345.

7. All hues, all harmonies divine,

The holy earth about,

Their souls will send forth into mine,

My soul to widen out.

8. And thus the great earth I shall hold
A perfect gift of Thine;
Richer by these, a thousand-fold,
Than if broad lands were mine.

George Macdonald.

Christian Discipleship and Service.

The Heavenward Call.

1. WHAT shall I do, my Lord, my God,

To make my life worth more to Thee?
Within my heart, through earth abroad,
Deep voices stir and summon me.

2. Through strange confusions of the time
I hear Thy beckoning call resound:
There is a pathway more sublime
Than yet my laggard feet have found.

3. My coward heart, my flagging feet,

They hold me in bewildering gloom :
Come Thou my stumbling steps to meet,
And lift me unto larger room!

4. The dearest voice may lead astray :

Speak Thou! Thy word my guide shall be,

Oh, not from life and men away,

But through them, with them, up to Thee

5. It is not much these hands can do:

Keep Thou my spirit close to Thine,

Till every thought Thy love throbs through,
And all my words breathe truth divine!

L.M.

6. With souls that seek Thy pure abode,
my unfaltering soul aspire!
Make me a radiance on the road;

Let

A bearer of Thy sacred fire!

Lucy Larcom.

346.

1. HOW

The Consecrated Road.

OW shall I follow Him I serve?
How shall I copy Him I love?

Nor from those blessèd footsteps swerve
Which lead me to His seat above?

2. Privations, sorrows, bitter scorn,
The life of toil, the mean abode,
The faithless kiss, the crown of thorn,
Are these the consecrated road?

3. 'Twas thus He suffered, though a Son,
Foreknowing, choosing, feeling all,
Until the perfect work was done,
And drunk the cup of bitter gall.

4. Lord, should my path through suffering lie,
Forbid that I should e'er repine;

Still let me turn to Calvary,

Nor heed my griefs, remembering Thine.

L.M.

Josiah Conder.

347.

Following Christ.

1. THOU say'st "Take up thy cross,
O man, and follow me:"

The night is black, the feet are slack,
Yet we would follow Thee.

S.M.

2. But O, dear Lord, we cry,

That we Thy face could see!
Thy blessed face one moment's space→
Then might we follow Thee!

3. Dim tracts of time divide

Those golden days from me;

The voice comes strange o'er years of change;
How can I follow Thee?

4. Comes faint and far Thy voice
From vales of Galilee ;

Thy vision fades in ancient shades;
How should we follow Thee?

5. Ah, sense-bound heart and blind,
Is nought but what we see?
Can time undo what once was true,
Can we not follow Thee?

6. O heavy cross-of faith

In what we cannot see!

As once of yore, Thyself restore,
And help to follow Thee!

7. If not as once Thou cam'st,

In true humanity,

Come yet as guest within the breast

That burns to follow Thee.

8. Within our heart of hearts

In nearest nearness be:

Set up Thy throne within Thine own :—

Go, Lord: we follow Thee.

F. T. Palgrave.

348.

I.

349.

I.

Against Self-complacency.

NOT when, with self dissatisfied,

O Lord, I lowly lie,

So much I need Thy grace to guide,
And Thy reproving eye,—

2. As when the sound of human praise
Grows pleasant to my ear,
And in its light my broken ways
Fair and complete appear.

3. By failure and defeat made wise,
We come to know at length
What strength within our weakness lies,
What weakness in our strength.

4. What inward peace is born of strife,
What power, of being spent ;
What wings unto our upward life
Is noble discontent.

5. O Lord, we need Thy shaming look
That burns all low desire;

The discipline of Thy rebuke
Shall be refining fire!

C.M.

F. L. Hosmer.

The Will of God.

WORSHIP Thee, sweet Will of God!

And all Thy ways adore:
And every day I live, I long

To love Thee more and more.

C. M.

2. Thou wert the end, the blessed rule,
Of Jesu's toils and tears;

Thou wert the passion of His heart
Those three and thirty years.

3. I love to kiss each print where Thou
Hast set Thine unseen feet;
I cannot fear Thee, holy Will,
Thine empire is so sweet.

4. Oh, do Thou breathe into my soul
A special love of Thee-

A love to lose my will in Thine,
And by that loss be free.

5. I have no cares, O blessed Will!
For all my cares are Thine;
I live in triumph, Lord! for Thou
Hast made Thy triumphs mine.
6. When obstacles and trials seem
Like prison walls to be,

I do the little I can do,

And leave the rest to Thee.

7. And when it seems no chance or change
From grief can set me free,

Hope finds its strength in helplessness,
And gaily waits on Thee.

8. Ride on, ride on triumphantly,
Thou glorious Will! ride on;
Faith's pilgrim sons behind Thee take
The road that Thou hast gone.

9. Ill that God blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;

And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.

F. W. Faber.