste;
Moments of sin, and months of woe,
Ye cannot fly too fast.
4 Let heavenly love prepare my soul,
And call her to the skies,
Where years of long salvation roll,
And glory never dies.
[1] Genesis 47:9.
Hymn 2:40.
Our comfort in the covenant made with Christ.
1 Our God, how firm his promise stands,
E'en when he hides his face!
He trusts in our Redeemer's hands
His glory and his grace.
2 Then why, my soul, these sad complaints,
Since Christ and we are one;
Thy God is faithful to his saints,
Is faithful to his Son.
3 Beneath his smiles my heart has liv'd,
And part of heaven possess'd;
I praise his Name for grace receiv'd,
And trust him for the rest.
Hymn 2:41.
A sight of God mortifies us to the world.
1 [Up to the fields where angels lie,
And living waters gently roll,
Fain would my thoughts leap out and fly,
But sin hangs heavy on my soul.
2 Thy wondrous blood, dear dying Christ,
Can make this load of guilt remove;
And thou canst bear me where thou fly'st,
On thy kind wings, celestial Dove!]
3 O might I once mount up and see
The glories of th' eternal skies,
What little things these worlds would be!
How despicable to my eyes!
4 Had I a glance of thee, my God,
Kingdoms and men would vanish soon,
Vanish, as tho' I saw them not,
As a dim candle dies at noon.
5 Then they might fight, and rage, and rave,
I should perceive the noise no more
Than we can hear a shaking leaf,
While rattling thunders round us roar.
6 Great All in All, eternal King,
Let me but view thy lovely face,
And all my powers shall bow and sing
Thine endless grandeur and thy grace.
Hymn 2:42.
Delight in God.
1 My God, what endless pleasures dwell
Above at thy right-hand!
The courts below, how amiable,
Where all thy graces stand!
2 The swallow near thy temple lies,
And chirps a cheerful note;
The lark mounts upward to thy skies,
And tunes her warbling throat:
3 And we, when in thy presence, Lord,
We shout with joyful tongues,
Or sitting round our Father's board,
We crown the feast with songs.
4 While Jesus shines with quickening grace,
We sing and mount on high;
But if a frown becloud his face,
We faint, and tire, and die.
5 [Just as we see the lonesome dove
Bemoan her widow'd state,
Wandering she flies thro' all the grove,
And mourns her loving mate.
6 Just so our thoughts from thing to thing
In restless circles rove,
Just so we drop, and hang the wing,
When Jesus hides his love.]
Hymn 2:43.
Christ's sufferings and glory.
1 Now for a tune of lofty praise
To great Jehovah's equal Son!
Awake, my voice, in heavenly lays,
Tell the loud wonders he hath done.
2 Sing how he left the worlds of light
And the bright robes he wore above,
How swift and joyful was his flight
On wings of everlasting love.
3 Down to this base, this sinful earth
He came to raise our nature high;
He came t' atone almighty wrath;
Jesus the God was born to die.]
4 [Hell and its lions roar'd around,
His precious blood the monsters spilt,
While weighty sorrows press'd him down,
Large as the loads of all our guilt.]
5 Deep in the shades of gloomy death
Th' almighty Captive pris'ner lay;
Th' almighty Captive left the earth,
And rose to everlasting day.
6 Lift up your eyes, ye sons of light,
Up to his throne of shining grace,
See what immortal glories sit
Round the sweet beauties of his face.
7 Amongst a thousand harps and songs
Jesus the God exalted reigns,
His sacred Name fills all their tongues
And echoes thro' the heavenly plains!
Hymn 2:44.
Hell; or, The vengeance of God.
1 With holy fear and humble song,
The dreadful God our souls adore;
Reverence and awe becomes the tongue
That speaks the terrors of his power.
2 Far in the deep where darkness dwells,
The land of horror and despair,
Justice has built a dismal hell,
And laid her stores of vengeance there.
3 [Eternal plagues and heavy chains,
Tormenting racks and fiery coals,
And darts t' inflict immortal pains,
Dy'd in the blood of damned souls.]
4 [There Satan the first sinner lies,
And roars, and bites his iron bands;
In vain the rebel strives to rise,
Crush'd with the weight of both thine hands.]
5 There guilty ghosts of Adam's race
Shriek out, and howl beneath thy rod;
Once they could scorn a Saviour's grace,
But they incens'd a dreadful God.
6 Tremble, my soul, and kiss the Son;
Sinners, obey the Saviour's call;
Else your damnation hastens on,
And hell gapes wide to wait your fall.
Hymn 2:45.
God's condescension to our worship.
1 Thy favours Lord, surprise our souls;
Will the Eternal dwell with us?
What canst thou find beneath the poles
To tempt thy chariot downward thus?
2 Still might he fill his starry throne,
And please his ears with Gabriel's songs;
But th' heavenly Majesty comes down,
And bows to hearken to our tongues.
3 Great God, what poor returns we pay
For love so infinite as thine!
Words are but air, and tongues but clay,
But thy compassion's all divine.
Hymn 2:46.
God's condescension to human affairs.
1 Up to the Lord that reigns on high,
And views the nations from afar,
Let everlasting praises fly,
And tell how large his bounties are.
2 [He that can shake the worlds he made,
Or with his word, or with his rod,
His goodness how amazing great!
And what a condescending God!]
3 [God that must stoop to view the skies,
And how to see what angels do,
Down to our earth he casts his eyes,
And bends his footsteps downward too.]
4 He over-rules all mortal things,
And manages our mean affairs;
On humble souls the King of kings
Bestows his counsels and his cares.
5 Our sorrows and our tears we pour
Into the bosom of our God,
He hears us in the mournful hour,
And helps us bear the heavy load.
6 In vain might lofty princes try
Such condescension to perform;
For worms were never rais'd so high
Above their meanest fellow-worm.
7 O could our thankful hearts devise
A tribute equal to thy grace,
To the third heaven our songs should rise,
And teach the golden harps thy praise.
Hymn 2:47.
Glory and grace in the person of Christ.
1 Now to the Lord a noble song!
Awake, my soul, awake, my tongue;
Hosanna to th' eternal Name,
And all his boundless love proclaim.
2 See where it shines in Jesus' face,
The brightest image of his grace;
God, in the person of his Son,
Has all his mightiest works outdone.
3 The spacious earth and spreading flood
Proclaim the wise, the powerful God;
And thy rich glories from afar
Sparkle in every rolling star.
4 But in his looks a glory stands,
The noblest labour of thine hands:
The pleasing lustre of his eyes
Outshines the wonders of the skies.
5 Grace, 'tis a sweet, a charming theme;
My thoughts rejoice at Jesus' name:
Ye angels, dwell upon the sound,
Ye heavens, reflect it to the ground!
6 O, may I live to reach the place
Where he unveils his lovely face,
Where all his beauties you behold,
And sing his Name to harps of gold!
Hymn 2:48.
Love to the creatures is dangerous.
1 How vain are all things here below!
How false, and yet how fair!
Each pleasure hath its poison too,
And every sweet a snare.
2 The brightest things below the sky
Give but a flattering light;
We should suspect some danger nigh
Where we possess delight.
3 Our dearest joys, and nearest friends,
The partners of our blood,
How they divide our wavering minds,
And leave but half for God!
4 The fondness of a creature's love,
How strong it strikes the sense!
Thither the warm affections move,
Nor can we call them thence.
5 Dear Saviour, let thy beauties be
My soul's eternal food;
And grace command my heart away
From all created good.
Hymn 2:49.
Moses dying in the embraces of God.
1 Death cannot make our souls afraid
If God be with us there;
We may walk thro' her darkest shade,
And never yield to fear.
2 I could renounce my all below,
If my Creator bid,
And run, if I were call'd to go,
And die as Moses did.
3 Might I but climb to Pisgah's top,
And view the promis'd land,
My flesh itself shall long to drop,
And pray for the command.
4 Clasp'd in my heavenly Father's arms
I would forget my breath,
And lose my life among the charms
Of so divine a death.
Hymn 2:50.
Comfort under sorrows and pains.
1 Now let the Lord my Saviour smile,
And shew my name upon his heart,
I would forget my pains awhile,
And in the pleasure lose the smart.
But O it swells my sorrows high
To see my blessed Jesus frown!
My spirits sink, my comforts die,
And all the springs of life are down.
3 Yet why, my soul, why these complaints?
Still while he frowns his bowels move;
Still on his heart he bears his saints,
And feels their sorrows and his love.
4 My name is printed on his breast;
His book of life contains my name;
I'd rather have it there impress'd
Than in the bright records of fame.
5 When the last fire burns all things here,
Those letters shall securely stand,
And in the Lamb's fair book appear,
Writ by th' eternal Father's hand.
6 Now shall my minutes smoothly run,
Whil'st here I wait my Father's will;
My rising and my setting sun
Roll gently up and down the hill.
Hymn 2:51.
God the Son equal with the Father.
1 Bright King of Glory, dreadful God!
Our spirits bow before thy seat,
To thee we lift an humble thought,
And worship at thine awful feet.
2 [Thy power hath form'd, thy wisdom sways
All nature with a sovereign word;
And the bright world of stars obeys
The will of their superior Lord.]
3 [Mercy and truth unite in one,
And smiling sit at thy right-hand;
Eternal justice guards thy throne,
And vengeance waits thy dread command.]
4 A thousand seraphs strong and bright
Stand round the glorious Deity;
But who amongst the sons of light
Pretends comparison with thee?
5 Yet there is one of human frame,
Jesus, array'd in flesh and blood,
Thinks it no robbery to claim
A full equality with God.
6 Their glory shines with equal beams;
Their essence is for ever one,
Tho' they are known by different names
The Father God, and God the Son.
7 Then let the name of Christ our King
With equal honours be ador'd;
His praise let every angel sing,
And all the nations own their Lord.
Hymn 2:52.
Death dreadful or delightful.
1 Death! 'tis a melancholy day
To those that have no God,
When the poor soul is forc'd away
To seek her last abode.
2 In vain to heaven she lifts her eyes,
But guilt, a heavy chain,
Still drags her downward from the skies
To darkness, fire, and pain.
3 Awake and mourn, ye heirs of hell,
Let stubborn sinners fear,
You must be driven from earth, and dwell
A long for-ever there.
4 See how the pit gapes wide for you,
And flashes in your face,
And thou, my soul, look downwards too,
And sing recovering grace.
5 He is a God of sovereign love
That promis'd heaven to me,
And taught my thoughts to soar above,
Where happy spirits be.
6 Prepare me, Lord, for thy right-hand,
Then come the joyful day,
Come death, and some celestial band,
To bear my soul away.
Hymn 2:53.
The pilgrimage of the saints; or, Earth and heaven.
1 Lord! what a wretched land is this
That yields us no supply!
No cheering fruits no wholesome trees,
Nor streams of living joy!
2 But pricking thorns thro' all the ground
And mortal poisons grow,
And all the rivers that are found
With dangerous waters flow.
3 Yet the clear path to thine abode
Lies thro' this horrid land;
Lord! we would keep the heavenly road,
And run at thy command.
4 [Our souls shall tread the desert thro'
With undiverted feet;
And faith and flaming zeal subdue
The terrors that we meet.]
5 [A thousand savage beasts of prey
Around the forest roam;
But Judah's lion guards the way,
And guides the strangers home.]
6 [Long nights and darkness dwell below,
With scarce a twinkling ray;
But the bright world to which we go
Is everlasting day.]
7 [By glimmering hopes and gloomy fears
We trace the sacred road,
Thro' dismal deeps and dangerous snares
We make our way to God.]
8 Our journey is a thorny maze,
But we march upward still;
Forget these troubles of the ways,
And reach at Zion's hill.
9 [See the kind angels at the gates,
Inviting us to come;
There Jesus the fore-runner waits
To welcome travellers home.]
10 There on a green and flowery mount
Our weary souls shall sit,
And with transporting joys recount
The labours of our feet.
11 [No vain discourse shall fill our tongue,
Nor trifles vex our ear,
Infinite grace shall be our song,
And God rejoice to hear.]
12 Eternal glories to the King
That brought us safely thro';
Our tongues shall never cease to sing,
And endless praise renew.
Hymn 2:54.
God's presence is light in darkness.
1 My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights.
2 In darkest shades if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul's sweet morning star
And he my rising sun.
3 The opening heavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shews his heart is mine,
And whispers, "I am his!"
4 My soul would leave this heavy clay
At that transporting word,
Run up with joy the shining way
T' embrace my dearest Lord.
5 Fearless of hell and ghastly death!
I'd break thro' every foe;
The wings of love, and arms of faith
Should bear me conqueror thro'.
Hymn 2:55.
Frail life and succeeding eternity.
1 Thee we adore, eternal Name,
And humbly own to thee,
How feeble is our mortal frame!
What dying worms are we!
2 [Our wasting lives grow shorter still
As months and days increase;
And every beating pulse we tell
Leaves but the number less.
3 The year rolls round, and steals away
The breath that first it gave;
Whate'er we do, where'er we be,
We're travelling to the grave.
4 Dangers stand thick thro' all the ground
To push us to the tomb,
And fierce diseases wait around
To hurry mortals home.
5 Good God! on what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
Th' eternal states of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings.
6 Infinite joy or endless woe
Attends on every breath;
And yet how unconcern'd we go
Upon the brink of death!
7 Waken, O Lord, our drowsy sense
To walk this dangerous road;
And if our souls are hurried hence,
May they be found with God!
Hymn 2:56.
The misery of being without God in this world; or,
Vain prosperity.
1 O, I shall envy them no more
Who grow profanely great,
Tho' they increase their golden store,
And rise to wondrous height.
2 They taste of all the joys that grow
Upon this earthly clod,
Well they may search the creature thro',
For they have ne'er a God.
3 Shake off the thoughts of dying too,
And think your life your own;
But death comes hastening on to you
To mow your glory down.
4 Yes, you must bow your stately head,
Away your spirit flies,
And no kind angel near your bed
To bear it to the skies.
5 Go now, and boast of all your stores,
And tell how bright you shine;
Your heaps of glittering dust are yours,
And my Redeemer's mine.
Hymn 2:57.
The pleasures of a good conscience.
1 Lord, how secure and bless'd are they
Who feel the joys of pardon'd sin!
Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea,
Their minds have heaven and peace within.
2 The day glides sweetly o'er their heads,
Made up of innocence and love;
And soft and silent as the shades
Their nightly minutes gently move.
3 [Quick as their thoughts their joys come on,
But fly not half so fast away;
Their souls are ever bright as noon,
And calm as summer evenings be.
4 How oft they look to th' heavenly hills,
Where groves of living pleasure grow!
And longing hopes and cheerful smiles
Sit undisturb'd upon their brow.]
5 They scorn to seek our golden toys,
But spend the day and share the night
In numbering o'er the richer joys
That heaven prepares for their delight.
6 While wretched we, like worms and moles,
Lie grovelling in the dust below:
Almighty grace, renew our souls,
And we'll aspire to glory too.
Hymn 2:58
The shortness of life, and the goodness of God.
1 Time! what an empty vapour 'tis!
And days how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.
2 [The present moments just appear,
Then slide away in haste,
That we can never say, "They're here,"
But only say, "They're past."]
3 [Our life is ever on the wing,
And death is ever nigh;
The moment when our lives begin
We all begin to die.]
4 Yet, mighty God, our fleeting days
Thy lasting favours share,
Yet with the bounties of thy grace
Thou load'st the rolling year.
5 'Tis sovereign mercy finds us food,
And we are cloth d with love;
While grace stands pointing out the road
That leads our souls above.
6 His goodness runs an endless round;
All glory to the Lord:
His mercy never knows a bound,
And be his Name ador'd!
7 Thus we begin the lasting song,
And when we close our eyes,
Let the next age thy praise prolong
Till time and nature dies.
Hymn 2:59.
Paradise on earth.
1 Glory to God that walks the sky,
And sends his blessings thro',
That tells his saints of joys on high,
And gives a taste below.
2 [Glory to God that stoops his throne
That dust and worms may see't,
And brings a glimpse of glory down
Around his sacred feet.
3 When Christ, with all his graces crown'd,
Sheds his kind beams abroad,
'Tis a young heaven on earthly ground,
And glory in the bud.
4 A blooming paradise of joy
In this wild desert springs;
And every sense I straight employ
On sweet celestial things.
5 White lilies all around appear,
And each his glory shows;
The rose of Sharon blossoms here,
The fairest flower that blows.
6 Cheerful I feast on heavenly fruit,
And drink the pleasures down,
Pleasures that flow hard by the foot
Of the eternal throne.]
7 But ah! how soon my joys decay,
How soon my sins arise,
And snatch the heavenly scene away
From these lamenting eyes!
8 When shall the time, dear Jesus, when
The shining day appear,
That I shall leave those clouds of sin,
And guilt and darkness here?
9 Up to the fields above the skies
My hasty feet would go,
There everlasting flowers arise,
And joys unwithering grow.
Hymn 2:60.
The truth of God the promiser; or,
The promises are our security.
1 Praise, everlasting praise be paid
To him that earth's foundations laid;
Praise to the God whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please.
2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord
Who rules his people by his word,
And there as strong as his decrees
He sets his kindest promises.
3 [Firm are the words his prophets give,
Sweet words on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke and spread the skies abroad.
4 Each of them powerful as that sound
That bid the new-made heavens go round;
And stronger than the solid poles,
On which the wheel of nature rolls.]
5 Whence then should doubts and fears arise,
Why trickling sorrows drown our eyes?
Slowly, alas, our mind receives
The comforts that our Maker gives.
6 O for a strong, a lasting faith
To credit what th' almighty saith!
T' embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own.
7 Then should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.
8 Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,
Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his power sustains.
Hymn 2:61.
A thought of death and glory.
1 My soul, come meditate the day,
And think how near it stands,
When thou must quit this house of clay,
And fly to unknown lands.
2 [And you, mine eyes, look down and view
The hollow gaping tomb,
This gloomy prison waits for you
Whene'er the summons come.]
3 O could we die with those that die,
And place us in their stead,
Then would our spirits learn to fly,
And converse with the dead:
4 Then should we see the saints above
In their own glorious forms,
And wonder why our souls should love
To dwell with mortal worms.
5 [How we should scorn these clothes of flesh,
These fetters and this load!
And long for evening to undress,
That we may rest with God.]
6 We should almost forsake our clay
Before the summons come,
And pray, and wish our souls away
To their eternal home.
Hymn 2:62.
God the thunderer; or,
The last judgment and hell.*
1 Sing to the Lord, ye heavenly hosts,
And thou, O earth, adore,
Let death and hell thro' all their coasts,
Stand trembling at his power.
2 His sounding chariot shakes the sky,
He makes the clouds his throne,
There all his stores of lightning lie,
Till vengeance dart them down.
3 His nostrils breathe out fiery streams,
And from his awful tongue
A sovereign voice divides the flames,
And thunder roars along.
4 Think, O my soul, the dreadful day
When this incensed God
Shall rend the sky, and burn the sea,
And fling his wrath abroad.
5 What shall the wretch the sinner do?
He once defy'd the Lord;
But he shall dread the Thunderer now,
And sink beneath his word.
6 Tempests of angry fire shall roll
To blast the rebel-worm,
And beat upon his naked soul
In one eternal storm.
* Made in a great sudden storm
of thunder, August 20, 1697.
Hymn 2:63.
A funeral thought.
1 Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound,
My ears attend the cry,
"Ye living men, come view the ground
"Where you must shortly lie.
2 "Princes, this clay must be your bed,
"In spite of all your towers;
"The tall, the wise, the reverend head
"Must lie as low as ours."
3 Great God, is this our certain doom?
And are we still secure?
Still walking downward to our tomb,
And yet prepare no more?
4 Grant us the powers of quickening grace
To fit our souls to fly,
Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.
Hymn 2:64.
God the glory and defence of Sion.
1 Happy the church, thou sacred place,
The seat of thy Creator's grace;
Thine holy courts are his abode,
Thou earthly palace of our God.
2 Thy walls are strength, and at thy gates
A guard of heavenly warriors waits;
Nor shall thy deep foundations move,
Fix'd on his counsels and his love.
3 Thy foes in vain designs engage,
Against his throne in vain they rage,
Like rising waves, with angry roar,
That dash and die upon the shore.
4 Then let our souls in Zion dwell,
Nor fear the wrath of Rome and hell:
His arms embrace this happy ground,
Like brazen bulwarks built around.
5 God is our shield, and God our sun;
Swift as the fleeting moments run,
On us he sheds new beams of grace,
And we reflect his brightest praise.
Hymn 2:65.
The hope of heaven our support under trials on earth.
1 When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.
2 Should earth against my soul engage,
And hellish darts be hurl'd,
Then I can smile at Satan's rage,
And face a frowning world.
3 Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall,
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heaven, my all.
4 There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.
Hymn 2:66.
A prospect of heaven makes death easy.
1 There is a land of pure delight
Where saints immortal reign,
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.
2 There everlasting spring abides,
And never withering flowers:
Death like a narrow sea divides
This heavenly land from ours.
3 [Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,
Stand dress'd in living green
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan roll'd between.
4 But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea,
And linger shivering on the brink,
And fear to launch away.]
5 O! could we make our doubts remove,
These gloomy doubts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love,
With unbeclouded eyes!
6 Could 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.
Hymn 2:67.
God's eternal dominion.
1 Great God, how infinite art thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow
And pay their praise to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made;
Thou art the ever-living God
Were all the nations dead.
3 Nature and time quite naked lie
To thine immense survey,
From the formation of the sky
To the great burning day.
4 Eternity with all its years
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there's nothing old appears,
Great God, there's nothing new.
5 Our lives thro' various scenes are drawn,
And vex'd with trifling cares;
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturb'd affairs.
6 Great God, how infinite art thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow
And pay their praise to thee.
Hymn 2:68.
The humble worship of heaven.
1 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 pleasing sight;
But to abide in thine embrace
Is infinite delight.
3 I'd part with all the joys of sense
To gaze upon thy throne;
Pleasure springs fresh for ever thence,
Unspeakable, unknown.
4 [There all the heavenly hosts are seen,
In shining ranks they move,
And drink immortal vigour in,
With wonder and with love.
5 Then at thy feet with awful fear
Th' adoring armies fall
With joy they shrink to _nothing_ there,
Before th' Eternal All.
6 There I would vie with all the host
In duty and in bliss,
While _less than nothing_ I could boast,
And _vanity_ confess.] _[1]_
7 The more thy glories strike mine eyes,
The humbler I shall lie;
Thus while I sink, my joys shall rise
Unmeasurably high.
_[1]_ Isaiah 40:17.
Hymn 2:69.
The faithfulness of God in his promises.
1 [Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some boundless thing,
The mighty works, or mightier name
Of our eternal King.
2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
And sound his power abroad,
Sing the sweet promise of his grace,
And the performing God.
3 Proclaim "salvation from the Lord
"For wretched dying men;"
His hand has writ the sacred word
With an immortal pen.
4 Engrav'd as in eternal brass,
The mighty promise shines;
Nor can the powers of darkness rase
Those everlasting lines.]
5 [He that can dash whole worlds to death
And make them when he please,
He speaks, and that almighty breath
Fulfils his great decrees.
6 His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies,
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.
7 He said, "Let the wide heaven be spread,"
And heaven was stretch'd abroad;
"Abrah'm, I'll be thy God," he said,
And he was Abrah'm's God.
8 O, might I hear thine heavenly tongue
But whisper, "Thou art mine;"
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almost divine.
9 How would my leaping heart rejoice
And think my heaven secure!
I trust the all-creating voice,
And faith desires no more.]
Hymn 2:70.
God's dominion over the sea, Psalm 107. 23 &c.
1 God of the seas, thy thundering voice
Makes all the roaring waves rejoice,
And one soft word of thy command
Can sink them silent in the sand.
2 If but a Moses wave thy rod,
The sea divides, and owns its God:
The stormy floods their Maker knew,
And let his chosen armies thro'.
3 The scaly flocks amidst the sea,
To thee, their Lord, a tribute pay;
The meanest fish that swims the flood
Leaps up, and means a praise to God.
4 [The larger monsters of the deep,
On thy commands attendance keep,
By thy permission sport and play,
And cleave along their foaming way.
5 If God his voice of tempest rears,
Leviathan lies still and fears,
Anon he lifts his nostrils high,
And spouts the ocean to the sky.]
6 How is thy glorious power ador'd,
Amidst those watery nations, Lord!
Yet the bold men that trace the seas,
Bold men, refuse their Maker's praise.
7 [What scenes of miracle they see,
And never tune a song to thee!
While on the flood they safely ride,
They curse the hand that smooths the tide.
8 Anon they plunge in watery graves,
And some drink death among the waves:
Yet the surviving crew blaspheme,
Nor own the God that rescu'd them.]
9 O for some signal of thine hand!
Shake all the seas, Lord, shake the land,
Great Judge, descend, lest men deny
That there's a God that rules the sky.
From the 70th to the 109th Hymn, I hope the
reader will forgive the neglect of the rhyme
in the first and third lines of the stanza.
Hymn 2:71.
Praise to God from all creatures.
1 The glories of my Maker God,
My joyful voice shall sing,
And call the nations to adore
Their Former and their King.
2 'Twas his right-hand that shap'd our clay,
And wrought this human frame,
But from his own immediate breath
Our nobler spirits came.
3 We bring our mortal powers to God,
And worship with our tongues:
We claim some kindred with the skies
And join th' angelic songs.
4 Let groveling beasts of every shape,
And fowls of every wing,
And rocks, and trees, and fires, and seas,
Their various tribute bring.
5 Ye planets, to his honour shine,
And wheels of nature roll,
Praise him in your unwearied course
Around the steady pole.
6 The brightness of our Maker's Name
The wide creation fills,
And his unbounded grandeur flies
Beyond the heavenly hills.
Hymn 2:72.
The Lord's Day; or, The resurrection of Christ.
1 Bless'd morning, whose young dawning rays
Beheld our rising God,
That saw him triumph o'er the dust,
And leave his dark abode.
2 In the cold prison of a tomb,
The dead Redeemer lay,
Till the revolving skies had brought
The third, th' appointed day.
3 Hell and the grave unite their force
To hold our God in vain,
The sleeping Conqueror arose,
And burst their feeble chain.
4 To thy great Name, Almighty Lord,
These sacred hours we pay,
And loud hosannas shall proclaim
The triumph of the day,
5 [Salvation and immortal praise
To our victorious King,
Let heaven, and earth, and rocks, and seas,
With glad hosannas ring.]
Hymn 2:73.
Doubts scattered; or, Spiritual joy restored.
1 Hence from my soul, sad thoughts, be gone,
And leave me to my joys,
My tongue shall triumph in my God,
And make a joyful noise.
2 Darkness and doubts had veil'd my mind,
And drown'd my head in tears,
Till sovereign grace with shining rays
Dispell'd my gloomy fears.
3 O what immortal joys I felt,
And raptures all divine,
When Jesus told me, I was his,
And my Beloved mine.
4 In vain the tempter frights my soul,
And breaks my peace in vain,
One glimpse, dear Saviour, of thy face,
Revives my joys again.
Hymn 2:74.
Repentance from a sense of divine goodness;
or, A complaint of ingratitude.
1 Is this the kind return,
And these the thanks we owe,
Thus to abuse eternal love,
Whence all our blessings flow?
2 TO what a stubborn frame
Has sin reduc'd our mind!
What strange rebellious wretches we,
And God as strangely kind!
3 [On us he bids the sun
Shed his reviving rays,
For us the skies their circles run
To lengthen out our days.
4 The brutes obey their God,
And bow their necks to men,
But we more base, more brutish things
Reject his easy reign.]
5 Turn, turn us, mighty God,
And mould our souls afresh,
Break, sovereign grace, these hearts of stone,
And give us hearts of flesh.
6 Let old ingratitude
Provoke our weeping eyes,
And hourly as new mercies fall
Let hourly thanks arise.
Hymn 2:75.
Spiritual and eternal joys; or,
The beatific sight of Christ.
1 From thee, my God, my joys shall rise,
And run eternal rounds,
Beyond the limits of the skies
And all created bounds.
2 The holy triumphs of my soul
Shall death itself out-brave,
Leave dull mortality behind,
And fly beyond the grave.
3 There, where my blessed Jesus reigns
In heaven's unmeasur'd space,
I'll spend a long eternity
In pleasure and in praise.
4 Millions of years my wondering eyes
Shall o'er thy beauties rove,
And endless ages I'll adore
The glories of thy love.
5 [Sweet Jesus, every smile of thine
Shall fresh endearments bring,
And thousand tastes of new delight
From all thy graces spring.
6 Haste, my beloved, fetch my soul
Up to thy bless'd abode,
Fly, for my spirit longs to see
My Saviour and my God.
Hymn 2:76.
The resurrection and ascension of Christ.
1 Hosanna to the Prince of Light,
That cloth'd himself in clay,
Enter'd the iron gates of death,
And tore the bars away.
2 Death is no more the king of dread
Since our Immanuel rose,
He took the tyrant's sting away,
And spoil'd our hellish foes.
3 See how the Conqueror mounts aloft,
And to his Father flies,
With scars of honour in his flesh,
And triumph in his eyes.
4 There our exalted Saviour reigns,
And scatters blessings down,
Our Jesus fills the middle seat
Of the celestial throne.
5 [Raise your devotion, mortal tongues,
To reach his bless'd abode,
Sweet be the accents of your songs
To our incarnate God.
6 Bright angels, strike your loudest strings,
Your sweetest voices raise,
Let heaven, and all created things,
Sound our Immanuel's praise.]
Hymn 77.
The Christian warfare.
1 [Stand up, my soul, shake off thy fears,
And gird the gospel-armour on,
March to the gates of endless joy
Where thy great Captain-Saviour's gone.
2 Hell and thy sins resist thy course,
But hell and sin are vanquish'd foes,
Thy Jesus nail'd them to the cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.]
3 [What tho' the prince of darkness rage,
And waste the fury of his spite,
Eternal chains confine him down
To fiery deeps, and endless night.
4 What tho' thine inward lusts rebel,
'Tis but a struggling gasp for life
The weapons of victorious grace
Shall slay thy sins, and end the strife.]
5 Then let my soul march boldly on,
Press forward to the heavenly gate,
There peace and joy eternal reign,
And glittering robes for conquerors wait.
6 There shall I wear a starry crown,
And triumph in almighty grace,
While all the armies of the skies
Join in my glorious leader's praise.
Hymn 2:78.
Redemption by Christ.
1 When the first parents of our race
Rebell'd and lost their God,
And the infection of their sin
Had tainted all our blood;
2 Infinite pity touch'd the heart
Of the eternal Son,
Descending from the heavenly court
He left his Father's throne.
3 Aside the Prince of glory threw
His most divine array,
And wrapt his Godhead in a veil
Of our inferior clay.
4 His living power, and dying love
Redeem'd unhappy men,
And rais'd the ruins of our race
To life and God again.
5 To thee, dear Lord, our flesh and soul
We joyfully resign,
Bless'd Jesus, take us for thy own,
For we are doubly thine.
6 Thine honour shall for ever be
The business of our days,
For ever shall our thankful tongue
Speak thy deserved praise.
Hymn 2:79.
Praise to the Redeemer.
1 Plung'd in a gulph of dark despair
We wretched sinners lay,
Without one cheerful beam of hope,
Or spark of glimmering day.
2 With pitying eyes, the Prince of Grace
Beheld our helpless grief,
He saw, and (O amazing love!)
He ran to our relief.
3 Down from the shining seats above
With joyful haste he fled,
Enter'd the grave in mortal flesh,
And dwelt among the dead.
4 He spoil'd the Powers of darkness thus,
And brake our iron chains;
Jesus has freed our captive souls
From everlasting pains.
5 [In vain the baffled prince of hell
His cursed projects tries,
We that were doom'd his endless slaves,
Are rais'd above the skies.]
6 O for this love, let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Saviour's praises speak.
7 [Yes, we will praise thee, dearest Lord,
Our souls are all on flame,
Hosanna round the spacious earth
To thine adored Name.
8 Angels, assist our mighty joys,
Strike all your harps of gold;
But when you raise your highest notes
His love can ne'er be told.]
Hymn 2:80.
God's awful power and goodness.
1 O the Almighty Lord!
How matchless is his power!
Tremble, O earth, beneath his word,
And all the heavens adore.
2 Let proud imperious kings
Bow low before his throne,
Crouch to his feet, ye haughty things,
Or he shall tread you down.
3 Above the skies he reigns,
And with amazing blows
He deals unsufferable pains
On his rebellious foes.
4 Yet, everlasting God,
We love to speak thy praise;
Thy sceptre's equal to thy rod,
The sceptre of thy grace.
5 The arms of mighty love
Defend our Sion well,
And heavenly mercy walls us round
From Babylon and hell.
6 Salvation to the King
That sits enthron'd above;
Thus we adore the God of might,
And bless the God of love.
Hymn 2:81.
Our sin the cause of Christ's death.
1 And now the scales have left mine eyes,
Now I begin to see;
O the curs'd deeds my sins have done!
What murderous things they be!
2 Were these the traitors, dearest Lord,
That thy fair body tore?
Monsters, that stain'd those heavenly limbs
With floods of purple gore?
3 Was it for crimes that I had done
My dearest Lord was slain
When justice seiz'd God's only Son,
And put his soul to pain?
4 Forgive my guilt, O Prince of peace,
I'll wound my God no more;
Hence from my heart, ye sins, be gone,
For Jesus I adore.
5 Furnish me, Lord, with heavenly arms
From grace's magazine,
And I'll proclaim eternal war
With every darling sin.
Hymn 2:82.
Redemption and protection from spiritual enemies.
1 Arise my soul, my joyful powers,
And triumph in my God,
Awake, my voice, and loud proclaim
His glorious grace abroad.
2 He rais'd me from the deeps of sin,
The gates of gaping hell,
And fix'd my standing more secure
Than 'twas before I fell.
3 The arms of everlasting love
Beneath my soul he plac'd,
And on the rock of ages set
My slippery footsteps fast.
4 The city of my bless'd abode
Is wall'd around with grace
Salvation for a bulwark stands
To shield the sacred place.
5 Satan may vent his sharpest spite,
And all his legions roar,
Almighty mercy guards my life,
And bounds his raging power.
6 Arise, my soul, awake, my voice,
And tunes of pleasure sing,
Loud hallelujahs shall address
My Saviour and my King.
Hymn 2:83.
The passion and exaltation of Christ.
1 Thus saith the Ruler of the skies,
"Awake, my dreadful sword;
"Awake, my wrath and smite the man,
"My fellow," saith the Lord.
2 Vengeance receiv'd the dread command,
And armed down she flies,
Jesus submits t' his Father's hand,
And bows his head and dies.
3 But O! the wisdom and the grace
That join with vengeance now!
He dies to save our guilty race,
And yet he rises too.
4 A person so divine was he
Who yielded to be slain,
That he could give his soul away,
And take his life again.
5 Live, glorious Lord, and reign on high,
Let every nation sing,
And angels sound with endless joy
The Saviour and the King.
Hymn 2:84.
The same.
1 Come, all harmonious tongues,
Your noblest music bring,
'Tis Christ the everlasting God,
And Christ the man we sing.
2 Tell how he took our flesh
To take away our guilt,
Sing the dear drops of sacred blood
That hellish monsters spilt.
3 [Alas, the cruel spear
Went deep into his side,
And the rich flood of purple gore
Their murderous weapons dy'd.]
4 [The waves of swelling grief
Did o'er his bosom roll,
And mountains of almighty wrath
Lay heavy on his soul.]
5 Down to the shades of death
He bow'd his awful head,
Yet he arose to live and reign
When death itself is dead.
6 No more the bloody spear,
The cross and nails no more;
For hell itself shakes at his Name,
And all the heavens adore.
7 There the Redeemer sits
High on the Father's throne;
The Father lays his vengeance by,
And smiles upon his Son.
8 There his full glories shine
With uncreated rays,
And bless his saints' and angels' eyes
To everlasting days.
Hymn 2:85.
Sufficiency of pardon.
1 Why does your face, ye humble souls,
Those mournful colours wear?
What doubts are these that waste your faith,
And nourish your despair?
2 What tho' your numerous sins exceed
The stars that fill the skies,
And aiming at th' eternal throne,
Like pointed mountains rise?
3 What tho' your mighty guilt beyond
The wide creation swell,
And has its curs'd foundations laid
Low as the deeps of hell?
4 See here an endless ocean flows
Of never-failing grace,
Behold a dying Saviour's veins
The sacred flood increase:
5 It rises high and drowns the hills,
'T has neither shore nor bound:
Nor if we search to find our sins,
Our sins can ne'er be found.
6 Awake, our hearts, adore the grace
That buries all our faults,
And pardoning blood that swells above
Our follies and our thoughts.
Hymn 2:86.
Freedom from sin and misery in heaven.
1 Our sins, alas, how strong they be!
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