The Way is Long and Dreary.
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.
Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,
Unworthy though I be,
For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me:
'Tis strung and tuned for endless years,
And form'd by power divine
To sound in God the Father's ears
No other name but Thine.
The Way is Long and Dreary.
ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.
'HE way is long and dreary,
The path is bleak and bare:
Our feet are worn and weary,
But we will not despair.
More heavy was Thy burthen,
More desolate Thy way;
O Lamb of God, who takest
The sin of the world away,
Have mercy on us!
The snows lie thick around us,
In the dark and gloomy night;
And the tempest wails above us,
And the stars have hid their light.
But blacker was the darkness
Round Calvary's Cross that day;
O Lamb of God, that takest
The sin of the world away,
Have mercy on us!
Our hearts are faint with sorrow,
Heavy and sad to bear;
For we dread the bitter morrow,
But we will not despair:
Thou knowest all our anguish,
And Thou wilt bid it cease;
O Lamb of God, who takest
The sin of the world away,
Give us Thy peace!
AVIOUR, when in dust to Thee Low we bow the adoring knee; When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes, Oh, by all Thy pains and woe Suffer'd once for man below, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our solemn litany.
By Thy birth and early years;
By Thy life of want and tears;
By Thy fasting and distress
In the lonely wilderness;
By the dread mysterious hour
Of the subtle tempter's power;
Jesu, look with pitying eye;
Hear our solemn litany.
By the sacred grief that wept
O'er the grave where Lazarus slept;
By the gracious tears that flow'd
Over Salem's loved abode ;
By the mournful word that told
Treachery lurk'd within Thy fold;
Jesu, look with pitying eye;
Hear our solemn litany.
By Thine hour of whelming fear;
By Thine agony and prayer;
By the purple robe of scorn;
By Thy wounds, Thy crown of thorn;
By Thy cross, Thy pangs, and cries;
By Thy perfect sacrifice;
Jesu, look with pitying eye;
Hear our solemn litany.
By Thy deep expiring groan;
By the seal'd sepulchral stone;
By Thy triumph o'er the grave;
By Thy power from death to save;
Mighty God, ascended Lord,
To Thy throne in Heaven restored,
Prince and Saviour, hear our cry;
Hear our solemn litany.
HEN gathering clouds around I view, And days are dark and friends are few, On Him I lean, who not in vain Experienced every human pain; He sees my wants, allays my fears, And counts and treasures up my tears.
If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly wisdom's narrow way;
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the sin I would not do ;
Still He, who felt temptation's power,
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.
If wounded love my bosom swell,
Deceived by those I prized too well;
He shall His pitying aid bestow,
Who felt on earth severer woe;
At once betray'd, denied, or fled,
By those who shared His daily bread.
If vexing thoughts within me rise,
And, sore dismay'd, my spirit dies ;
Still He, who once vouchsafed to bear
The sickening anguish of despair,
Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry,
The throbbing heart, the streaming eye.
When sorrowing o'er some stone I bend,
Which covers what was once a friend,
And from his voice, his hand, his smile,
Divides me for a little while;
Thou, Saviour, mark'st the tears I shed,
For Thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead!
And oh ! when I have safely pass'd
Through every conflict but the last;
Still, still unchanging, watch beside
My painful bed, for Thou hast died!
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear away.
|