Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 97

1 Now, host with host a.s.sembling, The victory we win; Lo! on his throne sits trembling That old and giant Sin; Like chaff by strong winds scattered, His banded strength has gone, His charmed cup lies shattered, And still the cry is--"On."

2 Our fathers' G.o.d, our keeper!

Be Thou our strength divine!

Thou sendest forth the reaper, The harvest all is Thine.

Roll on, roll on this gladness, Till, driven from every sh.o.r.e, The drunkard's sin and madness Shall smite the earth no more!

577. L. M. Sargent.

Temperance Hymn.

1 Slavery and death the cup contains; Dash to the earth the poisoned bowl!

Softer than silk are iron chains Compared with those that chafe the soul.

2 Hosannas, Lord, to Thee we sing, Whose power the giant fiend obeys; What countless thousands tribute bring, For happier homes and brighter days!

3 Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, Nor leave the broken heart unbound; The wife regains a husband freed!

The orphan clasps a father found!

4 Spare, Lord, the thoughtless; guide the blind; Till man no more shall deem it just To live by forging chains to bind His weaker brother in the dust.

578. 11 & 10s. M. Whittier.

True Wors.h.i.+p and Undefiled.

1 O, he whom Jesus loved has truly spoken!

The holier wors.h.i.+p, which G.o.d deigns to bless, Restores the lost, and heals the spirit-broken, And feeds the widow and the fatherless.

2 Then, brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother!

For where love dwells, the peace of G.o.d is there; To wors.h.i.+p rightly is to love each other; Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer.

3 Follow, with reverent steps, the great example Of him whose holy work was doing good: So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple, Each loving life a psalm of grat.i.tude.

4 Thus shall all shackles fall; the stormy clangor Of wild war-music o'er the earth shall cease; Love shall tread out the baleful fire of anger, And in its ashes plant the tree of peace.

579. 11s. M. J. G. Adams.

The Angel in the Prison.

1 G.o.d's angels! not only on high do they sing, And soar through our skies with invisible wing; But here, on the earth, where in wretchedness lie Its sin-stricken children to struggle and die.

2 They come, in their mercy and power, to dispel The spectres of gloom from the prisoner's cell; In love's name to say to the stricken one there, That G.o.d still hath ear, and an answer to prayer.

3 And strong grows the heart of the outcast--and soon In that dim prison come the pure light-gleams of noon; The resolve and the faith of the sinner forgiven, Send him back to the world with a heart seeking heaven.

4 G.o.d's angels! Love speed them o'er earth's wide domain!

New aids to impart, and new triumphs to gain; Till the wrathful and wrong from our world shall retire, And humanity's groans in her praises expire.

5 For the promise of truth--though the doubting deny-- Is, that love shall prevail in the earth as on high; Its life-waters healing, wherever they flow, With the angels above, or the angels below.

580. L. M. Aikin.

In Time of War.

1 While sounds of war are heard around, And death and ruin strew the ground, To Thee we look, on Thee we call, The Parent and the Lord of all.

2 Thou, who hast stamped on human kind The image of a heaven-born mind, And in a Father's wide embrace Hast cherished all the kindred race;

3 Great G.o.d! whose powerful hand can bind The raging waves, the furious wind, O bid the human tempest cease, And hush the maddening world to peace.

4 With reverence may each hostile land Hear and obey that high command, Thy Son's blest errand from above-- "My children, live in mutual love!"

581. 7s. M. Mrs. Follen.

Prayer for the Slave.

1 Lord! deliver; Thou canst save; Save from evil, Mighty G.o.d!

Hear--oh! hear the kneeling slave; Break--oh! break th' oppressor's rod.

2 May the captive's pleading fill All the earth, and all the sky; Every other voice be still, While he pleads with G.o.d on high.

3 He, whose ear is everywhere, Who doth silent sorrow see, Will regard the captive's prayer, Will from bondage set him free.

4 From the tyranny within, Save Thy children, Lord! we pray; Chains of iron, chains of sin, Cast, forever cast away.

5 Love to man, and love to G.o.d, Are the weapons of our war; These can break th' oppressor's rod-- Burst the bonds that we abhor.