SIMPLE RHYMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.

WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, AND REVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.

SIMPLE RHYMES.



Now is the time to think of God,

While youth is in its bloom;

Nor wait, until old age prepares

Our bodies for the tomb.

Read Ecclesiastes, 12th chapter, 1st verse.



'Tis promised in His holy word,

That those who early give

Their heart's best love unto the Lord,

With him shall ever live,

Read Proverbs, 8th chapter, 17th verse



Oh choose the strait and narrow path

That leads you to the Lord,

And study well the precepts giv'n,

In his most precious word.

Read Matthew, 7th chapter, 13th and 14th verses.



A time to read, a time to pray,

A time to leave my books and play,

To give my heart to God:

A time to live, a time to die;

For soon my little head may lie

Under the valley sod.

Read Ecclesiastes, 3d chapter.



Behold the wonders of his works,

And think that God is there;

The rose and lily spread their leaves,

And show their Maker's care.

See, when the sun in splendour shines,

It warms the little flower;

The moon and stars, and all things, are

Formed by his skill and power.

To let us live the Lord is good,

He shields us from all harm;

He gives us every day our food,

And clothes to keep us warm.

While all things that we see around,

Praise him with one accord,

We'll raise our feeble voices too,

In praises to the Lord.



There was a time, though long ago,

When not a book was found

For such a little child as I,

In all the country round.

But since the Sunday-school began,

We've many books in store;

And every Sabbath I get one,

And can have many more.

Children Quarreling.

How pleasant to see

Little children agree

And help one another along;

But when their delight

Is to quarrel and fight,

Oh then they are sure to do wrong.

Then hear what I say,

Your parents obey,

Be sure one another to love;

That when death shall come,

To take us all home,

We may meet and be happy above.



I love, when Sabbath morning comes,

To see the children leave their homes

Then haste away to Sunday-school

Beneath the shady tree so cool,

And holy keep that sacred day,

And learn to read, and sing, and pray

God will reward them with his love,

And give them mansions far above,

Where with the angels they shall sing

Hosannas to the Eternal King.



By morning light to walk abroad

And view the wondrous works of God;

With scenes of pleasure all around

And music sweet in every sound;

The village spire in distant view;

The Sunday-school--the graveyard, too,

Remind us that from youth to age,

God should our constant thoughts engage.



Little bird flying high,

Making music to the sky,

Spread abroad thy pretty wings,

While my little brother swings.

Sister reading in her book,

Has not time at us to look.



Why should I sleep away my time,

As sluggards do, in bed?

The sun may rise some morning bright,

And I be with the dead.

O 'tis a solemn thing to think

How soon a child may die;

Yet if he loves the Lord his God,

No tear should dim the eye.

For all his promises are sure,

To those who seek his face;

And now, O Lord, bestow on me

The blessings of thy grace.



What a wicked boy, to play

On the holy Sabbath day;

God will punish him, I know,

For in the Bible He says so.



Gracious Lord, be thou my guide;

On my heart thy laws inscribe,

Thy holy word should precious be

To every little child like me.