Practical Improvement of Baptism.
1 ATTEND, ye children of your God,
Ye heirs of glory, hear;
Let accents so divine as these
Engage the attentive ear:-
2 Baptized into your Saviour's death,
Your souls to sin must die;
With Christ your Lord ye live anew,
With Christ ascend on high.
3 Rise from these earthly trifles; rise, On wings of faith and love;
In heaven your choicest treasure lies,
And be your hearts above.
On leaving an ancient Church.
1 HERE to the High and Holy One,
Our fathers early reared
A house of prayer, a lowly one,
Yet long to them endeared
By hours of sweet communion
Held with their covenant God,
As oft, in sacred union,
His hallowed courts they trod.
2 Gone are the pious multitudes,
That here kept holy time;
In other courts assembled now
For worship more sublime.
Their children, we are waiting
In meekness, Lord, thy call;
Thy love still celebrating,
Our hope, our trust, our all.
3 These time-worn walls, the resting-place,
So oft from earthly cares,
To righteous souls now perfected,
We leave with thanks and prayers:
With thanks, for every blessing
Vouchsafed through all the past;
With prayers, thy throne addressing
For guidance to the last.
4 Though from this house, so long beloved,
We part with sadness now,
Yet here, we trust, with gladness soon
In fairer courts to bow:
So when our souls forsaking
These bodies, fallen and pale,
In brighter forms awaking,
With joy the change shall hail.
On laying the Foundation Stone of a Church.
1 THIS stone to thee in faith we lay,
We build the temple, Lord, to thee;
Thine eye be open, night and day,
To guard this house and sanctuary.
2 Here, when thy people seek thy face,
And dying sinners pray to live,
Hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place,
And, when thou hearest, O forgive!
3 Here, when thy messengers proclaim
The blessed gospel of thy Son,
Still, by the power of his great name,
Be mighty signs and wonders done.
4 Hosanna! to their heavenly King,
When children's voices raise that song,
Hosanna! let their angels sing,
And heaven with earth the strain prolong.
5 But will indeed Jehovah deign
Here to abide, no transient guest?
Here will the world's Redeemer reign,
And here the Holy Spirit rest?
6 That glory never hence depart!
Yet choose not, Lord, this house alone;
Thy kingdom come to every heart,
In every bosom fix thy throne.
On opening a new Place of Worship.
1 AND will the great eternal God
On earth establish his abode ?
And will he from his radiant throne
Avow our temples for his own?
2 We bring the tribute of our praise,
And sing that condescending grace,
Which to our notes will lend an ear,
And call us sinful mortals near.
3 These walls we to thy honor raise:
Long may they echo with thy praise;
And thou, descending, fill the place
With choicest tokens of thy grace.
4 Here let the great Redeemer reign, With all the graces of his train, While power divine his word attends, To conquer foes, and cheer his friends. 5 And in the great decisive day, When God the nations shall survey, May it before the world appear
That crowds were born to glory here.
On opening a Place for Worship. 1 LORD of hosts, to thee we raise Here a house of prayer and praise; Thou thy people's heart prepare Here to meet for praise and prayer.
2 Let the living here be fed With thy word, the heavenly bread; Here, in hope of glory blest,
May the dead be laid to rest.
3 Here to thee a temple stand,
While the sea shall gird the land;
Here reveal thy mercy sure,
While the sun and moon endure.
4 Hallelujah!-earth and sky
To the joyful sound reply;
Hallelujah!-hence ascend
Prayer and praise till time shall end.
Dedication of a House of Worship.
1 0 BOW thine ear, Eternal One!
On thee our heart adoring calls;
To thee the followers of thy Son
Have raised, and now devote these walls.
2 Here let thy holy days be kept;
And be this place to worship given,
Like that bright spot where Jacob slept,
The house of God, the gate of heaven.
3 Here may thine honor dwell; and here,
As incense, let thy children's prayer,
From contrite hearts and lips sincere,
Rise on the still and holy air.
4 Here be thy praise devoutly sung;
Here let thy truth beam forth to save,
As when, of old, thy spirit hung
On wings of light o'er Jordan's wave.
5 And when the lips, that with thy name
Are vocal now, to dust shall turn,
On others may devotion's flame
Be kindled here, and purely burn.
532. L. M.
Dedication Hymn.
1 THE perfect world by Adam trod,
Was the first temple-built by God;
His fiat laid the corner stone,
And heaved its pillars, one by one.
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