ACROSS the sky the shades of night

This winter's eve are fleeting:
We come to Thee the Life and Light,
In solemn worship meeting;
And as the year's last hours go by
We lift to Thee our earnest cry,

Once more Thy love entreating.
Before Thee, Lord, subdued we bow,
To Thee our prayers addressing;
Recounting all Thy mercies now,
And all our sins confessing;
Beseeching Thee, this coming year,
To hold us in Thy faith and fear,

And crown us with Thy blessing.
And while we kneel, we lift our eyes
To dear ones gone before us,
Safe housed with Thee in Paradise,
Their spirits hovering o'er us;
And beg of Thee, when life is past,
To re-unite us all, at last,

And to our lost restore us.

4 We gather up, in this brief hour,

The memory of Thy mercies;
Thy wondrous goodness, love, and

[skies.

Our journey pursue,

With vigour arise,

Ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.-Matthew xxv. 13.

COME, let

us anew

Our journey pursue, Roll round with the year,

Our hearts and our treasure already are

6 We march hand in hand

To Immanuel's land;

No matter what cheer

pear.

2 His adorable will

Let us gladly fulfil,
And our talents improve,

By the patience of hope and the labour of love.

3 Our life is a dream;

Our time, as a stream
Glides swiftly away;

And the fugitive moment refuses to stay.

4 The arrow is flown,

The moment is gone;
The millennial year

Rushes on to our view, and eternity's here.

5 O that each in the day Of His coming may say,,

'I have fought my way through;

near.

7 The rougher our way,

The shorter our stay;

The tempests that rise

me to do.'

6 O that each from his Lord May receive the glad word, 'Well and faithfully done;

skies.

Charles Wesley. 1749.

throne.'

Charles Wesley. 1750.

His name to glorify;

And promise, in this sacred hour,
For God to live and die.

3 The covenant we this moment make, Be ever kept in mind;

We will no more our God forsake,
Or cast His words behind.

4 We never will throw off His fear,
Who hears our solemn vow;
And if Thou art well pleased to hear,
Come down and meet us now.

5 Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Let all our hearts receive;
Present with the celestial host,
The peaceful answer give.

6 To each the covenant blood apply,
Which takes our sins away;
And register our names on high,
And keep us to that day. Amen.
Charles Wesley. 1762.

0

James v. 11.

GOD! how often hath Thine ear To me in willing mercy bowed; While worshipping Thine altar near, Lowly I wept, and strongly vowed; But ah! the feebleness of man, Have I not vowed and wept in vain ? 2 Return, O Lord of hosts! return, Behold Thy servant in distress; My faithlessness again I mourn;

Again forgive my faithlessness; And to Thine arms my spirit take, And bless me for the Saviour's sake. 3 In pity for the soul Thou lov'st, Now bid my hateful sin expire; Let me desire what Thou approv'st, Thou dost approve what I desire; And Thou wilt deign to call me Thine, And I will dare to call Thee mine.

4 This day the covenant I sign,

The bond of sure and promised peace; Nor can I doubt its power divine,

Since sealed with Jesu's blood it is; That blood I trust, that blood alone, And make the covenant peace mine own.

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C.M.

3 Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame, From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same.

4 A thousand ages, in Thy sight,
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.

5 The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their cares and fears,
Are carried downward by the flood,
And lost in following years.

6 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

7 O God! our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come;
Be Thou our guard while life shall last,
And our eternal home. Amen.

Isaac Watts. 1719.

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Psalm xc. 9.

FEW more years shall roll,

A few more seasons come,

And we shall be with those that rest
Asleep within the tomb:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day;

O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

2 A few more suns shall set

O'er these dark hills of time,

And we shall be where suns are not,
A far serener clime:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that blest day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

3 A few more storms shall beat
On this wild rocky shore,

And we shall be where tempests cease,
And surges swell no more :
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that calm day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

4 A few more struggles here,

A few more partings o'er,

A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that bright day
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

5 A few more Sabbaths here

Shall cheer us on our way,

And we shall reach the endless rest,
The eternal Sabbath-day:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that sweet day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

6 'Tis but a little while
And He shall come again,

Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with Him may reign:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that glad day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away. Amen.
Horatius Bonar. 1856.

And gay their silken leaves unfold,
As careless of the noontide heats,
As fearless of the evening cold.

2 Nipt by the wind's unkindly blast,
Parched by the sun's directer ray,
The momentary glories waste,

The short-lived beauties die away.

3 So blooms the human face divine, When youth its pride of beauty shows;

Fairer than spring the colours shine, And sweeter than the virgin rose.

4 Or worn by slowly-rolling years, Or broke by sickness in a day, The fading glory disappears,

The short-lived beauties die away.

5 Yet these, new rising from the tomb, With lustre brighter far shall shine; Revive with ever-during bloom,

Safe from diseases and decline.

6 Let sickness blast, and death devour, If heaven must recompense our pains: Perish the grass, and fade the flower, If firm the word of God remains. Samuel Wesley, Jun. 1729.