4 But tim'rous mortals start and shrink,
To cross this narrow sea;
And linger, shivering on the brink,
And fear to launch away.
5 O! could we make our doubts remove
Those gloomy doubts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love,
With unbeclouded eyes!
6 Could we but stand, as Moses stood,
And view the prospect o'er,
Not Jordan's streams, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore!
1 Far from these scenes of night
Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of infinite delight,
Unknown to mortal eyes.
2 There sickness never comes;
There grief no more complains ;
Health triumphs in immortal bloom,
And purest pleasure reigns.
3 No strife, nor envy there
The sons of peace molest ;
But harmony, and love sincere,
Fill every happy breast.
4 No cloud those regions know,
For ever bright and fair;
For sin, the source of mortal woe,
Can never enter there.
5 There night is never known,
Nor sun's faint, sickly ray;
But glory from th' eternal throne
Spreads everlasting day.
6 O! may this prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love
And lively faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.
Heaven the reward of faithful servants.
1 There is a glorious world on high,
Resplendent with eternal day;
Faith views the blissful prospect nigh,
While God's own word reveals the way.
2 There shall the servants of the Lord
With never-fading lustre shine;
Surprising honour, vast reward,
Conferr'd on man by love divine.
3 The shining firmament shall fade,
And sparkling stars resign their light;
But these shall know no change, nor shade,
For ever fair, for ever bright.
4 On wings of faith and strong desire,
O may our spirits daily rise;
And reach at last the shining choir,
In the bright mansions of the skies!
Consolation for the loss of pious friends.
1 Why weep for those, frail child of woe, Who've fled and left thee mourning here? Triumphant o'er their latest foe,
They glory in a brighter sphere.
2 Weep not for them ;-beside thee now
Perhaps they watch with guardian care,
And witness tears that idly flow
O'er those who bliss of angels share.
3 Or round their Father's throne, above, With raptur'd voice, his praise they sing, Or on his messages of love,
They journey with unwearied wing.
4 Space cannot check, thought cannot bound The high exulting souls whom he,
Who form'd these million worlds around,
Takes to his own eternity.
5 Weep, weep no more; their voices raise
The song of triumph high to God,
And wouldst thou join their song of praise,
Walk humbly in the path they trod.
The reunion of virtuous friends after death.
1 Bless'd hour, when virtuous friends shall meet,
Shall meet to part no more, And with celestial welcome greet, On an immortal shore.
2 The parent finds the long-lost child;
Brothers on brothers gaze;
The tear of resignation mild
Is changed to joy and praise.
3 And while remembrance, ling'ring still,
Draws joy from sorrowing hours;
New prospects rise, new pleasures fill
The soul's expanded powers.
4 Congenial minds, array'd in light,
High thoughts shall interchange ;
Nor cease, with ever-new delight,
On wings of love to range.
5 Their Father marks their generous flame,
And looks complacent down;
The smile that owns their filial claim
Is their immortal crown.
HYMN CCCXVII.
Aspirations after heaven.
1 From this world's joys and senseless mirth, O come, my soul! in haste retire;
Assume the grandeur of thy birth,
And to thy native heaven aspire.
2 'Tis heaven alone can make thee blest,
Can every wish and want supply;
Thy joy, thy crown, thy endless rest,
Are all above the lofty sky.
3 There shall mortality no more
Its wide extended empire boast;
Forgotten all its dreadful power,
In life's unbounded ocean lost.
4 There dwells the sov'reign Lord of all,
The God that all the worlds adore;
With whom is bliss that cannot pall,
And joys that last for evermore.
Final acceptance of all who fear God.
1 From north and south, from east and west,
Advance the myriads of the blest;
From every clime of earth they come,
And find in heaven a common home.
2 Howe'er divided here below,
One bliss, one spirit, now they know;
And, all their doubts and darkness o'er,
One only Parent now adore.
3 On earth, according to their light,
They aim'd to practise what was right;
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