Eternal Life

Verse 1

A few more years shall roll,
A few more seasons come,
And we shall be with those that rest
Asleep within the tomb.

Verse 2

A few more suns shall set
O’er these dark hills of time,
And we shall be where suns are not,
A far serener clime.

Verse 3

A few more storms shall beat
On this wild rocky shore,
And we shall be where tempests cease,
And surges swell no more.

Verse 4

A few more struggles here,
A few more partings o’er,
A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more.

Verse 5

’Tis but a little while
And he shall come again,
Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with him may reign.

Verse 6

Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day;
Oh, wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 1

And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit the mournful vale,
And soar to worlds on high--

Verse 2

Shall join the disembodied saints,
And find its long-sought rest;
That only bliss for which it pants,
In the Redeemer’s breast.

Verse 3

In hope of that immortal crown
I now the cross sustain;
And gladly wander up and down,
And smile at toil and pain.

Verse 4

I suffer on my three-score years,
Till my Deliverer come,
And wipes away his servant’s tears,
And takes his exile home.

Verse 1

And must I be to judgment brought,
And answer in that day,
For every vain and idle thought,
And every word I say?

Verse 2

Yes, every secret of my heart
Shall shortly be made known,
And I receive my just desert
For all that I have done.

Verse 3

How careful then I ought to live!
With what religious fear,
Who such a strict account must give
For my behavior here.

Verse 4

Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,
The watchful power bestow;
So shall I to my ways take heed,
To all I speak or do.

Verse 1

As fade the stars at morn away,
Their glory gone in perfect day,
So pass away the friends we love,
Their presence lost in worlds above,
While we o’er their slumbers are weeping.

Verse 2

As sink the stars when night is o’er,
To rise upon some other shore,
So sink our precious ones from sight,
In other skies to walk in light,
While we sorrow’s vigils are keeping.

Verse 3

No more in east, or in the west,
Fade they from sight, or sink to rest;
Fixed firm in that celestial air,
They radiant shine eternal there;
Our hearts up to meet them fond leaping.

Verse 1

Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep;
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the dread of foes.

Verse 2

Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blest;
No fear, no woes, shall dim the hour,
Which manifests the Savior’s power.

Verse 3

Asleep in Jesus! oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be;
Securely shall my ashes lie,
And wait the summons from on high.

Verse 4

Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine is still a blessed sleep,
From whence none ever wake to weep.

Verse 1

Days and moments quickly flying
Blend the living with the dead;
Soon shall we who sing be lying,
Each within our narrow bed.

Verse 2

Soon our souls to God who gave them
Will have sped their rapid flight;
Able now by grace to save them,
Oh, that while we can we might.

Verse 3

Jesus, infinite Redeemer,
Maker of this mighty frame,
Teach, oh, teach us to remember
What we are, and whence we came:--

Verse 4

Whence we came, and whither wending
Soon we must through darkness go,
To inherit bliss unending,
Or eternity of woe.

Verse 5

Rev. Edward Caswell, 1849.

Verse 6

As the tree falls so must it lie;
As the man lives so will he die;
As the man dies, such must he be
All through the days of eternity.
Amen.

Verse 1

“Forever with the Lord!”
Amen, so let it be;
Life from the dead is in that word,
’Tis immortality.
Here in the body pent,
Absent from him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day’s march nearer home;
Nearer home, nearer home,
A day’s march nearer home.

Verse 2

My Father’s house on high,
Home of my soul, how near,
At times, to faith’s aspiring eye
Thy golden gates appear.
Ah! then my spirit faints
To reach the land I love;
The bright inheritance of saints--
Jerusalem above;
Home above, home above,
Jerusalem above.

Verse 3

Yet doubts still intervene,
And all my comfort flies;
Like Noah’s dove, I flit between
Rough seas and stormy skies.
Anon the clouds depart,
The wind and waters cease,
While sweetly o’er my gladdened heart
Expands the bow of peace;
Bow of peace, bow of peace,
Expands the bow of peace.

Verse 1

For thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep.
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.

Verse 2

Oh, sweet and blessed country,
The home of God’s elect!
Oh, sweet and blessed country,
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest;
Who art, with God the Father,
And Spirit, ever blest.

O Lord, Who dwellest in the light, and hast immortal life, we, out of the darkness and ringed about with death, do lift up our hearts to Thee, and beseech Thee that some beams of the light, and some touches of the life, may be ours. May they grow in us, may we see light more clearly in Thy light day by day, and drink ever deeper draughts from the fountain of life, and the river of Thy pleasures.