Above the world and all its cares, above the joys of life,

Above the giddy heedless crowd, above all sinful

strife;

Above the search of human ken, above the sinner's

road,

Above all happiness on earth-'tis in the love of God! A love which fire can never touch, nor many waters

drown;

A love which shall procure for me a bright immortal

crown!

COMMIT THY WAY TO GOD.

COMMIT thy way to God,

The weight which makes thee faint,

Worlds are to Him no load,

To Him breathe thy complaint.

He who for winds and clouds
Maketh a pathway free,
Through wastes or hostile crowds,
Will make a way for thee.

Thou must in Him be blest,
Ere bliss can be secure,
On His work must thou rest
If thy work shall endure.
To anxious, prying thought,
And weary fretting care,
The Highest yieldeth nought,
He giveth all to prayer.

BELL.

Father! Thy faithful love,
Thy mercy, wise and mild,
Sees what will blessing prove,

Or what will hurt Thy child.
And what Thy wise foreseeing
Doth for Thy children choose,
Thou bringest into being,

Nor sufferest them to lose.

All means always possessing,
Invincible in might,

Thy doings are all blessing,
Thy goings are all light.
Nothing Thy work suspending,
No foe can make Thee pause,
When Thou, Thine own defending,
Dost undertake their cause.

Hope then, though woes be doubled,
Hope, and be undismayed;
Let not thy heart be troubled,
Nor let it be afraid.

This prison where thou art,

Thy God will break it soon,
And flood with light thy heart,
In His own blessed noon.

Up, up! the day is breaking,
Say to thy cares good night!
Thy troubles from thee shaking,
Like dreams in day's fresh light,

Thou wearest not the crown,

Nor the best course canst tell;

God sitteth on the throne,

And guideth all things well.

Trust Him to govern, then,

No Kings can rule like Him;
How wilt thou wonder when,
Thine eyes no more are dim;
To see these paths which vex thee,
How wise they were and meek,
The works which now perplex thee,
How beautiful complete.

Faithful the love thou sharest,
All, all is well with thee!
The crown from hence thou bearest,
With shouts of victory.

In thy right hand to-morrow,
Thy God shall place the palm,
To Him who chased thy sorrow,
How glad will be thy psalm.

From the German of PAUL GERHARDT.

LEAD ON.

THOU who hast led me hitherto,

Still lead me on.

E'en step by step, life's changeful journey through, My guide alone.

My path has devious been and wild;

Thou knowest it well;

In youth, in after years, e'en from a child,
How oft I fell.

I would not take my Father's hand,
Nor heed His call;

Leant on my own poor staff-a fragile wand:
He saw me fall.

As oft I fell, so oft He raised
Me from the ground;

Awhile His grace I sang, and Him I praised
To all around.—

Leant on His hand-His eye my guide;
Said, “Lead me on,”

Nor ever let me quit Thy sheltering side,
Thou gracious One!

Yet, oh how false this changeful heart!
Again-again-

From Him, my Guide, my loving Guide, I start,
Foolish and vain.

Yet, oh! forgive me still, nor leave
Thy child alone!

Let not the world for aye deceive,

But lead me on!

From "The Jewel and Star."

THE BORDER LAND.

These lines were sent by a lady to a friend who wrote frequently to know where she had been for several months, that she had not written to her. She had been to the gates of the grave in a long and severe illness.

I HAVE been to a land, a Border Land,

Where there was but a strange, dim light;
Where shadows and dreams, in a spectral band,
Seemed real to the aching sight.

I scarce bethought me how there I came,
Or if thence I should pass again;

Its morning and night were marked by the flight,
Or coming, of woe and pain.

But I saw from this land, this Border Land,
With its mountain ridges hoar,

That they looked across to a wondrous strand,
A bright and unearthly shore.

Then I turned me to Him, "the Crucified,"
In most humble faith and prayer,

Who had ransomed with blood my sinful soul,
For I thought He would call me there.

Yet nay for awhile in the Border Land
He bade me in patience stay,

And gather rich fruits with a trembling hand;
Whilst He chased its glooms away:
He had led me amid those shadows dim,
And shown that bright world so near,
To teach me that earnest trust in Him
Is "the one thing needful" here.