The Book of Praise.

PART THE FOURTH.

SONGS OF THE HEART.

I.

THE CALL.

"Rise; He calleth thee."—(MARK X. 49.)

CCCXXII.

Child of sin and sorrow,

Fill'd with dismay,
Wait not for to-morrow,
Yield thee to-day!

Heaven bids thee come

While yet there's room:
Child of sin and sorrow,

Hear, and obey!

Child of sin and sorrow,
Why wilt thou die?

Come, while thou canst borrow

Help from on high!
Grieve not that love
Which from above,

Child of sin and sorrow,

Would bring thee nigh!

Thomas Hastings. [1842.]

CCCXXIII.

Poor child of sin and woe,

Now listen to thy Father's pleading voice;
No longer need'st thou go
Without a friend to bid thy heart rejoice.

I know thou canst not rest

Until thou art from guilt and sorrow free;
Earth cannot make thee blest;

Come, bring thy suffering, bleeding heart to Me.

How often, in the hour

Of weariness, would I have succoured thee!
But thou didst spurn the power,

And scorn the heart that loved so tenderly.

Oh, what on earth appears

To comfort thy distress and heal thy grief,
To dry thy bitter tears,

And offer thy poor sinking soul relief?

Thy life of sin has been

A toilsome path, without one cheering ray;
Now on thy Father lean,
And He will guide thee in a better way.

Come, leave the desert land,

And all the husks on which thy soul has fed;
And trust the faithful Hand

That offers thee a feast of living Bread.

O sinner! 'tis the voice

Of One, who long has loved and pitied thee!
He would thy heart rejoice,

And set thee from all sin and suffering free.

Oh, canst thou turn away?
It is thy Father that invites thee near !
Nay, sinner! weep and pray!

And Heaven shall hail the penitential tear! Eliza Fanny Morris. 1858.

CCCXXIV.

Return, O wanderer, to thy home;

Thy Father calls for thee:
No longer now an exile roam,
In guilt and misery:
Return, return!

Return, O wanderer, to thy home;

'Tis Jesus calls for thee:

The Spirit and the Bride say, Come:
O now for refuge flee;
Return, return!

Return, O wanderer, to thy home ;
'Tis madness to delay;

There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy's day :

Return, return!

Thomas Hastings. [1842.]

CCCXXV.

Haste, traveller, haste! the night comes on,

And many a shining hour is gone;

The storm is gathering in the west,

And thou art far from home and rest;

Haste, traveller, haste!

O far from home thy footsteps stray;
Christ is the Life, and Christ the Way;
And Christ the Light, thy setting Sun,
Sinks ere thy morning is begun ;

Haste, traveller, haste!

Awake, awake! pursue thy way
With steady course, while yet 'tis day;
While thou art sleeping on the ground,
Danger and darkness gather round;

Haste, traveller, haste!

The rising tempest sweeps the sky;
The rains descend, the winds are high;
The waters swell, and death and fear
Beset thy path, nor refuge near;

Haste, traveller, haste!

O yes! a shelter you may gain,
A covert from the wind and rain,
A hiding-place, a rest, a home,
A refuge from the wrath to come;

Haste, traveller, haste!

Then linger not in all the plain,
Flee for thy life, the mountain gain;
Look not behind, make no delay,
O speed thee, speed thee on thy way;

Haste, traveller, haste!

Poor, lost, benighted soul! art thou
Willing to find salvation now?

There yet is hope; hear mercy's call;

Truth! Life! Light! Way! in Christ is all!

Haste to Him, haste!

William Bengo Collyer. [1829.]

CCCXXVI.

Just as thou art, without one trace
Of love or joy or inward grace,
Or meetness for the heavenly place,

O guilty sinner, come!

Burden'd with guilt, wouldst thou be blest?
Trust not the world, it gives no rest;
Christ brings relief to hearts opprest;
O weary sinner, come!

Come, leave thy burden at the cross;
Count all thy gains but worthless dross;
His grace o'erpays all earthly loss;

O needy sinner, come !

Come hither! bring thy boding fears,
Thy aching heart, thy bursting tears;
'Tis Mercy's voice salutes thine ears;

O trembling sinner, come !
Anon. [1862.]

CCCXXVII.

REV. xxii. 17.

Sweet is the Spirit's strain;

Breath'd by soft pleadings inly heard,
By all the heart's deep fountains stirr'd,
By conscience, and the written Word;
Come, wanderers, home again!