460.
Christ our Confidence.
1
Jesus! O thou Friend of Sinners!
Smile upon us! give us grace!
We (the eldest,) are beginners
In the Christian's arduous race:
We depend on thy compassion,
While, as strangers, here we roam;
Perfect, Lord! thy great salvation,
Ere thou call our spirits home.
2
From our thousand foes deliver;
Rouse the languid! warm the cold!
Never may we wander, never,
From our heavenly Father's fold!
Art thou not the fount of blessing
Here, as in the world above?
Pour upon us, without ceasing,
All the treasures of thy love!
3
Let us not be faint and weary
If thy sun delay to rise;
Though our mortal path be dreary,
'Tis the passage to the skies!
This the season is for sowing;
Harvest time will soon appear;
Pleasure, like a river, flowing,
Full fruition! now is near!
4
Lord! we yield to thy dominion,
Under sin no longer sold;
Borne on faith's triumphant pinion,
May we hidden things behold:—
Dwell upon the wondrous story,
Of the Lamb that once was slain;
And, at length, with saints in glory,
Sing his praise, and with him reign!
