Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors][merged small]

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,
And praise, O Earth! the All-adored
Of men of all opinions:

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,
And Satan's legions put to flight,
And on the left hand and the right
To claim His broad dominions.

Be decked, O skies! in gorgeous dyes of violet, rose, and amber-
Each brilliant hue enrich the view of God's own Presence Chamber !
Glitter like gems, ye crystal showers! in ceaseless streams descending!
Don your best robes, ye matchless flowers! and wear them without ending!

Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD,
And praise, O Earth! the All-adored
Of men of all opinions :

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,
And Satan's legions put to flight,
And on the left hand and the right
To claim His broad dominions.

Through trackless waste, ye comets haste, JEHOVAH'S couriers fleet!
Spring from your sockets, silver worlds, dust for JEHOVAH's feet!
Blush crimson deep, proud king of day, as a nobler sun thou greetest,
More pallid grow, fair queen of night, as thy crowned King thou meetest!

Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD,
And praise, O earth! the All-adored
Of men of all opinions:

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,

And Satan's legions put to flight,

And on the left hand and the right
To claim His broad dominions.

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,
And praise, O earth! the All-adored
Of men of all opinions:

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,
And Satan's legions put to flight,
And on the left hand and the right
To claim His broad dominions.

Awake ye dead in Christ, arise! burst from your silent tomb!
Come forth, ye guilty ones, and quail to hear your dreaded doom!
Call not on rocks and mountain-heights to hide you from His view,
For rocks and mountain-heights have now a nobler work to do—

-[Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD,
And praise, O earth! the All-adored
Of men of all opinions :

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,

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-
Ye hoary-headed sentinels-JEHOVAH PASSETH BY!

Through ravines steep and caverns deep, your winds and waters roar,
And loud and strong the hymns prolong that to JEHOVAH Soar !

Rejoice, O Heavens! before the LORD,
And praise, O earth! the All-adored

Of men of all opinions:

He comes with might His foes to smite,
And turn earth's darkest shades to light,

And Satan's legions put to flight,
And on the left hand and the right
To claim His broad dominions.

CREATION'S ANTHEM.

Rejoice, O ye who died in Christ, to meet your promised Lord!
And as ye fearlessly approach, list to His gracious word :—
"Now come ye faithful servants of My Father ever blest
;
YOUR CONFLICTS ARE FOR EVER O'ER: ENTER YE INTO REST.

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,
The harvest past, the summer gone, and ye yourselves unsaved;
And while ye weep in anguish deep the herald angel sings:-
TIME HAS FOR EVER CEASED TO BE, ETERNITY BEGINS!

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 reignTen thousand saints attendant and following in His train:

Behold, your God appears in sight!
Fall down before Him left and right-
Archangels, plume your pinions!

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!

"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).

[graphic]

I.

JESUS, risen from the dead, first-fruits of them that slept
Around whose tombs the watchful guards in vain their vigil kept;
Alpha and Omega Thou art, the First One and the Last-

The Beginning and the Ending, in the future and the past.

Vouchsafe to me Thy guidance now, and graciously indite
Each thought and word that in Thy name I on these pages write;
O kindle in my heart Thy grace, Thy Spirit blest outpour,
That steadfast I may gaze on Thee, and while I gaze, adore!

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,
Who livest and wast dead, but now dost live for evermore.

II.

ACK in the ages of the past, ere time had yet begun,

And gloriously the sons of God their praises sweet had
Thou in Thy Father's bosom eternally had lain,

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,
Then, Saviour, Thou shalt reign alone Thy ransomed servants o'er;
Who while on earth before Thy throne their knees and spirits bend-
The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End!

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;
Preserve us, Saviour, to the end, till life and death be past,
Alpha and Omega for guilt-the First One and the Last.

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,
Alpha and Omega in grief-the First One and the Last!

And if to show our need of Thee, Thou lettest some foul snares
Waylay our path, and trip our feet, and catch us unawares :
Falling, we'll fall upon our knees and keep aloft our heart-
Alpha and Omega, when tried, the First and Last Thou art.

Thy love has hover'd o'er us from the moment of our birth,
And Thy love shall still attend us while we remain on earth;
Oh! give us grace to daily feel this love so pure, so vast-
Alpha and Omega Who art, the First One and the Last.

THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA.

IV.

N all the varying moods of life, we still would Thee confess,
And upward lift our anxious hearts that Thou may'st fully bless :

If fall our tears with boding fears, of gathering clouds portending,
Or deep distress our minds oppress with weighty matters pending:
If when our day is bright and glad, and every prospect shineth,
Affliction makes us weak and sad, and joyousness declineth—

And of the sacred chain of love the golden links are rending,
Thou the Beginning ever art: be evermore the Ending.

In rising up, or lying down, or sitting still or walking,
Eating or drinking, acting, thinking, silently or talking :

Sleeping or waking, money-making, laying-by or spending,
In going out or coming in, in borrowing or lending:
Far from the busy haunts of men, Thy works stupendous viewing,
Or in the plain routine of life our daily course pursuing :

In building up, or casting down, in purchasing or vending,
Thou the Beginning ever be, and ever be the Ending.

We cannot live without Thee, we need Thee hour by hour;
If Thou dost not abide with us, we feel the Tempter's power:

Oh! may we ne'er dishonour Thee by to his snares attending,
Thus with our love to Thee, O Christ! a love for Satan blending:
We would be much in earnest prayer, and taught by Thee to pray :
Results Thine own, our strength alone apportioned to our day:

Thus when our hearts are turned towards Thee in suppliant posture bending,
Thou the Beginning still must be, and Thou must be the Ending.

Grant that our light may clearly shine like candles placed on high,
That men beholding our good works our God may glorify;

By forth to heathen nations far the sacred Scriptures sending,
And thus the love of God in Christ to all around extending :
By comforting the mourners, and by drying weeping eyes,
By kindness to the downcast, and by helping them to rise:

By succouring the needy and the oppress'd defending-
Thou the Beginning evermore, and evermore the Ending.

V.

O be it, Saviour Jesus, the First One and the Last;
Almighty and All-loving, immeasurably vast!

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!
Amen, Amen.

L

« ZurückWeiter »