2 My spirit asks a firmer prop;
I lean upon the Lord;
My God, the pillar of my hope
Is thy unchanging word.

3 On this are built the brightest joys
Celestial beings know;

And 't is the same almighty voice
Supports the saints below.

4 'T is this upholds the rolling spheres
And heaven's immortal frame;

Then let my soul suppress her fears, —
My basis is the same.

5 Thy sacred word, thy solemn oath,
For ever must remain;

I trust in everlasting truth,
Nor shall my trust be vain.

L. M.

585.

SIR W. SCOTT.

Imploring the Constant Presence of God.

1 WHEN Israel, of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her fathers' God before her moved,
An awful guide, in smoke and flame.
2 By day, along the astonished lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night Arabia's crimsoned sands
Returned the fiery column's glow.

3 Thus present still, though now unseen,
When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray!

4 And oh! when gathers on our path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light!

C. M.

586.

WESLEY'S COL.

The Saint's Rest.

1 LORD, I believe a rest remains,
To all thy people known;

A rest where pure enjoyment reigns,
And thou art loved alone;

2 A rest, where all our soul's desire
Is fixed on things above;

Where fear, and sin, and grief expire,
Cast out by perfect love.

3 O that I now the rest might know,
Believe, and enter in!

Now, Father, now the power bestow,
And let me cease from sin!

4 Remove all hardness from my heart, All unbelief remove;

To me the rest of faith impart,
The sabbath of thy love.

1 THE Swift not always in the race
Shall win the crowning prize;
Not always wealth and honor grace
The labors of the wise.

2 Fond mortals but themselves beguile
When on themselves they rest:
Blind is their wisdom, weak their toil,
By thee, O Lord, unblest.

3 Evil and good before thee stand,
Thy missions to perform;

The blessing comes at thy command,
At thy command the storm.

4 O Lord, in all our ways we 'll own
Thy providential power,
Intrusting to thy care alone
The lot of every hour.

L. M.

588.

J. ROSCOE.

Grateful Reliance on God.

1 How rich the blessings, O my God,
Which teach this grateful heart to glow;
How kindly poured, and free bestowed,
The rivers of thy mercy flow!

2 How calmly rolls the sea of life;
Secure in thine immortal trust,
The soul has hushed her secret strife,
Nor longer shudders at the dust.

3 Though sorrow's cloud awhile o'ercast
The dawn of earthly hope and joy,
She knows that it must soon be past,
And will unveil eternity.

4 Then virtue's humble toil and prayer Shall stand acknowledged at thy throne, Triumphant over earthly care;

And the blest record thou wilt own.

C. M.

589.

MONTGOMERY.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom. 2 Chron. i.

1 ALMIGHTY God! in humble prayer
To thee our souls we lift;
Do thou our waiting minds prepare
For thy most needful gift.

2 We ask not golden streams of wealth
Along our path to flow;
We ask not undecaying health,
Nor length of years below.

3 We ask not honors which an hour
May bring and take away;

We ask not pleasure, pomp, and power,
Lest we should go astray.

4 We ask for wisdom :- Lord, impart
The knowledge how to live;
A wise and understanding heart
To all before thee give.

5 The young remember thee in youth,
Before the evil days!

The old be guided by thy truth
In wisdom's pleasant ways!

L. M.

590.

GASKELL.

Looking unto Jesus always.

1 O NOT by Solemn rites alone

May Calvary's cross to us be shown;
But may we turn, in many an hour,
To feel its soul-constraining power.

2 When indolence would have its will,
And selfish ease would keep us still,
Then to the Saviour may we look,
And meet his eye's serene rebuke.

3 When men have done us cruel wrong,
And angry thoughts are rising strong,
May we with softened hearts turn there,
And learn the Lord's forgiving prayer.

4 When sin looks tempting in our eyes,
May Jesus on the cross arise,
And ask if we will him forsake,
And wear the chains he died to break.

5 When pain, or sickness, or distress,
Our fainting souls would overpress,
To him on Calvary looking still,
May we find strength to bear God's will.

C. M.

591.

HEGINBOTHAM.

Praising God in Life and Death.

1 My soul shall praise thee, O my God' Through all my mortal days;

And to eternity prolong

Thy vast, thy boundless praise.

2 In each bright hour of peace and hope,
Be this my sweet employ:
Devotion heightens all my bliss,

And sanctifies my joy.

3 When gloomy care or keen distress Invades my throbbing breast,

My tongue shall learn to speak thy praise, And soothe my pains to rest.