Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 75

2 Lo, such the child whose early feet The paths of peace have trod; Whose secret heart, with influence sweet, Is upward drawn to G.o.d!

3 O Thou who giv'st us life and breath, We seek Thy grace alone, In childhood, manhood, age, and death, To keep us still Thine own!

445. C. M. Flint's Coll.

Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me.

1 See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand With all-engaging charms!

Hark, how he calls the tender lambs, And folds them in his arms!

2 "Suffer the little ones," he says, "Forbid them not to come; Of such is heaven; and souls like these Shall find in heaven their home."

3 We bring them, Lord, with thankful hands, And yield them up to Thee; Joyful that we ourselves are Thine, Thine let our offspring be!

446. C. M. Briggs' Coll.

Remember Thy Creator in the Days of Thy Youth.

1 Ye joyous ones! upon whose brow The light of youth is shed, O'er whose glad path life's early flowers In glowing beauty spread; Forget not Him whose love hath poured Around that golden light, And tinged those opening buds of hope With hues so softly bright.

2 Thou tempted one! just entering Upon enchanted ground, Ten thousand snares are spread for thee, Ten thousand foes surround: A dark and a deceitful band, Upon thy path they lower; Trust not thine own unaided strength To save thee from their power.

3 Thou whose yet bright and joyous eye May soon be dimmed with tears, To whom the hours of bitterness Must come in coming years; Teach early thy confiding eye To pierce the cloudy screen, To look above the storms of life, Eternally serene.

447. L. M. L. E. Landon.

Feed My Lambs!

1 While yet the youthful spirit bears The image of its G.o.d within, And uneffaced that beauty wears, Which may too soon be stained by sin;

2 Then is the time for faith and love To take in charge their precious care,-- Teach the young heart to look above, Teach the young lips to speak in prayer.

3 The world will come with care and crime, And tempt too oft that heart astray; Still the seed sown in early time Shall not be wholly cast away.

4 The infant prayer, the infant hymn, Within the darkened soul will rise, When age's weary eye is dim, And the grave's shadow round us lies.

5 The infant hymn is heard again, The infant prayer is breathed once more; Reclasping thus the broken chain, We turn to all we loved before.

448. L. M. Anonymous.

A Child's Prayer.

1 Great G.o.d! and wilt Thou condescend To be my Father and my Friend?

I but a child,--and Thou so high, The Lord of earth and air and sky!

2 Art Thou my Father?--Let me be A meek, obedient child to Thee; And try, in word and deed and thought, To serve and please Thee as I ought.

3 Art Thou my Father?--I'll depend Upon the care of such a friend; And only wish to do and be Whatever seemeth good to Thee.

4 Art Thou my Father?--Then, at last, When all my days on earth are past, Send down, and take me, in Thy love, To be Thy better child above.

449. C. M. Mrs. Barbauld.

The Christian Pilgrim.

1 Our country is Immanuel's ground; We seek that promised soil; The songs of Zion cheer our hearts, While strangers here we toil.

2 Oft do our eyes with joy o'erflow, And oft are bathed in tears; But only heaven our hopes can raise, And sin alone, our fears.

3 We tread the path our Master trod; We bear the cross he bore; And every thorn that wounds our feet His temples pierced before.

4 The flowers that spring along the road We scarcely stoop to pluck; We walk o'er beds of s.h.i.+ning ore, Nor waste one wishful look.

5 We purge our mortal dross away, Refining as we run; And while we die to earth and sense, Our heaven is here begun.

450. C. M. Briggs' Coll.

The Spiritual World.

1 There is a world we have not seen, That time can ne'er destroy, Where mortal footstep hath not been, Nor ear hath heard its joy.

2 There is a world,--and O how blest!

Fairer than prophets told; And never did an angel guest One half its peace unfold.

3 And this pure world is ever bright With radiance all its own; The streams of uncreated light Flow round it from the throne.