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CHAPTER X.

REMARKS ON VARIOUS HYMNS, CONCLUDED.

HYMNS 561, 601, 649 are noble and instructive compositions, addressed respectively to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They are valuable, as embodying many scriptural ideas as to that, which belongs specially and peculiarly to each of the distinct persons of the godhead.

Hymns 564, 565, 566 are an elegant paraphrase of that sublime devotional piece, so admirably adapted to public worship-Te Deum laudamus.

The hymns in Section I. of the Supplement, 561 to 600, are in general well adapted for public worship, and may be used with advantage in the great congregation. There is however in some of them one fault, which ought to be noticed; that is, the entire absence of any reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, or to the glorious work of redemption, or to the benefits of that redemption as realized by the believer. Some of them are hymns, such as might be sung by the holy angels, or such as might have been sung by Adam previous to his fall. If for instance we refer to that fine composition of

Addison, Hymn 592, we find it abounding in noble sentiments, grateful acknowledgments of the divine goodness, and devout resolutions to praise and glorify God. But is it not strange, that the poet, while referring to the various displays of the divine benevolence, and enumerating some of the blessings bestowed upon him by a bountiful God, never once refers to the inestimable gift of God's only-begotten Son, never alludes to the glorious work of human redemption? He does indeed speak of dangers, toils and deaths, and of the pleasing snares of vice; but there is no expression whatever, conveying any idea that man is a polluted and guilty creature, or that he needs the pardon of his sins and a change of heart. This hymn therefore, though excellent, as far as it goes, is chargeable with a capital defect, an unpardonable omission. It needs to have some such hymn as 595, or 640, or 37 appended to it, in order to make it suitable to a Christian congregation. It does not either directly or indirectly recognize Him, who is the only way of access to the Father, the only medium of intercourse between the just and holy God, and his guilty and polluted creatures, without whom neither will our praises be accepted nor our prayers be answered.

Our hymns of praise to Almighty God should always be formed somewhat on the model of that admirable thanksgiving in our national

liturgy, which teaches us to bless God for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life, but above all, for his inestimable love in the redemption of the world, by our Lord Jesus Christ. Minor blessings ought not to be forgotten; but we should ever acknowledge the gift of the Saviour, and the redemption of the world through him, as the most amazing display of the divine benevolence, and as claiming from us the most ardent gratitude, the most lively praises, and the most devout consecration of all our ransomed powers to the service of our Heavenly Father. The same inexcusable deficiency appears in other compositions of considerable poetical merit; as in Hymns 567, 765; where, if the authorship were unknown, one would hardly suspect that they were written by a Christian.

The hymns on the incarnation of Christ, 602 to 605, and those on his characters as the light of the gentiles, the light of the world, Immanuel, God with us, 606 to 609, are fine specimens of sacred poetry, and present to us almost every idea, that can be legitimately connected with those most interesting topics.

Hymn 613 on the crucifixion, is solemn, grand and dignified, well adapted to the subject. Hymns 614, 615, 619 refer to the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, as mere types or emblems of the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ, when he expired on Calvary.

Hymn 616 is an instructive and encouraging composition, in the same cheerful and lively metre as Hymns 160, 205, 558. It teaches the poor helpless sinner, how he may avail himself of the provisions of redeeming mercy, and, by faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, secure a present pardon and salvation.

Hymns 617, 618, 621, 622, 623 are all very excellent, both in sentiment and in language.

Hymn 624 beautifully takes up the idea of the rock cleft, as applicable to the Redeemer of the world, and expresses the believer's determination to renounce every other plea, and to depend solely on the atonement of Christ, for pardon and eternal life.

Hymn 625 is a very lively and spirited compoposition; in which, without indulging in any unscriptural fancies or speculations, the poet endeavours to shew how the holy angels have been instructed and benefitted by the glorious scheme of human redemption. The scene so graphically described in verse 4, we may conceive to be something like what actually occurred, when the Redeemer entered with his glorified body into the courts of heaven. If at the time of his first appearance in our world, when he was just entering on his all-important work, the Father had said-Let all the angels of God worship him; now, that he had finished that work, having made atonement for all the sins of

all mankind, and was returning to his native skies, to resume the glory which for a time he had laid aside, and to present his human nature among the tenants of those blissful regions, it is reasonable to suppose that the holy angels would hail his return, and hasten to pay their homage to him, whom they acknowledge as their Creator and their Lord. In verse 5 we have a bold and striking passage—

"The wounds, the blood! they heard its voice,

That heighten'd all their highest joys."

For ascribing a voice to the blood of Christ, our poet has the authority of the apostle (Heb. xii. 24); and the fine hyperbole in the next line may remind us of some noble lines of Milton, who introduces Satan as saying

"And in the lowest deep, a lower deep,

Still threatening to devour me, opens wide."

And we have another parallel in the saying of the apostle, who calls himself less than the least of all saints.

In the close of this admirable hymn, the poet, having spoken of the inconceivable happiness of the angels, says

"But all your heaven, ye glorious powers,

And all your God is doubly ours."

Yes; as redeemed sinners, we have, so to speak, a double claim to all these blessings. We expect