5 Thee, its great author, source of light,
Thee, its preserver, we adore;
And humbly ask a ray from thee
Its sacred wonders to explore.
Prayer for the Spirit of God's Word.
1 INSPIRER of the ancient seers,
Who wrote from thee the sacred page!
The same through all succeeding years!
To us, in our degenerate age,
The Spirit of thy word impart,
And breathe its life into our heart.
2 While now thine oracles we read,
With earnest prayer and strong desire,
O let thy truth from thee proceed
Our souls to waken and inspire;
Our weakness help, our darkness chase,
And guide us by the light of grace.
3 Whene'er in error's paths we rove,
And thee, our God, through sin forsake,
Our conscience by thy word reprove,
Convince, and bring us wanderers back,
Deep wounded by thy Spirit's sword,
And then by Gilead's balm restored.
4 The sacred lessons of thy grace,
Transmitted through thy word, repeat,
And train us up in all thy ways,
And make us in thy will complete ;
Perfect thy work of saving love,
And fit us for thy courts above.
5 Supplied from out thy treasury,
O may we always ready stand
To help the souls redeemed by thee
In what their various states demand;
To teach, convince, correct, reprove,
And build them up in holiest love.
The Scriptures our Heritage. Ps. 119.
1 LORD, I have made thy word my choice,
My lasting heritage;
There shall my noblest powers rejoice,
My warmest thoughts engage.
2 I'll read the histories of thy love,
And keep thy laws in sight,
While through the promises I rove
With ever fresh delight.
3 'Tis a broad land of wealth unknown,
Where springs of life arise,
Seeds of immortal bliss are sown,
And hidden glory lies:
4 The best relief that mourners have,
It makes our sorrows blest;
Our fairest hope beyond the grave,
And our eternal rest.
Delight in the Scriptures. Ps. 119.
1 0 How I love thy holy law!
'Tis daily my delight:
And thence my meditations draw
Divine advice by night.
2 My waking eyes prevent the day,
To meditate thy word;
My soul with longing melts away
To hear thy gospel, Lord.
3 How doth thy word my heart engage!
How well employ my tongue!
And in my tiresome pilgrimage
Yields me a heavenly song.
4 No treasures so enrich the mind;
Nor shall thy word be sold
For loads of silver well refined,
Nor heaps of choicest gold.
5 When nature sinks, and spirits droop, Thy promises of grace
Are pillars to support my hope,
And there I write thy praise
CHRIST, HIS LIFE, MINISTRY, CHARACTER, &o.
1 BEHOLD the woman's promised Seed'
Behold the great Messiah come!
Behold the prophets all agreed
To give him the superior room!
2 Abraham, the saint, rejoiced of old,
When visions of the Lord he saw;
Moses, the man of God, foretold
This great Fulfiller of the law.
3 The types bore witness to his name,
Obtained their chief design, and ceased-
The incense, and the bleeding lamb,
The ark, the altar and the priest.
4 Predictions in abundance meet
To join their blessings on his head ;- ·
Jesus, we worship at thy feet;
And nations own the promised Seed.
Christ's Coming foretold.
1 BEHOLD my servant! see him rise
Exalted in my might!
Him have I chosen, and in him
I place supreme delight.
2 On him, in rich effusion poured,
My spirit shall descend;
My truth and judgment he shall show
To earth's remotest end.
3 Gentle and still shall be his voice;
No threats from him proceed;
The smoking flax he shall not quench,
Nor break the bruised reed.
4 The feeble spark to flames he'll raise; The weak he'll not despise ;
Judgment he shall bring forth to truth,
And make the fallen rise.
5 The progress of his zeal and power
Shall never know decline;
And foreign lands, and distant isles
Receive the law divine.
1 HARK! what celestial notes,
What melody, we hear!
Soft on the morn it floats,
And fills the ravished ear.
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