565. I. 2. Let Thy children, by Thy grace, Till the poor have breathing-space, 3. Wiser than the miser's hoards Sweeter than the song of birds 4. Welcome smiles on faces sad Stewardship. WE give Thee but Thine own, Whate'er the gift may be : All that we have is Thine alone, 2. May we Thy bounties thus As stewards true receive; 3. O hearts are bruised and dead, J. G. Whittier. And lambs, for whom the Shepherd bled, 4. To comfort and to bless, S.M. 566. 5. The captive to release, To God the lost to bring, To teach the way of life and peace, It is a Christ-like thing. 6. And we believe Thy word, Though dim our faith may be ; W. W. How. I. God is Love, and Love is God. ET `TERNAL Love, increase within The love that saves the soul; Subdue each rising pulse of sin, And make us whole. 2. These human hearts in weakness turn 3. Let then Thine inward aid appear, 4. May visions of Thine unseen good And boundless hope. 5. And may we always keep the sight See Love Divine maintain the right, 8.6.8.4. 6. That God is love, and love is God, Only love's heart can know ; The roughest path man ever trod, James Bell. 567. Faith, Hope, and Love. L.M. I. WHAT though our hopes, once fair and bright, Have ended in a darksome night, Faith points us to another morn, 2. What though in age we ne'er enjoy 3. Greater than faith, or hope beside, Is love, which ever must abide. This turns life's wastes to fountains sweet, 4. Thus do these angels, given in life, 568. I. The Kingdom of God on Earth. The Gain of Man. SOMETIMES gleams upon our sight, L.M. Through present wrong, the Eternal Right; And step by step since time began, We see the steady gain of man; 2. That all of good the past hath had 3. We lack but open eye and ear, To find the Orient's marvels here; 4. Through the harsh noises of our day, 5. Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more God's love and blessing, then and there, J. G. Whittier. 569. Hope for Man. 1. THE past is dark with sin and shame, 2. For man has striven ages long With faltering steps to come to Thee, 3. He could not breathe an earnest prayer, And nearer still Thy kingdom seemed. L.M. 570. 4. But never rose within his breast Father, Preserver, answer Thou. 5. 'Tis dark around, 'tis dark above, But through the shadow streams the sun; The Holy Land. T. W. Higginson. I. WE go not on a pilgrimage, As those who went of old; The Holy Land around us lies Of which we have been told. 2. I see it when the morning sun The moon's mild beams, the silent stars 3. In all that's good, in all that's fair, As in the Holy Land of old, 4. And brighter yet, in days to come, 5. We go not on a pilgrimage, C.M. Jones Very. |