Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 22

5 O King of earth, the cross ascend; O'er climes and ages 'tis thy throne; Where'er thy fading eye may bend, The desert blooms and is thine own.

4 Thy parting blessing, Lord, we pray; Make but one fold below, above; And when we go the last, lone way, O, give the welcome of thy love.

132. C. H. M. Mrs. Hemans.

The Agony in the Garden.

1 He knelt; the Saviour knelt and prayed, When but his Father's eye Looked, through the lonely garden's shade, On that dread agony; He poured in prayer his suppliant breath, Bowed down with sorrow unto death.

2 The sun went down in fearful hour; The heavens might well grow dim, When this mortality had power Thus to o'ershadow him; That he who came to save might know The very depths of human woe.

3 He knew them all,--the doubt, the strife, The faint, perplexing dread; The mists that hang o'er parting life All darkened round his head; And the Deliverer knelt to pray; Yet pa.s.sed it not, that cup, away.

4 It pa.s.sed not, though the stormy wave Had sunk beneath his tread; It pa.s.sed not, though to him the grave Had yielded up its dead; But there was sent him, from on high, A gift of strength, for man to die.

5 And was his mortal hour beset With anguish and dismay?

How may we meet our conflict yet In the dark, narrow way?

How, but through him that path who trod?

Save, or we perish, Son of G.o.d!

133. 6 & 10s. M. Bulfinch.

Bearing the Cross.

1 Burden of shame and woe!

How does the heart o'erflow At thought of him the bitter cross who bore!

But we have each our own, To others oft unknown, Which we must bear till life shall be no more.

2 And shall we fear to tread The path where Jesus led, The pure and holy one, for man who died?

Or shall we shrink from shame, Endured for Jesus' name, Our glorious Lord, once spurned and crucified?

3 Then, 'mid the woes that wait On this our mortal state, Patience shall cheer affliction, toil, and loss, And though the tempter's art a.s.sail the struggling heart, Still, Saviour! in thy name we bear the cross.

134. 7s. M. Bulfinch.

The Crucifixion.

1 In the Saviour's hour of death, Bound upon the cross of fear, While his quick and struggling breath Spoke the fatal moment near, While his proud, triumphant foes Mocked the sufferings that he bore, Then his loving spirit rose More sublime than e'er before.

2 He has taught us to forgive, By his words in days gone by; He has taught us how to live; Can he teach us how to die?

Listen! as the cross they raise, One brief prayer ascends to heaven; For his murderers he prays,-- Father, may they be forgiven!

135. P. M. W. J. Fox.

Stabat Mater.

1 Jews were wrought to cruel madness, Christians fled in fear and sadness, Mary stood the cross beside.

2 At its foot her foot she planted, By the dreadful scene undaunted, Till the gentle sufferer died.

3 Poets oft have sung her story; Painters decked her brow with glory; Priests her name have deified;

4 But no worship, song, or glory, Touches like that simple story,-- "Mary stood the cross beside."

5 And when under fierce oppression Goodness suffers like transgression, Christ again is crucified.

6 But if love be there, true-hearted, By no grief or terror parted, Mary stands the cross beside.

136. 7s. M. Bulfinch.

"It Is Finished."

1 It is finished! glorious word From thy lips, our suffering Lord!

Words of high, triumphant might, Ere thy spirit takes its flight.

It is finished! all is o'er; Pain and scorn oppress no more.

2 Now, no more foreboding dread Shades the path thy feet must tread; No more fear, lest in thine hour Pain should patience overpower; On the perfect sacrifice Not a stain of weakness lies.

3 Champion! lay thine armor by; 'Tis thine hour of victory!

All thy toils are now o'erpast; Thou hast found thy rest at last; All hath faithfully been done, And the world's salvation won.

137. P. M. H. Ware.

Easter Hymn.