Children

Verse 1

By cool Siloam’s shady rill,
How fair the lily grows!
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
Of Sharon’s dewy rose!

Verse 2

Lo! such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod,
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God.

Verse 3

By cool Siloam’s shady rill
The lily must decay;
The rose that blooms beneath the hill
Must shortly fade away.

Verse 4

And soon, too soon, the wintry hour
Of man’s maturer age
Will shake the soul with sorrow’s pow’r.
And stormy passions rage.

Verse 1

By cool Siloam’s shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath beneath the hill
Of Sharon’s dewy rose!

Verse 2

Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God.

Verse 3

By cool Siloam’s shady rill
The lily must decay;
The rose that blooms beneath the hill
Must shortly fade away.

Verse 4

And soon, too soon, the wintry hour
Of man’s maturer age
Will shake the soul with sorrow’s power
And stormy passion’s rage.

Verse 5

O Thou, whose infant feet were found
Within Thy Father’s shrine,
Whose years, with changeless virtue crowned,
Were all alike Divine;

Verse 6

Dependent on Thy bounteous breath,
We seek Thy grace alone,
In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still Thine own.

Verse 1

How shall the young secure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?
Thy word the choicest rules imparts
To keep the conscience clean.

Verse 2

When once it enters to the mind,
It spreads such light abroad,
The meanest souls instruction find,
And raise their thoughts to God.

Verse 3

’Tis like the sun, a heavenly light
That guides us all the day;
And, through the dangers of the night,
A lamp to lead our way.

Verse 4

Thy precepts make me truly wise;
I hate the sinner’s road;
I hate my own vain thoughts that rise,
But love Thy law, my God.

Verse 5

Thy word is everlasting truth;
How pure is every page!
That holy book shall guide our youth,
And well support our age.

Verse 1

Hushed was the evening hymn,
The temple courts were dark;
The lamp was burning dim
Before the sacred ark;
When suddenly a voice Divine
Rang through the silence of the shrine.

Verse 2

The old man, meek and mild,
The priest of Israel, slept;
His watch the temple-child,
The little Levite, kept;
And what from Eli’s sense was sealed
The Lord to Hannah’s son revealed.

Verse 3

O give me Samuel’s ear,
The open ear, O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of Thy word,
Like him to answer at Thy call,
And to obey Thee first of all.

Verse 4

O give me Samuel’s heart,
A lowly heart, that waits
Where in Thy house Thou art,
Or watches at Thy gates;
By day and night, a heart that still
Moves at the breathing of Thy will.

Verse 5

O give me Samuel’s mind,
A sweet unmurmuring faith,
Obedient and resigned
To Thee in life and death,
That I may read with childlike eyes
Truths that are hidden from the wise.

Verse 1

I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How he called little children as lambs to his fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

Refrain

I should like to have been with them then;
I should like to have been with them then;
How he called little children as lambs to his fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

Verse 2

I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,
His arms had been thrown around me,
And that I might have seen his kind look when he said,
“Let the little ones come unto me.”

Refrain

“Let the little ones come unto me,”
“Let the little ones come unto me,”
And that I might have seen his kind look when he said,
“Let the little ones come unto me.”

Verse 3

Yet still to his footstool in prayer I may go,
And ask for a share in his love;
And if I now earnestly seek him below,
I shall see him and hear him above.

Refrain

I shall see him and hear him above,
I shall see him and hear him above,
And if I now earnestly seek him below,
I shall see him and hear him above.

Verse 1

I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How he called little children as lambs to his fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

Refrain

I should like to have been with them then;
I should like to have been with them then;
How he called little children as lambs to his fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

Verse 2

I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,
His arms had been thrown around me,
And that I might have seen his kind look when he said,
“Let the little ones come unto me.”

Refrain

“Let the little ones come unto me,”
“Let the little ones come unto me,”
And that I might have seen his kind look when he said,
“Let the little ones come unto me.”

Verse 3

Yet still to his footstool in prayer I may go,
And ask for a share in his love;
And if I now earnestly seek him below,
I shall see him and hear him above.

Refrain

I shall see him and hear him above,
I shall see him and hear him above,
And if I now earnestly seek him below,
I shall see him and hear him above.

Verse 1

O Holy Lord, content to fill
In lowly home the lowliest place,
Thy childhood’s law a mother’s will,
Obedience meek Thy brightest grace;

Verse 2

Lead every child that bears Thy Name
To walk in Thine own guileless way,
To dread the touch of sin and shame,
And humbly, like Thyself, obey.

Verse 3

O let not this world’s scorching glow
Thy Spirit’s quickening dew efface,
Nor blast of sin too rudely blow,
And quench the trembling flame of grace.

Verse 4

Gather Thy lambs within Thine arm,
And gently in Thy bosom bear;
Keep them, O Lord, from hurt and harm,
And bid them rest for ever there.

Verse 5

So shall they, waiting here below,
Like Thee their Lord, a little span,
In wisdom and in stature grow,
And favor with both God and man.

Verse 1

Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle-shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

Verse 2

He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall:
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour Holy.

Verse 3

And, through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honor, and obey,
Love, and watch the lowly maiden
In whose gentle arms He lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

Verse 4

For He is our childhood’s Pattern,
Day by day like us He grew,
He was little, weak, and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew:
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

Verse 5

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads his children on
To the place where He is gone.

Verse 6

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him, but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high;
When like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.

O Lord! bless us in our meeting now. We beseech Thee to give us some word to speak; though our own words be feeble let Thy strength come with them. Do Thou help us, and give us wisdom and utterance and earnestness, and may the word of the Lord be magnified among us, and the message of the great love of the Christ Who keeps us from evil find entrance into many hearts. O Lord, bless us each in our several callings and condition; be near any of us who may have any special temptations or difficulties. If any of us are proving the loneliness of life, or its sadness, or its difficulties, and if our way may seem to be barred against us, do Thou help us to patience and courage, to wise effort, to dependence upon Thee. O Lord, do Thou keep us all, and may every one of us from this time forth say unto Thee, ‘My Father! Thou art my Guide.’ These young men and maidens we commend to Thee that they may grow up serving God, His faithful witnesses and soldiers, hating covetousness and all evil, and binding sound wisdom and discretion on their hearts and their foreheads.

We beseech Thee for this in regard of all of us gathered here this evening, and especially we pray for the younger members of this congregation that they may be kept innocent of much transgression, that they may begin aright, and so be delivered from many a pang and many a sorrow, many a disenchantment, and many a stain. O Lord, we beseech Thee to be near them, especially any amongst them who may be living solitary lives, and exposed to the temptations of this great city. We beseech Thee that these young men may abhor youthful lusts, which war against the soul. We pray that they may be armed against the suggestions of evil that lie on every side, that they may be kept from the corrupting influences of companionship that may be necessary for them, that they may be wise to understand the snares, the bait, and the hook. We beseech Thee that Thou wouldst bless them all in their several courses, granting to them such prosperity in this world’s matters as Thou seest is best for them, and helping them to keep their hearts above the world, and with all their getting to seek most to get the durable riches and righteousness which are more precious than rubies, and none of the things that they desire are to be compared to it.