Wesley Corpus

Because he first loved me, And praise thee in thy bright abode, To all eternity. HYMN 44. 8'* §• 6's. 1 A ND am I only born to die ? -^"*- And must I suddenly comply With nature's stern decree ? What after death for me remains ? Celestial joy, or hellish pains, To all eternity ! 2 How then ought I on earth to live, While God prolongs the kind reprieve, And props the house of clay ! My sole concern, my single care, To watch, and tremble, and prepare Against the fatal day ! 3 No room for mirth or trifling here, For worldly hope, or worldly fear, If life so soon is gone: If now the Judge is at the door, And all mankind must stand before The' inexorable throne ! 4 No matter which my thoughts employ, A moment's misery, or joy ; But O ! when both shall end, Where shall I find my destined place ? Shall I my everlasting days With fiends or angels spend ? 5 Nothing is worth a thought beneath, But how I may escape the death That never, never dies ! 4o Describing Death. How make mine own election sure, And, when I fail on earth, secure A mansion in the skies ! 6 Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray : Be thou my Guide, be thou my Way To glorious happiness ! Ah, write the pardon on my heart, And whensoe'er I hence depart, Let me depart in peace. HYMN 45. l. m. 1 SHRINKING from the cold hand of death, ^ I too shall gather up my feet ; Shall soon resign this fleeting breath, And die, my father's God to meet. 2 Number'd among thy people, I Expect with joy thy face to see : Because thou didst for sinners die, Jesus, in death, remember me! 3 O that without a lingering groan I may the welcome word receive ; My body with my charge lay down, And cease at once to work and live ! HYMN 46. l. m. 1 HPHE morning flowers display their sweets, J- And gay their silken leaves unfold, As careless of the noontide heats, As fearless of the evening cold. 2 Nipt by the wind's unkindly blast, Parch* d by the sun's directer ray, The momentary glories waste, The short-lived beauties die away. 3 So blooms the human face divine,