CREATION'S ANTHEM. Ye orchards bright in sunniest light with ruddy beauty glow! 'Neath radiant beams ye silver streams, through emerald pastures flow! In purple beauty hang ye grapes with tendrils green entwining! In praise of God, ye corn-fields waive, in golden glory shining! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, Be decked, O skies! in gorgeous dyes of violet, rose, and amber- Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, Through trackless waste, ye comets haste, JEHOVAH's couriers fleet! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, And Satan's legions put to flight, And on the left hand and the right Ye village greens, sweet rural scenes, yield up your slumb'ring clay! Ye sculptur'd urns, your honour'd dead, in minsters old and grey! Ye putrid battle-fields, give up your lusty warriors slain ! Release thy hold, thy captives free, thou chill and moaning main! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, Awake ye dead in Christ, arise! burst from your silent tomb! -[Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD, He comes with might His foes to smite, And Satan's legions put to flight, And on the left hand and the right To claim His broad dominions.] Ye everlasting snow-clad mounts, piercing the bright blue sky- Through ravines steep and caverns deep, your winds and waters roar, CREATION'S ANTHEM. Rejoice, O ye who died in Christ, to meet your promised Lord! Tremble and wail O guilty ones! extortioners, unjust, Idolaters and profligate, who put in gold your trust; Hear ye your dreaded Judge's words-your souls' most awful knell"Now take them up as profitless, and cast them into hell"! Long have ye heard and heard in vain the Saviour's gracious call"Come unto Me ye weary ones I will give rest to all"; "Look unto Me and be ye saved from earth's remotest bound "; And carelessly and sinfully ye heeded not the sound. Now has the time fled by for you by Satan's wiles enslaved, Extol the LORD JEHOVAH, the Sovereign Lord of all; Low at His feet in homage, ye ransomed sinners fall: And praise the SAVIOUR JESUS who died and rose again, And in superbest majesty, for evermore shall reign. And praise the HOLY SPIRIT too, from God and Christ descending, Blest Comforter and Paraclete, with ceaseless hymns ascending, And praise the blessed Trinity, One God in Persons Three; And pay your lowliest homage now beside the Crystal Sea! Rejoice, O Heavens! before the Lord, ye angel choirs rejoice! Be glad, O earth! and shout for joy and lift on high your voice! Before the LORD JEHOVAH who comes in might to reign Ten thousand saints attendant and following in His train : Behold, your God appears in sight! Come, Thou who art this dark world's Light! Come quickly, Satan put to flight! Maintain Thine own and rule in might, O'er all Thy broad dominions! Hallelujah Hallelujah! Come, Lord, Come! THE ALPE AND THE OMEÇA. "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."... "I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." REV. i. 8, 11 (See also chaps. ii. 8, xxi. 6, xxii. 13). I. JESUS, risen from the dead, first-fruits of them that slept The Beginning and the Ending, in the future and the past. Vouchsafe to me Thy guidance now, and graciously indite And feeble though my efforts be and faltering my pen, Let not my words be all unblest to teach my fellow-men; That towards thyself, O Saviour Christ, their hearts may upward soar, II. ACK in the ages of the past, ere time had yet begun, And gloriously the sons of God their praises sweet had sung: Who when the time should be fulfilled, should'st be by sinners slain. And when the centuries have rolled, and Time shall be no more, III. E cannot get within Thy fold, except through Thee, the Door, And when our sins are once forgiven, e'en then Thou need'st must draw; And when affliction chastens us, though grievous at the time, We still would leave our all to Thee, our will submit to Thine: Assured we shall know more of Thee when through the fire we've passed, And if to show our need of Thee, Thou lettest some foul snares Thy love has hover'd o'er us from the moment of our birth, THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. IV. N all the varying moods of life, we still would Thee confess, If fall our tears with boding fears, of gathering clouds portending, And of the sacred chain of love the golden links are rending, In rising up, or lying down, or sitting still or walking, Sleeping or waking, money-making, laying-by or spending, In building up, or casting down, in purchasing or vending, We cannot live without Thee, we need Thee hour by hour; Oh! may we ne'er dishonour Thee by to his snares attending, Thus when our hearts are turned towards Thee in suppliant posture bending, Grant that our light may clearly shine like candles placed on high, By forth to heathen nations far the sacred Scriptures sending, By succouring the needy and the oppress'd defending- V. O be it, Saviour Jesus, the First One and the Last; So be it, blest Redeemer, till with Jordan safely pass'd, On Canaan's strand with Thee we stand, the First One and the Last! |