Of the perfect way of truth

My choice have freely made,

Thy judgments, that most righteous are,
Before me I have laid.

In loving-kindness let my prayer
And cry be heard by Thee;
According to Thy promise, Lord,
Revive and quicken me.

Great peace have they who love Thy law,
Offence they shall have none;

I hope for Thy salvation, Lord,

When Thy commands I 've done.

82

TRUST IN THE POWER OF GOD.

(Psalm xlvi.)

God is our strength and refuge high ;
A sure and present help is He,
When dark and troublous days are nigh;
Hence free from fear our hearts shall be.
Though earthquakes move the world,
And hills 'midst seas be hurled,
Though waters of the deep

In turmoil roar and leap,

And swelling shake the mountains steep.

The nations rage, the kingdoms shake,
His voice goes forth, earth melts away.
The Lord of Hosts our part doth take
And Jacob's God is shield and stay.
Come, then, let all draw near
And view with holy fear
The works, surpassing thought,

His mighty arm hath wrought,
What judgments He on earth has brought.

To her remotest bounds He turns

Wars into peace; He breaks the bow; He cuts the spear; the chariot burns ; That I am God, be still and know, Among the nations I

Will be exalted high,

On earth supreme, the Lord

Of hosts doth aid afford

And to His servants peace accord.

83

THE WORD OF GOD.

(Isaiah lv: 10, II. Jer. xxiii: 29.)

Thy word, O Lord, like gentle dews,
Falls soft on hearts that pine;
Lord, to Thy garden ne'er refuse

This heavenly balm of Thine.

Watered from Thee,

Let every tree

Bud forth and blossom to Thy praise,
And bear much fruit in after days.

Thy word is like a flaming sword,
A wedge that cleaveth stone;
Keen as a fire, so burns Thy word
And pierceth flesh and bone.
O send it forth

O'er all the earth,

To shatter all the night of sin,
The darken'd heart to cleanse and win.

Thy word a wondrous guiding star
On pilgrim hearts doth rise,
Leads to their Lord who dwell afar
And makes the simple wise.

Let not its light

E'er sink in night,

But still in every spirit shine,

That none may miss Thy light divine.

84 AFTER READING THE SCRIPTURES.

Praise, praise, to God on High,

To Thee, all gracious One!

For all the teaching of Thy will—

Thy word through ages gone.

With all Thy prophets true
We hold communion there;
The spirit of the just made pure
By sorrow and by prayer.

Those mighty men of old,

Whose words were vital breath;

Bestowing faithfulness in life.

And fearlessness in death.

Our fathers trusted too,

In Thee, and lost their fears;
For Thou didst help them in their joys,
And bless them in their tears.

And now we bend and pray;
Be Thou our Father still,

O, give us strength to do Thy work,
And faith to bear Thy will.

85

THE TRUE PRIEST.

Lord, who dost the voices bless
Crying in the wilderness,
And the lovely gifts increase
Of the messengers of peace-
Thou, whose temple is with men,
Show us Thy true priest again.

In the holy place may he
Thy immediate presence see;
Or through deserts, Father, led,
Give Thy people heavenly bread;
While his lips, at Thy control,
Warn, instruct, inspire, console.

86

THE DEATH OF MOSES.

Weep, weep for him, the man of God!
In yonder vale he sank to rest,
But none on earth can point the sod
That flowers above his sacred breast.

His doctrine fell like heaven's rain,

His words refreshed like heaven's dew

O ne'er shall Israel see again

A chief to God and her so true.

Remember ye his parting gaze,

His farewell song by Jordan's tide!
When full of glory and of days

He saw the promised land—and died.

Yet died he not as men who sink
Before our eyes to soulless clay :
But changed to spirit like a wink-
Of summer lightning pass'd away.