Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 17

2 Watchman! tell us of the night, Higher yet the star ascends; Traveller! blessedness and light, Peace and truth, its course portends.

Watchman! will its beams alone Gild the spot that gave them birth?

Traveller! ages are its own; See, it bursts o'er all the earth.

3 Watchman! tell us of the night, For the morning seems to dawn; Traveller! darkness takes its flight; Doubt and terror are withdrawn.

Watchman! let thy wanderings cease; Hie thee to thy quiet home; Traveller! lo! the Prince of Peace, Lo! the Son of G.o.d, is come.

103. 11s. M. Drummond.

"Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord!"

1 A Voice from the desert comes awful and shrill; The Lord is advancing; prepare ye the way!

The word of Jehovah he comes to fulfil, And o'er the dark world pour the splendor of day.

2 Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven, And be the low valley exalted on high; The rough path and crooked be made smooth and even, For, Zion! your King, your Redeemer, is nigh.

3 The beams of salvation his progress illume, The lone, dreary wilderness sings of her G.o.d; The rose and the myrtle there suddenly bloom, And the olive of peace spreads its branches abroad.

104. 8 & 7s. M. Gaskell.

The Dayspring From on High.

1 Darkness o'er the world was brooding Sadder than Egyptian gloom; Souls by myriads lay in slumber Deep as of the sealed tomb.

2 Earth had lost the links which bound it To the throne of light above; Yet an eye was watching o'er it, And that eye was full of love.

3 Like a glorious beam of morning, Straight a ray pierced through the cloud, Spirits mightily awakening From their dark and heavy shroud.

4 Still that ray s.h.i.+nes on and brightens, Chasing mist and gloom away; Happy they on whom it gathers With its full and perfect day!

105. C. M. Patrick.

The Nativity.

1 While shepherds watched their flocks by night, All seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down, And glory shone around.

2 "Fear not," said he,--for mighty dread Had seized their troubled mind,-- "Glad tidings of great joy I bring To you and all mankind.

3 "To you, in David's town, this day Is born, of David's line, The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord; And this shall be the sign:

4 "The heavenly babe you there shall find To human view displayed, All meanly wrapped in swathing bands, And in a manger laid."

5 Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith Appeared a s.h.i.+ning throng Of angels, praising G.o.d, who thus Address their joyful song:

6 "All glory be to G.o.d on high, And to the earth be peace!

Good-will henceforth, from heaven to men, Begin and never cease!"

106. C. M. E. H. Sears.

The Birth-Song of Christ.

1 Calm on the listening ear of night Come heaven's melodious strains, Where wild Judea stretches far Her silver-mantled plains!

2 Celestial choirs from courts above Shed sacred glories there; And angels, with their sparkling lyres, Make music on the air.

3 The answering hills of Palestine Send back the glad reply; And greet, from all their holy heights, The dayspring from on high.

4 O'er the blue depths of Galilee There comes a holier calm, And Sharon waves, in solemn praise, Her silent groves of palm.

5 "Glory to G.o.d!" the sounding skies Loud with their anthems ring, "Peace to the earth, good-will to men From heaven's Eternal King!"

6 Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!

The Saviour now is born!

And bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains Breaks the first Christmas morn.

107. P. M. Mrs. Hemans.

Hymn for Christmas.

1 O Lovely Voices of the sky, Which hymned the Saviour's birth, Are ye not singing still on high, Ye that sang, "Peace on earth"?

To us yet speak the strains, Wherewith, in time gone by, Ye blessed the Syrian swains,-- O Voices of the sky!

2 O clear and s.h.i.+ning Light, whose beams, That hour, heaven's glory shed Around the palms, and o'er the streams, And on the shepherds' head!

Be near, through life and death, As in that holiest night Of hope, and joy, and faith; O clear and s.h.i.+ning Light!

3 O Star which led to Him whose love Brought down man's ransom free!

Where art thou?--'midst the host above May we still gaze on thee?

In heaven thou art not set, Thy rays earth may not dim; Send them to guide us yet, O Star which led to Him!