Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub

Are a feeble offering,

Till thy blessing makes it more.

2 More of truth, and more of might,
More of love, and more of light,
More of reason, and of right,
From thy pardoning grace be given!
This can make the humblest song
Sweet, acceptable, and strong,
As the strains the angels' throng
Pour around the throne of heaven.

L. M.

30.

DODDRIDGE.

The Eternal Sabbath.

1 LORD of the Sabbath! hear our vows,
On this thy day, in this thy house;
And own, as grateful sacrifice,
The songs which in thy temple rise.

2 Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love;
But there's a nobler rest above;
To that our longing souls aspire,
With cheerful hope and strong desire.

3 No more fatigue, no more distress,
Nor sin, nor death, shall reach the place;
No groans shall mingle with the songs
Which warble from immortal tongues.

4 No rude alarms of raging foes,
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.

5 O long-expected day, begin!

Dawn on these realms of woe and sin;

Fain would we leave this weary road,
And sleep in death, to rest with God.

7s. M.

31.

1 J. TAYLOR.

Engagedness in Devotion.

1 LORD! before thy presence come,
Bow we down with holy fear;
Call our erring footsteps home,
Let us feel that thou art near.

2 Wandering thoughts and languid powers
Come not where devotion kneels ;
Let the soul expand her stores,
Glowing with the joy she feels.

3 At the portals of thine house,
We resign our earth-born cares:
Nobler thoughts our souls engross,
Songs of praise and fervent prayers.

C. M.

32.

WATTS.

Going to Church. Psalm 122.

1 How did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,
"In Zion let us all appear,

And keep the solemn day!"

2 I love her gates, I love the road;

The church, adorned with grace, Stands like a palace, built for God, To show his milder face.

3 Up to her courts, with joys unknown,
The holy tribes repair;

The Son of David holds his throne,
And sits in judgment there.

4 Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest:

With holy gifts and heavenly grace
Be her attendants blest.

5 My soul shall pray for Zion still, While life or breath remains;

There my best friends, my kindred, dwell, There God, my Saviour, reigns.

C. M.

33.

CAPPE'S SEL.

Prayer for Divine Direction.

1 ETERNAL Source of life and light!
Supremely good and wise!

To thee we bring our grateful vows,
To thee lift up our eyes.

2 Our dark and erring minds illume
With truth's celestial rays;
Inspire our hearts with sacred love,
And tune our lips to praise.

3 Safely conduct us, by thy grace,
Through life's perplexing road;
And place us, when that journey 's o'er,
At thy right hand, O God!

L. M.

34.

COWPER.

Spiritual Worship.

1 O LORD! where'er thy people meet, There they behold thy mercy-seat; Where'er they seek thee, thou art found, And every place is hallowed ground.

2 For thou, within no walls confined,
Inhabitest the humble mind;

Such ever bring thee where they come,
And, going, take thee to their home.

3 Great Shepherd of thy chosen few!
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving name.

4 Here may we prove the power of prayer
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.

L. M.

35.

"It is good to be here."

1 UNTO thy temple, God of love!

GASKELL.

Once more we come, with willing feet,
To raise our thoughts this world above,
And thy paternal blessing meet.

2 May all thy purest presence feel,
And silent keep each vain desire;
With humble hearts before thee kneel,
And unto holier strength aspire.

3 May all be bound in bonds more true
To thee, who art our life and light,
That, through each path which we pursue,
We still may keep thy love in sight.

4 And may we, when the day shall close,
Review its course without a fear;
And, nearer heaven than when it rose,
Feel it is good to have been here.

C. M.

36.

WATTS.

Praise to God. Psalm 95.

1 SING to the Lord Jehovah's name,
And in his strength rejoice;
When his salvation is our theme,
Exalted be our voice.

2 With thanks approach his awful sight, And psalms of honor sing;

The Lord's a God of boundless might, The whole creation's King.

3 Earth, with its caverns dark and deep, Lies in his spacious hand:

He showed the seas what bounds to keep, And where the hills must stand.

4 Come! and with humble souls adore, Come! kneel before his face:

O may the creatures of his

Be children of his grace!

power

H. M.

37.

DODDRIDGE.

1

Gentiles brought into the Temple.

GREAT Father of mankind!

We bless that wondrous grace
Which could for Gentiles find

Within thy courts a place.

How kind the care For us to raise
Our God displays, A house of prayer!

2 Though once estranged far,

We now approach the throne;

« IndietroContinua »