XXXVIII.

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

PREPARE ye the way of the Lord,

And straight make the paths of our God!

For, lo! by his life-giving Word,

To Zion he'll open the road.

Exalted shall be every vale,

Each hill and each mountain brought low:

The righteous his presence shall hail,

Before Him all nations shall bow.

The crooked shall then be made straight,
The rough places easy and plain;
The humble before Him shall wait,

Nor wait shall they ever in vain.

In

mercy

the Lord shall then come

To Zion, the place of his rest; His chosen ones all to call home,

In glory to dwell with the blest.

XXXIX.

ON THE DEPARTURE OF M. M.

"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

PARTING spirit, fare thee well!

Haste thee to the realms above;

There the grace of Jesus tell,

There declare his wondrous love.

How from sorrow and from sin,

He redeemed thee with his blood;

How He taught thy heart within,
To depend alone on God.

In his all-sufficient merits,

How He bade thee to rely:

How, through Him, thou now inherits

Rest and peace, and joy on high.

Parting spirit, fare thee well!

Haste thee to the realms above;
There the grace of Jesus tell,
There declare his wondrous love.

G

XL.

"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand."

HOW gracious, Lord, are all thy ways!
How sweet thy pardoning love!

O grant that I may spend my days
In prayer, thanksgiving, and in praise,

And every hour improve!

For, oh! how sweet those hours all are,—

How swift the moments flee!

The days are all divinely fair,

When in thy temple, and in prayer,

We lift our souls to Thee!