Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

1 I LOVE the sacred Book of God!
No other can its place supply;
It points me to his own abode,
It gives me wings, and bids me fly.
2 Sweet Book! in thee my eyes discern
The very image of my Lord;
From thine instructive I learn
page
The joys his presence will afford.
8 In thee I read my title clear

To mansions that will ne'er decay ;-
Dear Lord, oh, when wilt thou appear,
And bear thy prisoner away!

4 While I am here, these leaves supply
His place, and tell me of his love;
I read with faith's discerning cyc,
And gain a glimpse of joys above.
5 I know in them the Spirit breathes
To animate his people here;

Oh, may these truths prove lie to all,
Till in his presence we appear!

105.

1 Now let my soul, eternal King,
To thee its grateful tribute bring;
My knee with humble homage bow,
My tongue perform its solemn vow.
2 All nature sings thy boundless love,
In worlds below, and worlds above;
But in thy blessed word I trace
Diviner wonders of thy grace.

3 Here what delightful truths I read! Here I behold the Saviour bleed; His name salutes my listening car, Revives heart and checks my

my

fear.

4 Here Jesus bids my sorrows cease,
And gives my laboring conscience peace;
Iere lifts my grateful passions high,
And points to mansions in the sky.
5 For love like this, oh, let my song,
Through endless years, thy praise pro-
long;

Let distant climes thy name adore,
Till time and nature are no more.

106.

1 UPON the Gospel's sacred page
The gathered beams of ages shine;
And, as it hastens, every age
But makes its brightness more divine.
2 On mightier wing, in loftier flight,
From year to year does knowledge soar;
And, as it soars, the Gospel light
Adds to its influence more and more.
3 More glorious still as centuries roll,
New regions blessed, new powers un
furled,

Expanding with th' expanding soul,
Its waters shall o'erflow the world-
4 Flow to restore, but not destroy;
As when the cloudless lamp of day
Pours out its floods of light and joy,
And sweeps the lingering mist away.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

1 How precious is the book divine,
By inspiration given!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine
To guide our souls to heaven.

2 O'er all the strait and narrow way
Its radiant beams are cast;
A light whose never-weary ray
Grows brightest at the last.

3 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts, In this dark vale of tears;

Life, light, and joy, it still imparts,
And quells our rising fears.

4 This lamp, through all the tedious night
Of life, shall guide our way,
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.

108.

1 THOU lovely Source of true delight,
Whom I unseen adore!
Unvail thy beauties to my sight,
That I may love thee more.

2 Thy glory o'er creation shines;
But in thy sacred word,
I read in fairer, brighter lines,
My bleeding, dying Lord.

3 'Tis here, whene'er my comforts droop, And sins and sorrows rise,

Thy love with cheerful beams of hope, My fainting heart supplies.

4 Jesus, my Lord, my life, my light, Oh! come with blissful ray; Break radiant through the shades of night,

And chase my fears

away.

5 Then shall my soul with rapture trace The wonders of thy love;

2

But the full glories of thy face Are only known above.

109.

1 How shall the young secure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?
Thy word the choicest rules imparts
To keep the conscience clean.
When once it enters to the mind,
It spreads such light abroad;
The meanest souls instruction find,
And raise their thoughts to God.
3 'Tis like the sun, a heavenly light,
That guides us all the day;

And, through the dangers of the night,
A lamp to lead our way.

4 Thy precepts make me truly wise;
I hate the sinner's road;

I hate my own vain thoughts that rise, But love thy law, my God!

5 Thy word is everlasting truth; How pure is every page!

That holy book shall guide our youth, And well support our age.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

1 A GLORY gilds the sacred page,
Majestic, like the sun;

It gives a light to every age;-
It gives, but borrows none.

2 The hand that gave it, still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
Its truths upon the nations rise,—
They rise, but never set.

3 Let everlasting thanks be thinc,
For such a bright display,

As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.

4 My soul rejoices to pursue

The steps of him I love,
Till glory breaks upon my view,
In brighter worlds above.

112.

1 ALMIGHTY God! thy word is cast,
Like seed into the ground;
Let now the dew of heaven descend,
And righteous fruits abound.

2 Let not the foc of Christ and man
This holy seed remove;
But give it root in every heart,
To bring forth fruits of love.

3 Let not the world's deceitful cares
The rising plant destroy;
But let it yield, a hundredfold,
The fruits of peace and joy.

4 Oft as the precious seed is sown,

Thy quickening grace bestow, That all, whose souls the truth receive, Its saving power may know.

113.

1 BLEST are the souls that hear and know
The gospel's joyful sound;
Peace shall attend the path they go,
And light their steps surround.

2 Their joy shall bear their spirits up
Through their Redeemer's name;
His righteousness exalts their hope,
Nor Satan dares condemn.

3 The Lord, our glory and defence,
Strength and salvation gives;
Israel, thy King forever reigns,
Thy God forever lives.

[blocks in formation]

114. Trinity.

2 Almighty Son-incarnate Word—
Our Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, Lord!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy saving grace extend.
3 Eternal Spirit! by whose breath
The soul is raised from sin and death,—
Before thy throne we sinners bend ;
To us thy quickening power extend.
4 Jehovah!-Father, Spirit, Son!-
Mysterious Godhead-Three in One!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
Grace, pardon, life to us extend.

115.

Immensity.

1 WITH deepest reverence at thy throne, Jehovah, peerless and unknown! Our feeble spirits strive, in vain,

A glimpse of thee, great God! to gain. 2 Who, by the closest search, can find Th' eternal, uncreated mind? Nor men, nor angels can explore Thy heights of love, thy depths of power. 3 We know thee not; but this we know, Thou reign'st above, thou reign'st below: And though thine essence is unknown, To all the world thy power is shown. 4 That power we trace on every side; Oh! nay thy wisdom be our guide! And while we live, and when we die, May thine almighty love be nigh.

116. Trinity.

1 O HOLY, holy, holy Lord!
Bright in thy deeds and in thy name,
Forever be thy name adored,
Thy glories let the world proclaim!
2 O Jesus! Lamb once crucified
To take our load of sins away,
Thine be the hymn that rolls its tide
Along the realms of upper day!

3 O Holy Spirit! from above,

In streams of light and glory given,
Thou source of ecstasy and love,
Thy praises ring through carth and
heaven!

4 O God triune! to thee we owe
Our every thought, our every song;
And ever may thy praises flow
From saint and seraph's burning tongue!
117.
Being.

1 THERE is a God !-all nature speaks,. Through earth, and air, and seas, and skies; See-from the clouds his glory breaks, When the first beams of morning risc. 2 The rising sun, serenely bright,

O'er the wide world's extended frame, Inscribes, in characters of light, His mighty Maker's glorious name. 3 Ye curious minds, who roam abroad, And trace creation's wonders o'er, Confess the footsteps of your God;And bow before him-and adore.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small]

1 LORD, thou hast searched and seen me through:

Thine eye commands, with piercing view, My rising and my resting hours, My heart and flesh with all their powers. 2 My thoughts, before they are my own, Are to my God distinctly known;

He knows the words I mean to speak, Ere from my opening lips they break. 3 Within thy circling power I stand; On side I find thy hand: every Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, I am surrounded still with God. 4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great! What large extent! what lofty height! My soul, with all the powers I boast, Is in the boundless prospect lost.

5 Oh! may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest,
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

120. Long-suffering.

1. GOD of my life, to thee belong,
The grateful heart, the joyful song;
Touched by thy love, cach tuneful chord
Resounds the goodness of the Lord.

2 Yet why, dear Lord, this tender care?
Why does thy hand so kindly rear
A useless cumberer of the ground,
On which so little fruit is found?
3 Still let the barren fig-tree stand,
Upheld and fostered by thy hand;
And let its fruit and verdure be
A grateful tribute, Lord, to thec.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »