he that believeth on me, shall never thirst.” John vi. 35.

My soul shall make it her employ

To testify of Thee;

Whose blessing gives increasing joy,

From every sorrow free.

And gladly every power unite

To spread this truth abroad;

They who would taste unmix'd delight,
Must know the LOVE of GOD."

WEEK V I.

FIRST DAY.

"THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD SHALL RETURN, AND COME TO ZION WITH SONGS, AND EVERLASTING JOY UPON THEIR HEADS."-Isa. xxxv. 10.

Who sings of Joy?—who bids the golden strings
Wake to the waving of her bounding wings?
Joy took its flight from earth when Adam fell,
And where can joy with Adam's children dwell?
Her home is heaven, and her Lord is there;
Upon his eye, his footstep, she attends,
Lives in his smile; and where he condescends
To fix his palace, there doth joy repair.

Yet earth has joys, as earth can testify;
By fancy pictured to the eager eye;
And in the ear of inexperience sung
In syren strains, with fascinating tongue;
But still evading the deluded mind,

Grasp'd, they dissolve-and leave no trace behind.

Rais'd in a moment, perishing as fast;
A passing beam upon a vapour cast;
The wandering gleams of an illusive fire,
Which sparkle to mislead, and then expire;
Shall joys like these call forth the glowing strain?
That heart may sing of joy, which can its joy retain.

Christian! draw near, thou canst awake
The chords of joy to themes of praise ;
Sweet melody of music make

Within thine inmost soul, and raise

That oft-repeated, glad, and grateful song,
Which oft repeated, thou canst still prolong.

Yes-thou hadst joy, when truth divine
Sealed grace, and peace, and mercy thine;
When beaming on thy raptured mind,
JEHOVAH'S radiant glory shined;
And kindled there, refulgent, bright,
Joy's inextinguishable light.

In sorrow, Joy has tun'd thy lyre,
And bade thee heavenward aspire;
And she has thy companion been

Through many a bright and glorious scene;

Nor will she leave thee,

Even now,

land;

Throughout this weary

Her coronet is on thy brow,

Her harp is in thy hand;

Strike, then, O strike the golden strings,
And sing the Name divine;

From whence thy joy perennial springs
The seraphs' LORD-and thine.

Sing the unfathomable love,

The wisdom, truth, and grace;

Of Him who left his throne above,
To take the sinner's place :

Removed the cup

of grief from thee,

And drank its deepest woe;

And bade thy soul, from sorrow free,

His joy for ever know:

He is thy joy, HE is thy praise,

Who did thy soul redeem ;

And He shall be to endless days
Thine unexhausted theme:

That Fount of purest pleasure knows

Nor changes, nor alloy;

The joy that from HIS PRESENCE FLOWS
IS EVERLASTING JOY.

SECOND DAY.

"THEY SHALL COME TO ZION WITH SONGS, AND EVERLASTING JOY UPON THEIR HEADS."-Isa. xxxv. 10.

The righteous and the wicked; or, in other words, the people of God and the people of the world, have each their joys and their sorrows: some in common, as human beings, and some peculiar to themselves, as a distinct and separate people. But there is one great and important distinction, and it is a most solemn and affecting consideration, that the sorrows of the Christian, however numerous, however deep, shall be swallowed up in everlasting joy; whereas the pleasures