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2 Preserve it from the passing feet,
And plunderers of the air;
The sultry sun's intenser heat,
And weeds of worldly care!

3 Though buried deep, or thinly strewn,
Do thou thy grace supply:
The hope in earthly furrows sown
Shall ripen in the sky.

204. C. M.

EXETER COL.

Supplication for a Blessing on the Word.

1 THY gracious aid, great God, impart,
To give thy word success;
Write all its precepts on the heart,
And deep its truths impress.

2 O speed our progress in the way
That leads to joys on high,

Where knowledge grows without decay,
And love shall never die.

CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY.

205.

C. M.

WATTS.

Message of John the Baptist.

1 JOHN was the prophet of the Lord,
To go before his face;

The herald which the Prince of Peace
Sent to prepare his ways.

2 He makes the great salvation known,
He speaks of pardoned sins;

While grace divine, and heavenly love,
In its own glory shines.

3 Behold the Lamb of God,' he cries,

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That takes our guilt away:

I saw the Spirit o'er his head

On his baptizing day.

4 'Be every vale exalted high,

Sink every mountain low;

The proud must stoop, and humble souls
Shall his salvation know.

5 The heathen realms with Israel's land
Shall join in sweet accord;
And all that 's born of man shall see
The glory of the Lord.

6 'Behold the Morning Star arise,
Ye that in darkness sit;

He marks the path that leads to peace,
And guides our doubtful feet.'

206.

11s M.

DRUMMOND.

Prepare ye the Way of the Lord.

1 A VOICE from the desert comes awful and shrill; The Lord is advancing! prepare ye the way! The word of Jehovah he comes to fulfil,

And o'er the dark world pour the splendour of day.

2 Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven,

And be the low valley exalted on high:

The rough path and crooked be made smooth and even,

For, Zion! your King, your Redeemer is nigh. 3 The beams of salvation his progress illume; The lone dreary wilderness sings of her Lord; The rose and the myrtle there suddenly bloom, And the olive of peace spreads its branches abroad.

207. C. M.

CHRISTIAN PSALMIST.

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 truths 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 shall he not quench,
Nor break the bruised reed.

4 The feeble spark to flames he 'll raise;
The weak will not despise ;

Judgment he shall bring forth to truth,
And make the fallen rise.

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5 The progress of his zeal and
Shall never know decline,
Till foreign lands and distant isles
Receive the law divine.

208.

C. M.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALMS.

The Day-Spring from on High. Ps. 130.

1 GREAT God, wert thou extreme to mark The deeds we do amiss,

Before thy presence who could stand,
Who claim thy promised bliss?

But oh! all merciful and just,

Thy love surpasseth thought;
A gracious Saviour has appeared,
And peace and pardon brought.

2 Thy servants in the temple watched
The dawning of the day,

Impatient with its earliest beams
Their holy vows to pay;

And chosen saints far off beheld

That great and glorious morn,

When the glad day-spring from on high
Auspiciously should dawn.

3 On us the Sun of Righteousness

Its brightest beams hath poured;
With grateful hearts and holy zeal,
Lord, be thy love adored;
And let us look with joyful hope
To that more glorious day,

Before whose brightness, sin and death,
And grief, shall flee away.

L

209.

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Christ's Message.

1 HARK the glad sound! the Saviour comes!
The Saviour promised long!
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.

2 On him the Spirit, largely poured,
Exerts its sacred fire;

Wisdom and might, and zeal and love,
His holy breast inspire.

3 He comes, from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray;
And on the eye-balls of the blind
To pour celestial day.

4 He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure;
And with the treasure of his grace
Enrich the humble poor.

5 Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
And heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved name.

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