By the travail of thy spirit,
By thine outcry on the tree,
By thine agonizing merit,

In my pangs, remember me!
By thy death I thee conjure,
A weak, dying soul befriend;
Make me patient to endure,
Make me faithful to the end.

C. WESLEY.

SUFFERING SANCTIFIED.

"I take pleasure in infirmities."-2 Cor. xii. 10.

How happy the sorrowful man,
Whose sorrow is sent from above,
Awaked by a visit of pain,

Chastised by omnipotent love!
The author of all his distress,
He comes by affliction to know;
And God he in heaven shall bless,
That ever he suffered below.

Thus, thus may I happily grieve,
And hear the intent of his rod;
The marks of adoption receive,
The strokes of a merciful God;
With nearer access to his throne,
My burden of follies confess,
The cause of my miseries own,

And cry for an answer of peace.

O Father of mercies! on me,
On me in affliction bestow
A power of applying to thee,
A sanctified use of my woe.
I would, in a spirit of prayer,

To all thine appointments submit,
The pledge of my happiness bear,
And joyfully die at thy feet.

WESLEY.

CHAMBER OF SICKNESS.

"And if they be holden in cords of affliction, he openeth also their ear to discipline.-Job xxxvi. 8, 10.

CHAMBER of sickness! much to thee I owe,

Though dark thou be;

The lessons it imports me most to know,
I owe to thee.

A sacred seminary thou hast been,

I trust to train me for a happier scene.

Chamber of sickness! Suffering and alone,
My friends withdrawn,

The blessed beams of heavenly truth have shone

On me forlorn,

With such a hallowed vividness and power,

As ne'er were granted to a brighter hour.

Chamber of sickness! Midst thy silence, oft

A voice is heard,

Which, though it fall like dew on flowers, so soft,
Yet speaks cach word

Into the aching heart's unseen recess,

With power no earthly accents could possess.

Chamber of sickness! In that bright abode,
Where there is no more pain,

If through the merits of my Saviour, God,
A seat I gain,

This theme shall tune my golden harp's soft lays,
That in thy shelter passed my earthly days.

REMEMBERED AFFLICTIONS.

"Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth."— Ps. lxxi. 20.

I CANNOT call affliction sweet,

And yet 't was good to bear;
Affliction brought me to thy feet,
And I found comfort there.

My wearied soul was all resigned
To thy most gracious will;
O had I kept that better mind,
Or been afflicted still!

Where are the vows which then I vowed?
The joys which then I knew?

Those, vanished like the morning cloud;

These, like the morning dew.

Lord, grant me grace for every day,
Whate'er my state may be,

Through life, in death, with truth to say,
My God is all to me.

MONTGOMERY.

REJOICING IN HOPE.

"Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation."- Rom. xii. 12.

KNOW, my soul, thy full salvation,
Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find, in every station,
Something still to do or bear:

Think what Spirit dwells within thee;
Think what Father's smiles are thine;

Think what Jesus did to win thee;
Child of heaven! canst thou repine?

Haste thee on from grace to glory,

Armed with faith and winged with prayer;

Heaven's eternal day 's before thee,

God's own hand shall guide thee there;

Soon shall close thine earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

GRANT.

"MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND."

Ps. xxxi. 15.

"My times are in thy hand,"

My God, I'd have them there;
My life, my friends, my soul, I leave
Entirely to thy care.

"My times are in thy hand,"
Whatever they may be;

Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to thee.

"My times are in thy hand,"
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

"My times are in thy hand,"
I'll always trust in thee;
And after death, at thy right hand
I shall for ever be.