3 O let me then at length be taught
What I am still so slow to learn,-
That God is love, and changes not,
Nor knows the shadow of a turn.
4 Sweet truth, and easy to repeat!
But, when my faith is sharply tried,
I find myself a learner yet,
Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide.
5 But O my God! one look from thee
Subdues the disobedient will,
Drives doubt and discontent away,
And thy rebellious child is still.
The Soul panting for God. Psalm 42.
1 As the chased hart, midst sultry beams,
Pants for the brook's refreshing streams,
So thirst our souls, O Lord, for thee,
So long thy gracious face to see.
2 For, exiled from our heavenly home,
We here as weary pilgrims roam ;
With toilsome step, and progress slow,
Oft doomed to tread the path of woe.
3 Yet why, with anxious cares oppressed,
Should doubt or sorrow fill the breast?
What dangers can the Christian fear,
With thee, his Saviour, ever near?
4 Not only in the noon of joy
Thy praise shall be our sweet employ;
But e'en affliction's darkest night
Shall humble gratitude excite.
5 Yes, we will bless thee, gracious God,
And grateful kiss the chastening rod;
Assured its heaviest strokes but prove
A Father's care, a Father's love.
For a Childlike Spirit.
O THAT I as a little child
May follow thee, and never rest,
Till, Saviour, thou hast breathed a mild
And lowly mind into my breast!
Nor ever may we parted be,
Till I become as one with thee.
2 Still let thy love point out my way; How wondrous things that love hath wrought' Still lead me, lest I go astray;
Direct my word, inspire my thought;
And if I fall, soon may I hear
Thy voice, and know thy love is near.
For a Tender Conscience.
1 I WANT a principle within
Of jealous, godly fear;
A sensibility to sin,
A pain to find it near.
2 I want the first approach to feel
Of pride, or fond desire;
To catch the wandering of my will,
And quench the kindling fire.
3 From thee that I no more may part,
No more thy goodness grieve,
The filial awe, the fleshly heart,
The tender conscience give.
4 Quick as the apple of an eye,
O God, my conscience make!
Awake my soul, when sin is nigh,
And keep it still awake.
1 O LORD, thy heavenly grace impart,
And fix my frail, inconstant heart;
Henceforth my chief desire shall be
To dedicate myself to thee.
2 Whate'er pursuits my time employ,
One thought shall fill my soul with joy;
That silent, secret thought shall be,
That all my hopes are fixed on thee.
3 Thy glorious eye pervadeth space;
Thy presence, Lord, fills every place;
And, wheresoe'er my lot may be,
Still shall my spirit cleave to thee.
4 Renouncing every worldly thing,
And safe beneath thy sheltering wing,
My sweetest thought henceforth shall be,
That all I want I find in thee.
1 I WANT the spirit of power within,
Of love, and of a healthful mind:
Of power to conquer every sin;
Of love to God and all mankind;
Of health that pain and death defies,
Most vigorous when the body dies.
2 O that the Comforter would come,
Nor visit as a transient guest,
But fix in me his constant home,
And keep possession of my breast;
And make my soul his loved abode,
The temple of indwelling God!
1 HOLY Father, thou hast taught me I should live to thee alone;
Year by year, thy hand hath brought me
On through dangers oft unknown.
When I wandered, thou hast found me;
When I doubted, sent me light;
Still thine arm has been around me,
All my paths were in thy sight.
2 In the world will foes assail me,
Craftier, stronger far than I;
And the strife may never fail me,
Well I know, before I die.
Therefore, Lord, I come, believing
Thou canst give the power I need;
Through the prayer of faith receiving
Strength, the Spirit's strength indeed.
3 I would trust in thy protecting, Wholly rest upon thine arm, Follow wholly thy directing,
Thou mine only guard from harm!
Keep me from mine own undoing,
Help me turn to thee when tried;
Still my footsteps, Father, viewing,
Keep me ever at thy side!
1 THOU hidden love of God, whose height,
Whose depth unfathomed, no man knows
I see from far thy beauteous light;
Inly I sigh for thy repose;
My heart is pained; nor can it be
At rest, till it find rest in thee.
2 Thy secret voice invites me still
The sweetness of thy yoke to prove;
And fain I would; but though my will
Seem fixed, yet wide my passions rove,
Yet hindrances strew all the way;
I aim at thee, yet from thee stray.
3 'T is mercy all, that thou hast brought
My mind to seek her peace in thee;
Yet while I seek, but find thee not,
No peace my wandering soul shall see.
O when shall all my wanderings end,
And all my steps to thee-ward tend?
4 Is there a thing beneath the sun
That strives with thee my heart to share?
O tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there;
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it hath found repose in thee.
|