Let thy mercy and thy care
All our souls in safety keep.
3 In thy strength may we be strong,
Sweeten every cross and pain:
Give us, if we live, ere long
In thy peace to meet again.
4 Then, if thou thy help afford,
Ebenezers shall be rear'd;
And our souls shall praise the LORD Who our poor petitions heard. 516 L. M. Magdalene 214.
The Christian Farewell. 2 Cor. xiii. 11.
1 THY presence, everlasting God!
Wide o'er all nature spreads abroad
Thy watchful eyes, which cannot sleep,
In every place thy children keep.
2 While near each other we remain,
Thou dost our lives and souls sustain ;
When absent, happy if we share
Thy smiles, thy counsels, and thy care.
3 To thee we all our ways commit,
And seek our comforts near thy feet;
Still on our souls vouchsafe to shine,
And guard and guide us still as thine.
4 Give us, in thy beloved house,
A gain to
pay our thankful VOWS;
Or if that joy no more be known,
Give us to meet around thy throne.
517 L. M. Ulverston 179. Lewton 30,
Early Piety. Matt. xii. 20.
1 HOW soft the words my Saviour speaks! How kind the promises he makes!
A bruised reed he never breaks,
Nor will he quench the smoking flax.
2 The humble poor he won't despise,
Nor on the contrite sinner frown:
His ear is open to their cries, He quickly sends salvation down. 3 When piety in early minds,
Like tender buds, begins to shoot,
He guards the plants from threat'ning winds,
And ripens blossoms into fruit.
4 With humble souls he bears a part
In all the sorrows they endure:
Tender and gracious is his heart,
His promise is for ever sure.
5 He sees the struggles that prevail
Between the powers of grace and sin;
He kindly listens while they tell
The bitter pangs they feel within.
6. Tho' press'd with fears on every side,
They know not how the strife may end;
Yet he will soon the cause decide,
And judgment unto vict'ry send.
518 C.M. Salem 130. Foster 96. Evans's 190.
The Encouragement Young Persons have to seek Christ.
Prov. viii. 17.
IYE hearts, with youthful vigour warm,
In smiling crowds draw near,
And turn from every mortal charm,
A Saviour's voice to hear.
2 He, LORD of all the worlds on high,
Stoops to converse with you,
And lays his radiant glories by,
Your friendship to pursue.
3 The soul that longs to see my face
Is sure my love to gain;
And those that early seek my grace
Shall never seek in vain.
4 What object, LORD! my soul should move, If once compar'd with thee?
What beauty should command my love,
Like what in CHRIST I see?
5 Away, ye false delusive toys,
Vain tempters of the mind!
"Tis here I fix my lasting choice,
For here true bliss I find.
519 C. M. Great Milton 212. Sprague 166.
Seek first the Kingdom of God. Matt. vi. 33.
1 NOW let a true ambition rise,
And ardour fire our breasts,
To reign in worlds above the skies,
In heavenly glories drest.
2 Behold Jehovah's royal hand
A radiant crown display,
Whose gems with vivid lustre shine,
While stars and suns decay.
3 Away each grovelling anxious care
Beneath a Christian's aim;
We spring to seize immortal joys,
In our Redeemer's name.
4. Ye hearts with youthful vigour warm,
The glorious prize pursue;
Nor fear the want of earthly good,
While heaven is kept in view.
520 L.M. Green's Hundred 89. Ulverston 179.
A lovely Youth falling short of Heaven. Mark x. 21.
MUST all the charms of nature, then,
So hopeless to salvation prove?
Can hell demand, can heaven condemn,
The man whom JESUS deigns to love?-
2 The man who sought the ways of truth,
Paid friends and neighbours all their due,
A modest, sober, lovely youth,
Who thought he wanted nothing now?
3 But mark the change: thus spake the LORD,
Come part with earth for heaven to-day;
The youth, astonish'd at the word,
In silent sadness went his way.
4 Poor virtues, that he boasted so,
This test unable to endure,―
Let CHRIST, and grace, and glory go
To make his land and money, sure..
5 Ah, foolish choice of treasures here!
Ah, fatal love of tempting gold!
Must this base world be bought so dear,
And life and heaven so cheaply sold?
6 In vain the charms of nature shine
If this vile passion governs me
Transform my soul, O love divine !
And make me part with all for thee.
521 S. M. Eagle Street New 55. Harbro'142. How shall a young Man cleanse his. Way? Psal. cxix. 9.
WITH humble heart and tongue,
My GOD! to thee I pray;
O make me learn, whilst I am young,
How I may cleanse my way.
Now in my early days,
Teach me thy will to know;
O GOD! thy sanctifying grace
Betimes on me bestow.
Make an unguarded youth
The object of thy care;
Help me to choose the way of truth,
And fly from every snare.
My heart, to fully prone,
Unite it to thyself alone,
And make me wholly thine.
O let thy word of grace
My warmest thoughts employ;
Be this, thro' all my following days,
My treasure and my joy.
To what thy laws impart
Be my whole soul inclin❜d ;
O let them dwell within my heart,
And sanctify my mind.
7 May thy young servant learn
By these to cleanse his way;
And may I here the path discern
That leads to endless day. DR. FAWCETT.
FOR A SABBATH SCHOOL.
522 8.8.6. Broadmead 150. Chatham 59.
The Importance of Educating Youth.
Congregation.
1 NOW let our hearts conspire to raise
A cheerful anthem to his praise
Who reigns enthron'd above:
Let music, sweet as incense, rise
With grateful odours to the skies,
The work of joy and love.
2 Teach us to bow before thy face;
Nor let our hearts forget thy grace,
Or slight thy providence ;
When lost in ignorance we lay,
To vice and death an easy prey,
Thy goodness snatch'd us thence,
Congregation.
30 what a num'rous race we see,
In ignorance and misery,
Unprincipled, untaught!
Shall they continue still to lie
In ignorance and misery?
We cannot bear the thought.
4 Give, LORD! each liberal soul to prove
The joys of thine exhaustless love;
And, while thy praise we sing,
May we the sacred scriptures know,
And, like the blessed JESUs grow,
That earth and heaven may ring.
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