The trying hour will soon be past;
Rejoice, for lo! I quickly come
To take thee to my heav’nly home.
V
“A pillar there no more to move,
Inscribed with all my names of love,
A monument of mighty grace,
Thou shalt for ever have a place.”
VI
Such is the conqueror’s reward,
Prepared and promised by the Lord!
Let him that hath the ear of faith,
Attend to what the Spirit saith.
140
Laodicea
By Newton
Revelation 3:14–20.
I
Hear what the Lord, the great Amen,
The true and faithful Witness, says;
He form’d the vast creation’s plan,
And searches all our hearts and ways.
II
To some he speaks as once of old,
“I know thee, thy profession’s vain;
Since thou art neither hot nor cold.,
I’ll spit thee from me with disdain.
III
“Thou boasted, ‘I am wise and rich,
Increased in goods and nothing need;’
And dost not know thou art a wretch,
Naked and poor and blind and dead.
IV
“Yet while I thus rebuke I love,
My message is in mercy sent;
That thou may’st my compassion prove,
I can forgive if thou repent.
V
“Wouldst thou be truly rich and wise!
Come, buy my gold in fire well tried,
My ointment to anoint thine eyes,
My robe thy nakedness to hide.
VI
“See, at thy door I stand and knock!
Poor sinner, shall I wait in vain?
Quickly thy stubborn heart unlock,
That I may enter with my train.
VII
“Thou canst not entertain a king,
Unworthy thou of such a guest!
But I my own provisions bring,
To make thy soul a heavenly feast.”
141
The Little Book.18
By Newton
Revelation 10.
I
When the beloved disciple took
The angel’s little open book,
Which by the Lord’s command he eat,
It tasted bitter after sweet.
II
Thus when the gospel is embraced,
At first ’tis sweeter to the taste
Than honey or the honey-comb,
But there’s a bitterness to come.
III
What sweetness does the promise yield,
When by the Spirit’s power seal’d!
The longing soul is fill’d with good,
Nor feels a wish for other food.
IV
By these inviting tastes allured,
We pass to what must be endured;
For soon we find it is decreed,
That bitter must to sweet succeed.
V
When sin revives and shows its power,
When Satan threatens to devour,
When God afflicts, and men revile,
We draw our steps with pain and toil.
VI
When thus deserted, tempest-toss’d,
The sense of former sweetness lost,
We tremble lest we were deceived
In thinking that we once believed.
VII
The Lord first makes the sweetness known,
To win and fix us for his own;
And though we now some bitter meet,
We hope for everlasting sweet.
Book II
On Occasional Subjects
I
Seasons
New Year’s Hymns
1
Time How Swift
By Newton
I
While with ceaseless course the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here:
Fix’d in an eternal state,
They have done with all below;
We a little longer wait,
But how little—none can know.
II
As the winged arrow flies,
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts, and leaves no trace behind;
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life’s rapid stream;
Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise,
All below is but a dream.
III
Thanks for mercies past receive,
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live
With eternity in view;
Bless thy word to young and old,
Fill us with a Saviour’s love;
And when life’s short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above!
2
Time How Short
By Newton
I
Time, with an unwearied hand,
Pushes round the seasons past;
And in life’s frail glass the sand
Sinks apace, not long to last:
Many who, as you or I,
The last year assembled thus,
In their silent graves now lie:
Graves will open soon for us.
II
Daily sin and care and strife,
While the Lord prolongs our breath,
Make it but a dying life,
Or a kind of living death:
Wretched they and most forlorn,
Who no better portion know;
Better ne’er to have been born,
Than to have our all below.
III
When constrain’d to go alone,
Leaving all your love behind,
Ent’ring on a world unknown,
What will then support your mind?
When the Lord his summons sends,
Earthly comforts lose their power;
Honour, riches, kindred, friends,
Cannot cheer a dying hour.
IV
Happy souls who fear the Lord!
Time is not too swift for you;
When your Saviour gives the word.
Glad you’ll bid the world adieu:
Then he’ll wipe away your tears,
Near himself appoint your place;
Swifter fly, ye rolling years,
Lord, we long to see thy face!
3
Uncertainty of Life
By Newton
I
See! another year is gone!
Quickly have the seasons pass’d!
This we enter now upon
Will to many prove their last:
Mercy hitherto has spared,
But have mercies been improved?
Let us ask, Am I prepared,
Should I be this year removed?
II
Some we now no longer see,
Who their mortal race have run;
Seem’d as fair for life as we,
When the former year begun:
Some, but who God only knows,
Who are here assembled now,
Ere the present year shall close,
To the stroke of death must bow.
III
Life a field of battle is,
Thousands fall within our view:
And the next death-bolt that flies:
May be sent to me or you:
While we preach and while we hear,
Help us, Lord, each one to think
Vast eternity is near,
I am standing on the brink.
IV
If from guilt and sin set free
By the knowledge of thy grace,
Welcome then the call will be
To depart and see thy face:
To thy saints while here below
With new years new mercies come;
But the happiest year they know
Is the last, which leads them home.
4
A New-Year’s Thought and Prayer
By Newton
I
Time by moments steals away,
First the hour, and then the day;
Small the daily loss appears,
Yet it soon amounts to years:
Thus another year is flown,
Now it is no more our own,
If it brought or promised good,
Than the years before the flood.
II
But (may none of us forget)
It has left us much in debt;
Favours from the Lord received,
Sins that have
