VIII.

PATIENCE.

"Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord."-JAMES V. 7.)

CCCC.

When languor and disease invade
This trembling house of clay,
'Tis sweet to look beyond the cage,
And long to fly away.

Sweet to look inward, and attend
The whispers of His love;
Sweet to look upward to the place
Where Jesus pleads above.

Sweet to look back, and see my Name
In Life's fair book set down;
Sweet to look forward, and behold

Eternal joys my own.

Sweet to reflect, how Grace Divine
My sins on Jesus laid ;

Sweet to remember, that His Blood
My debt of sufferings paid.

Sweet on His Righteousness to stand
Which saves from second death;
Sweet to experience, day by day,
His Spirit's quickening breath.

Sweet on His faithfulness to rest,
Whose love can never end;
Sweet on His covenant of grace
For all things to depend.

Sweet in the confidence of faith

To trust His firm decrees; Sweet to lie passive in His hand, And know no will but His.

Sweet to rejoice in lively hope,

That, when my change shall come,
Angels will hover round my bed,
And waft my spirit home.

There shall my disimprison'd soul
Behold Him, and adore;
Be with His Likeness satisfied,
And grieve and sin no more;

Shall see Him wear that very Flesh
On which my guilt was lain;
His Love intense, His Merit fresh,
As though but newly slain !

Soon, too, my slumbering dust shall hear
The Trumpet's quickening sound;
And, by my Saviour's Power rebuilt,
At His right hand be found.

These eyes shall see Him in that day,
The God that died for me!
And all my rising bones shall say,
Lord, who is like to Thee?

If such the views which grace unfolds,
Weak as it is below,

What raptures must the Church above
In Jesus' Presence know!

If such the sweetness of the stream,
What must the Fountain be,

Where saints and angels draw their bliss
Immediately from Thee!

O! may the unction of these truths
For ever with me stay,

Till, from her sinful cage dismiss'd,

My spirit flies away!

Augustus Montague Toplady. 1777.

CCCCI.

We're bound for yonder land
Where Jesus reigns supreme;
We leave the shore at His command,
Forsaking all for Him.

The perils of the sea,

The rocks, the waves, the wind, Are small, whatever they may be, To those we leave behind.

Nor have we cause to fear;
The God, who rules the sea,
In every danger will be near,
And our protector be.

The Lord Himself will keep
His people safe from harm,
Will hold the helm, and guide the ship,
With His Almighty arm.

Then let the tempests roar,
The billows heave and swell;

We trust to reach the peaceful shore

Where all the ransom'd dwell:

And, when we gain the land,
How happy shall we be !

How shall we bless the mighty Hand

That led us through the sea!

Thomas Kelly. 1809.

CCCCII.

Rejoice, though storms assail thee;
Rejoice, when skies are bright;
Rejoice, though round thy pathway
Is spread the gloom of night:
If the good hope be in thee
That all at last is well,

Then let thy happy spirit
With joyful feelings swell!

Look back on early childhood,
And let thy soul rejoice!
Who then upheld thy goings,
And tuned thy feeble voice?
Look back on youth's gay visions
When life one glory seem'd:
Who pour'd those rays of gladness
Which on thy prospect beam'd?

Recall the hours of anguish,
And let thy soul rejoice,
Though wave on wave of sorrow
Rush on with fearful noise:
Was not the Bow of Promise

Still seen amidst the gloom,
Shedding its hallow'd lustre

E'en round the silent tomb?

Rejoice, rejoice for ever,

Though earthly friends be gone! For silently and swiftly

The wheels of time roll on ; And still they bear thee forward Nearer that happy shore, While the triumphant song is,

Rejoice for evermore !

Anon. [1853.

CCCCIII.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be

Nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear
Steps unto Heaven;
All that Thou send'st to me

In mercy given ;

Angels to beckon me

Nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer to Thee!