4 All glory to God, who ruleth on high,
And now hath bestow'd, and sent from the sky,
Christ Jesus, the Saviour, lost sinners to bless,
The pledge of his favour, the seal of his peace.
175.
1 ANGELS! from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship-
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
2 Shepherds! in the fields abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night;
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant light :
Come and worship-
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
3 Sages! leave your contemplation,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations,
Ye have seen his natal star :
Come and worship-
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
4 Saints! before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord descending,
In his temple shall appear :
Come and worship-
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
5 Sinners! wrung with true repentance,
Doom'd for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you-break your chains :
Come and worship-
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
176. SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
1 BESTOW, O Lord, upon our youth
The gift of saving grace,
And let the seed of sacred truth
Fall in a fruitful place.
2 Grace is a plant, where'er it grows,
Of pure and heavenly root,
But fairest in the youngest shows,
And yields the sweetest fruit.
3 Ye careless ones, O hear betimes
The voice of sov'reign love;
Your youth is stain'd with many crimes,
But mercy reigns above.
4 True, you are young, but there's a stone
Within the youngest breast,
Or half the crimes which you have done
Would rob you of your rest.
5 For you the public prayer is made,
Oh join the public prayer;
For you the secret tear is shed,
Oh shed yourselves a tear !
6 We pray that you may early prove
Your Saviour's power to teach,
You cannot be too young to love,
Too low his ear to reach.
THE EPIPHANY, PSALM XLVII.
177. THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER.
1 ABASH'D be all the boast of age,
Be hoary learning dumb,
Expounder of the mystic page
Behold an infant come.
2 O wisdom, whose unfading power
Beside the Eternal stood,
To frame in Nature's earliest hour
The land, the sky, the flood.
3 Yet didst thou not disdain awhile
An infant form to wear,
To bless thy mother with a smile,
And lisp thy falter'd prayer.
4 But in thy Father's own abode,
With Israel's elders round,
Conversing high with Israel's God,
Thy chiefest joy was found.
5 So may our youth adore thy name,
And Saviour! deign to bless
With fostering grace the timid flame
Of early holiness.
178. SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER.
1 JESUS comes with all his grace,
Comes to save a fallen race,
Object of our glorious hope
Jesus comes to lift us up.
2 He hath our salvation wrought,
He our captive souls hath bought,
He hath reconciled to God,
He hath wash'd us in his blood.
3 We are now his lawful right,
Walk as children of the light,
May we soon obtain the grace
Pure in heart to see his face.
4 Seek we then our calling's prize,
After God we all may rise,
Fill'd with joy, and love, and peace,
Perfected in holiness.
5 Let us then rejoice in hope,
Steadily to Christ look up,
Trust to be redeem'd from sin,
Endure till he be form'd within.
6 Fools and madmen let us be,
Yet is our sure trust in thee,
Faithful is the promised word,
We shall all be as our Lord.
7 Hasten, Lord, the perfect day,
When thy every saint shall say
I have now obtain'd the power,
Born of God to sin no more.
1 O GOD, whose sun shines far around
O'er every distant land,
Where'er the tribes of men are found,
Beneath thy fostering hand:
2 Whose rain diffuses verdure green,
And makes the earth to spring,
Where useless sands before were seen
Which noxious serpents bring.
3 Behold, O Lord, thy works abroad,
And see the human race
Still vexed by sin's oppressive load,
And banish'd from thy face.
4 O send to all thy saving light,
And take the veil away,
That they may see thy Gospel bright
Which leads to endless day.
5 In barren wastes let springs appear,
And trees abundant grow,
To them let heathens wild draw near,
And there thy goodness know.
6 That standing by the friendly tree
Thy heralds they may find,
And taste the grace that flows from thee,
To save and bless mankind.
1 DECEIVED by subtle snares of hell,
Adam our head, our Father fell,
When Satan in the serpent hid
Proposed the fruit that God forbid.
2 Death was the threat'ning: death began
To take possession of the man,
His unborn race received the wound,
And heavy curses smote the ground.
3 But Satan found a worse reward,
Thus saith the vengeance of the Lord,
"Let everlasting hatred be
Betwixt the woman's seed and thee.
4 The woman's seed shall be my Son,
He shall destroy what thou hast done,
Shall break thy head, and only feel
Thy malice raging at his heel."
5 He spake: and bid four thousand years-
Roll on; at length his Son appears,
Angels with joy descend to earth,
And sing the young Redeemer's birth.
6 Lo, by the sons of hell he dies,
But as he hung 'twixt earth and skies,
He gave their Prince a fatal blow,
And triumph'd o'er the powers below.
ASH WEDNESDAY, PSALM VI.
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, PSALM XXV.
SECOND SUNDAY, PSALM XXXVIII.
THIRD, (OR HYMN 181), PSALM LI.
FOURTH SUNDAY, PSALM LXIX.
FIFTH SUNDAY, PSALM CXXX.
SIXTH, (OR HYMN 182), PSALM CXLIII.
+ Luke xvii. 7. Which of you having a servant plowing, or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and bye when he is come from the field, "Go, sit down to meat," and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant, &c. i. e. We are Christ's servants, not for a stated time, but for ever, and bought by him with a goodly price, and can therefore render no service for which he has not already paid.
From this intimation of our Lord probably arose the custom of Christian fasting, as we frequently read in the Acts. "They ministered unto the Lord, and fasted," or in plain words, postponed their own business and pleasure till the service of their Master was accomplished. Hence the ancient rule of the Church to abstain from food on fast days till after the evening service.
In the early times fasting was carried to an extent which would seriously injure the weaker constitutions of the present day, as has been found by experience. On the other hand, there is no doubt that most of the diseases which affect all classes above the labouring poor, are caused by over-eating, and consequently over-sleeping. The beneficial effects produced by moderate fasting, on the health,
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