216.

I.

THY

The Day of God.

HY kingdom come-on bended knee
The passing ages pray;

And faithful souls have yearned to see

On earth that kingdom's day.

2. But the slow watches of the night
Not less to God belong,
And for the everlasting Right
The silent stars are strong.

3. And lo! already on the hills
The flags of dawn appear ;

Gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,
Proclaim the day is near:

4. The day in whose clear-shining light
All wrong shall stand revealed,
When justice shall be clothed with might,
And every hurt be healed:

5. When knowledge, hand in hand with peace,
Shall walk the earth abroad,—

217.

I.

The day of perfect righteousness,
The promised day of God.

The Reign of Christ.

C.M.

F. L. Hosmer.

JESUS shall reign where'er the sun

Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2. For Him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown His head;

L.M.

His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

3. Peoples and realms of every tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song,
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.

4. Blessings abound where'er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,

And all the sons of want are blest.

5. Let every creature rise, and bring
Peculiar honours to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen.

Isaac Watts.

218.

I.

WE walk by faith, dear Lord, and not by sight;

We cannot follow where Thy footsteps led,

Nor hear that voice of tenderness and might,

The voice that calmed the storm and raised the

dead.

2. Yet had we known Thee, doubting and weak-hearted,
With thickest veil of worldly thought between,
We might have stood aloof, or soon departed,
And not believed that which our eyes
had seen.

3. But, if we have not seen, and yet believe,
A better blessing Thy dear love imparts,
More than Thine outward presence to receive,—
To find Thy Spirit formed within our hearts.

LONG, long have men lip-homage spent,
Lord Jesus, upon Thee;

Long hath the world eye-service lent
Unto Thy majesty.

2. But ah! dear Lord, with what faint might
Hath Thy true kingdom come!

The sound how loud, the sway how slight
Of Christ in Christendom.

3. Its blood-stained annals, how they mock
The book that tells of Thee!

Its throned oppressors, how they shock
Thy tender majesty !

4. How ill hath persecuting pride
Thy gracious steps pursued!

How oft have ruthless priests belied
Each sweet beatitude!

5. Ah, Holy One! is this Thy reign?
Is this Thy realm, Thy home?
Lord Christ, is this Thine own domain,
This fierce, false Christendom?

6. But still Thou hast a people true,
A realm Thou canst not lose ;

In them, through them, Thy work pursue,
Thy gracious self diffuse!

7. This fierce, false Christendom unmake,
Its pride, its wrath o'ercome !

To Thy blest self the kingdom take,

And make true Christendom !

C.M.

T. H. Gill.

220.

I.

221.

The Unseen Master.

ALL unseen the Master walketh
By the toiling servant's side;
Comfortable words He speaketh
While His hands uphold and guide.

2. Grief nor pain, nor any sorrow

Rends thy heart to Him unknown;
He to-day, and He to-morrow
Grace sufficient gives His own.
3. Holy strivings nerve and strengthen,
Long endurance wins the crown;
When the evening shadows lengthen
Thou shalt lay thy burden down.

The Present Christ.

8.7.8.7.

J. Newton.

1. CHRIST cometh not a king to reign,
The world's long hope is dim;

The weary centuries watch in vain
The clouds of heaven for Him.

2. But warm, sweet, tender, even yet
A present help is He;

And faith has still its Olivet,

And love its Galilee.

3. The healing of His seamless dress

Is by our beds of pain;

We touch Him in life's throng and press,

And we are whole again.

4. O not for signs in heaven above

Or earth below they look,

Who know with John His smile of love,
With Peter His rebuke.

C.M.

5. In joy of inward peace, or sense
Of sorrow over sin,

He is His own best evidence,
His witness is within.

6. The letter fails, the systems fall,
And every symbol wanes :
The Spirit over-brooding all,
Eternal Love, remains.

222.

J. G. Whittier.

Christ Liveth.

1. IMMORTAL by their deed and word
Like Light around them shed,

Still speak the prophets of the Lord,
Still live the sainted dead.

2. The voice of old by Jordan's flood
Yet floats upon the air;

We hear it in beatitude,

In parable and prayer.

3. And still the beauty of that life
Shines star-like on our way,

And breathes its calm amid the strife
And burden of to-day.

4. Earnest of life for evermore,
That life of duty here,―

The trust that in the darkest hour
Looked forth and knew no fear.

5. Spirit of Jesus, still speed on,

Speed on Thy conquering way,
Till every heart the Father own,
And all His will obey.

C.M.

F. L. Hosmer.