The Rock of Wisdom; An Explanation of the Sacred Scriptures/Hymns
A WEDDING HYMN.
1. Since Jesus freely did appear
To grace a marriage feast:
To Lord, we ask thy presence here
To make a wedding guest.
2. With gifts of grace their hearts endue,
Who now have plighted their hands:
On every soul assembled here,
O make thy face to shine.
3. As Isaac and Rebecca give
A pattern chaste and kind:
So may this married couple live,
And die in faith divine.
HYMN 1. Long Metre.
1 . Say which of you would see the Lord?
You all may now obtain his grace.
Behold him in the written word !
Where John unveils the Saviour's face
2. Clear as the trumpet's voice he speaks
To every soul that turns his ear;
Amidst the golden candlesticks
He walks, and lo! now he is here.
3. Present to all believing souls
They see him with an eagle eve;
Down to. his feet a garment rolls,
Stained with a glorious crimson die.
4. A golden girdle binds his breast,
Wher'er streams of consolation flow,
Milk for his new born babes, who rest
In him, nor other's comforts know.
5. His form is as the son of man:
His eyes are as a flame of fire;
They dart a sin costuming pain,
And life and joy divine inspire.
8. His spotless purity of soul,
We by a lovely emblem know.
His head and hair are white as wool:
White are they as the dropping snow.
7. Glitter his feet, like polished brass
That long hath in the furnace shown:
Brighter than lightning is his face:
Brighter than the meridian sun.
8. As many waters, sounds his word:
Seven stars he holds in his right hand:
Out of his mouth a two-edged sword
Goes forth before it: who can stand!
9. Lord, at thy feet we fall as dead:
Lay thy right hand upon our souls,
Scatter our fears: thy spirit shed,
And all our unbelief control.
10. Tell us, "I am the first and last:
Who liveth and died for all. Am I!
And lo! my better death is past;
And lo! I live: no more to die.
11. I have the keys of death and hell.
Amen." Thy record we receive.
And wait till thou our spirits seal,
And all in all forever live.
HYMN 2. Common Metre.
1. Let every mortal e're attend,
And every heart rejoice.
The trumpet of the gospel sound.
With an inviting voice.
2. Ho, all ye hungry, starving souls
That feed upon the wind,
And vainly strive with earthly toys
To fill an empty mind.
3. Eternal wisdom has prepared
A soul reviving feast,
And bids your longing appetite
The rich provision taste.
4. Ho ye, that pant for living streams,
And pine away and die,
Here you may quench your raging thirst,
With springs that never dry.
7. Rivers of love and mercy here,
In a rich ocean join.
Salvation in abundance flows
Like floods of milk and wine.
6. Come naked, and adorn your soul
In robes prepared by God,
Wrought by the labors of his son,
And died in his own blood.
7. The happy gates of gospel grace
Stand open night and day.
Lord, we have come to seek supply
And drive our wants away.
HYMN 4. Short Metre.
1 . See what a living stone
The builders did refuse,
Yet God hath built his church thereon
In spite of envious Jews.
2. The Scribes and angry Priests
Reject thine only son,
Yet on this rock shall Zion rest,
As the chief corner stone.
3. The work, O Lord, is thine,
And wonders in our eyes,
This day declares it all divine:
This day did Jesus rise.
4. This is the glorious day
That our Redeemer made,
Let us rejoice and sing and pray:
Let all the church be glad.
5. Hosannah to the King
Of David's royal blood;
Bless him, ye saints, he comes to bring
Salvation from your God.
6. We bless thy holy word.
Which all his grace displays,
And offer on thine altar, Lord,
Our sacrifice of praise.
HYMN C. Long Metre.
1. Life is the time to serve the Lord:
The time to insure the great reward:
And while the lamp holds out to burn.
The vilest sinner may return.
2. Life is the hour that God has given,
To escape from hell and fly to heaven:
The day of grace, and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.
3. The living know that they must die:
But all the dead forgotten lie;
Their memory and their sense is gone,
Alike unknowing and unknown.
4. Their hatred and their love is lost:
Their envy buried in the dust:
They have no share in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the sun.
5. Then what my thoughts design to do,
My hands with all your might pursue:
Since no device, nor work is found,
Nor faith, nor hope, beneath the ground:
6. There is no acts of pardon past
In the cold grave to which we haste:
But darkness, death and long despair
Reign, in eternal silence there.
HYMN 7.
1. Day of judgment—day of wonder.
Hark! the trumpet's awful sound,
Louder than a thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round,
How the Summons!
Will the sinners heart confound!
2. See the Judge, our nature wearing
Cloth'd in majesty divine.
Ye who long for his appearing;
Then shall I say this God is mine:
Gracious Saviour
Own me in that day for thine.:
3. At his call the dead awaken:
Arise to life from earth and sea,
All the powers of nature shaken.
By his look prepare to fly:
Careless sinners
What will then become of thee!
4. Horrors past imagination,
Will surprise your trembling heart
When you hear your condemnation,
"Hence accursed wretch, depart!
Thou with Satan
And his angels has thy part!
5. But to those who have confessed,
Loved and served the Lord helow,
He will say come, come near ye blessed,
See the kingdom I bestow,
You forever
Shall my love and glory know.
6. Under sorrows and reproaches,
May this thought our courage raise.
Swiftly God's great day approaches;
Sighing shall then be changed to praise,
May we triumph
When the world is in a blaze!
HYMN 8. Long Metre.
1. How great, how terrible that God,
Who shakes creation with his rod—
He frowns—earth, sea—all nature's frame,
Sinks in one universal flame.
2. Where now, O! whence shall sinners seek
For shelter in the general wreck!
Shall falling rocks be o'er them thrown?
See rocks like snow, dissolving down.
3. Methinks the last great day is come:
Methinks I hear the trumpet sound,
That shakes the earth—rends every tomb,
And wakes the prisoners under ground.
4. Lord, when these awful leaves unfold
,
May life's fair book, my soul approve:
There may I read my name enrold,
And triumph in redeeming love.
5. Jesus, the helpless creature's friend,
To thee my all, I dare commend,
Thou can'st preserve my feeble soul,
When lightnings blaze from pole to pole.
HYMN 9. Common Metre.
1. Let Zion's watchmen all awake
And take the alarm they give:
Now let them from the mouth of God,
The awful charge receive.
2.'Tis not a cause of small import,
The pastor's care demands,
But what might fill an angel's heart:
And fill a Saviour's hand.
3. They watch for souls for which the Lord
Did heavenly bless'd forego:
For souls which must forever live
In raptures or in wo!
4. All to the great tribunal haste,
Their account to render there,
And should'st thou strictly mark our faults.
Lord, where should we appear!
5. May they that Jesus, whom they preach.
Their own Redeemer see,
And watch thou daily o'er their souls.
That they may watch for thee.
HYMN 10. Common Metre.
1. Lo! what a glorious sight appears
To our believing eyes!
The earth and see are passed away,
And the old rolling skies.
2. From the third heavens where God resides:
That holy and happy place,
The New Jerusalem comes down,
Adorned with shining grace.
3. Attending angels shout for joy,
And the bright armies sing,
"Mortals, behold! the sacred seat
Of your descending King."
4. My shepard is the living Lord,
Now shall my wants be well supplied,
His providence and holy word
Becomes my safety and my guide.
5. In pastures where salvation grow,
He makes me food—he makes me rest—
There living waters gently flow,
And all the food divinely blessed.
6. My wandering feet his ways mistake,
But he restores my soul to peace,
And leads me for his mercy's sake,
In the fair path of righteousness.
7. Though I walk through the gloomy vale.
Where death and all its terrors are,
My heart and hope shall never fail:
For God, my Shepard,'s with me there.
8. His own soft hand shall wipe the tear
From every weeping eye,
And pains and groans, and grief and fear,
And death itself shall die.
9. How long, dear Saviour, O! how loner
Shall this bright hour delay?
Fly swift around ye wheels of time,
And bring the welcome day.
HYMN 11. Common Metre.
1. My Shepard will supply my needs:
Jehovah is his name!
In pastures fresh, he makes me feed
Beside the living streams.
2. He brings my wandering spirit back,
When I forsake his ways,
And leads me for his mercy's sake
In paths of truth and grace.
3. When I walk through the shades of death,
Thy presence is my stay.
A word of thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
4. Thy hand, in sight of all my foes
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflow
Thine oil-annointing head.
5. The sure provision of my God
Attends me all my days;
O, may thy house be mine abode,
And all my works be praise.
6. To each the covenant blood apply
Which takes our sin away,
And registers our names on high,
And keep us to that day.
7. There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger nor a guest:
But like a child at home.
HYMN 12. Of the Christian's Barbarity.
1. Was stolen and sold from Africa,
Imported to America:
Like the brute beasts at market sold.
To stand the heat and bear the cold.
When will Jehovah hear our cries!
And free the sons of Africa.
2. They bear the lash—endure the pain—
Forced through frost, hail, snow and rain,
And often-night sleep on the ground,
No freedom till, the grave is found,
We pray Jehovah will hear our cries,
And relieve the sons of Africa.
3. Working all day and half the night,
And up before the morning light;
Exposed to hardships, heat and cold,
And if they beg they meet with scold.
We pray Jehovah to plead our cause,
And put in force his righteous laws.
4. Their skins are dark, their hair is short:
Shall dying men make them trade and sport
In sorrow draging iron chains;
Depriv'd of all the rights of men.
O, great Redeemer, view their wrong,
And grant them aid e'er it be long.
5. But He that rides upon the storms,
Whose voice in thunder rolls along:
In his own time will make a way
To relieve the oppressed of Africa.
O, Prince of Glory be their friend!
And keep them faithful to the end.
HYMN. Long Metre.
1. Thy name, Almighty Lord,
Shall sound through distant lands;
Great is thy grace, and sure is thy word
Thy truth forever stands.
2. Far be thine honor spread,
And long thy praise endure,
Till morning light and evening shade,
Shall be exchanged no more.
HYMN 13. Common Metre.
1. La! wisdom stands with smiling face,
And courts us to her arms:
Who can resist the wondrous grace,
And slight her powerful charms!
2. She, gen'rous, holds out to our sight
Riches which shall endure:
Not sparkling rubies half so bright:
Nor finest gold so pure.
3. Eternal pleasures fill her train:
Pleasures that never decay.
Come drink of bliss unmixed with pain,
And haste celestial joy.
4. Immortal crowns she now displays,
And thrones beyond the skies;
Accept her blessing while she stays,
And seize the glorious prize.
HYMN 14.
1. Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims
For all the pious dead;
Sweet is the Saviour of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
2. They die in Jesus and are bless'd;
How kind their slumbers are,
From sufferings and from sin released,
And freed from every snare.
3. Far from this world of toil and strife.
They're present with the Lord;
The labors of their mortal life
End in a large reward.
HYMN 15.
1. These glorious souls, how bright they shine!
Whence all. their white array!
How come they to the happy seats
Of everlasting day!
2. From torturing pains to endless joys,
On fiery chariots they ride,
And strangely wash'd their raiment white
In Jesus' dying blood.
3. Now they approach their Lord,
And bow before his throne,
Their warbling harps and-sacred songs
Adore the Holy One.
4. The unveiled glories of his face,
Among his saints reside,
While the rich treasures of his grace,
Sees all their wants supplied.
5. Tormenting thirst shall leave their souls
And hanger flee as fast;
The fruit of life's immortal tree,
Shall be their sweet repast.
HYMN 16.
1. Death may dissolve my body now,
And bear my spirit home;
Why do my minutes move so slow?
Nor my salvation come.
2. With heaveuly weapons I have fought
The battles of the Lord;
Finish' d my course and kept the faith
And wait the sure reward.
3. God has laid up in heaven for me,
A crown which cannot fade;
The righteous Judge at that great day,
Shall place it on my head.
4. Nor hath the King of grace decreed,
This, prize for me alone;
But all that love and long to see,
The appearance of his Son.
5. Jesus the Lord shall guard me safe
From every ill design,
And to his heavenly kingdom take
This feeble soul of mine.
6. God is way everlasting aid
And hell shall rage in vain;
To Him be highest glory paid,
And endless praise. Amen.