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God’s purposes concerning earth have always unfolded themselves by election and selection,—of men, of places, of nations. Church-history is the record and manifestation of the electing and selecting will of a Sovereign God. There are elect nations and countries as well as elect souls. Israel was God’s elect nation of old, Canaan his elect land, Jerusalem his elect city, and Zion his elect hill. This national election began with individual election,—Abraham. From the day of his being chosen, God’s purpose centred in a nation,—the nation that was to spring from him. The Jew was chosen to be the first of nations,—to rise above the civilised Greek and the mighty Roman. The Jew was to be the centre of God’s workings and teachings. The Jew was to be the race with which Godhead was to be connected. Messiah was to be son of Abraham,—son of the great believer. And it was so; the seed of Abraham was that portion of the seed of the woman from which Messiah came. Jesus was a Jew; a son of Abraham; a scion of that race to whom God had committed his oracles and his covenant; in connection with whom the true history of our race is connected: ‘The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the Son of Abraham.’

Verse 1

Father of Love, our Guide and Friend,
O lead us gently on,
Until life’s trial-time shall end,
And heavenly peace be won.

Verse 2

We know not what the path may be
As yet by us untrod;
But we can trust our all to Thee,
Our Father and our God.

Verse 3

If called, like Abraham’s child, to climb
The hill of sacrifice,
Some angel may be there in time;
Deliverance shall arise:

Verse 4

Or, if some darker lot be good,
O teach us to endure
The sorrow, pain, or solitude,
That make the spirit pure.

Verse 5

Christ by no flowery pathway came;
And we, His followers here,
Must do Thy will and praise Thy Name,
In hope, and love, and fear.

Verse 6

And, till in heaven we sinless bow,
And faultless anthems raise,
O Father, Son, and Spirit, now
Accept our feeble praise.

Verse 1

’Tis by the faith of joys to come
We walk through deserts dark as night:
Till we arrive at heaven, our home,
Faith is our guide, and faith our light.

Verse 2

The want of sight she well supplies;
She makes the pearly gates appear;
Far into distant worlds she pries,
And brings eternal glories near.

Verse 3

Cheerful we tread the desert through,
While faith inspires a heavenly ray;
Though lions roar and tempests blow,
And rocks and dangers fill the way.

Verse 4

So Abram, by Divine command,
Left his own house to walk with God;
His faith beheld the promised land,
And fired his zeal along the road.

Verse 1

The God of Abraham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
And God of love:
Jehovah! Great I AM!
By earth and heaven confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred Name,
For ever blest.

Verse 2

The God of Abraham praise,
At whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys
At His right hand:
I all on earth forsake,
Its wisdom, fame, and power;
And Him my only portion make,
My Shield and Tower.

Verse 3

He by Himself hath sworn,
I on His oath depend;
I shall, on eagle’s wings upborne,
To heaven ascend:
I shall behold His face,
I shall His power adore,
And sing the wonders of His grace
For evermore.

Verse 4

There dwells the Lord our King,
The Lord our Righteousness,
Triumphant o’er the world and sin,
The Prince of Peace;
On Zion’s sacred height
His kingdom still maintains,
And, glorious with His saints in light,
For ever reigns.

Verse 5

The God who reigns on high
The great archangels sing,
And, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” cry,
“Almighty King!
Who was, and is, the same,
And evermore shall be;
Jehovah, Father, Great I AM!
We worship Thee.”

Verse 6

The whole triumphant host
Give thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”
They ever cry:
Hail, Abraham’s God and mine!
I join the heavenly lays;
All might and majesty are Thine,
And endless praise.