BENEVOLENCE. 509

L. M. 1 WHEN Jesus dwelt in mortal clay,

What were His works from day to day
But miracles of power and grace,

That spread salvation through our race?
2 Teach us, O Lord! to keep in view

Thy pattern, and Thy steps pursue.
Let alms bestowed, let kindness done
Be witnessed by each rolling sun.

Thomas Gibbons. 1784. 510

C. M. 1 LORD, lead the way the Savior went,

By lane and cell obscure,
And let our treasures still be spent,

Like His, upon the poor.
2 Like Him, through scenes of deep distress,

Who bore the world's sad weight,
We, in their gloomy loneliness,

Would seek the desolate.
3 For Thou hast placed us side by side

In this wide world of ill;
And that Thy followers may be tried,

The poor are with us still.
4 Small are the offerings we can make;

Yet Thou hast taught us, Lord,
If given for the Savior's sake,
They lose not their reward.

William Croswell. 1843. 511

C. M. 1 JESUS, our Lord, how rich Thy grace !

Thy bounties how complete !
How shall we count the matchless sum?

How pay the mighty debt?

2 High on a throne of radiant light

Dost Thou exalted shine ;
What can our poverty bestow,

When all the worlds are Thine ?
3 But Thou hast brethren here below,

The partners of Thy grace,
And wilt confess their humble names

Before Thy Father's face.
4 In them Thou mayst be clothed and fed,

And visited and cheered;
And in their accents of distress

Our Savior's voice is heard.
5 Thy face, with reverence and with love,

We in Thy poor would see ;
O may we minister to them,
And in them, Lord, to Thee.

Doddridge. 1755. a. 512

ns. 1 FATHER of our feeble race,

Wise, beneficent, and kind !
Spread o'er nature's ample face,

Flows Thy goodness unconfined.
2 Lord, what offerings shall we bring,

At Thine altars when we bow?
Grateful loving hearts, the spring

Whence the kind affections flow;
3 Willing hands to lead the blind,

Bind the wounded, feed the poor;
Love, embracing all our kind;

Charity, with liberal store.
4 Teach us, 0 Thou heavenly King,

Thus to show our grateful mind;
Thus the accepted offering bring,
Love to Thee and all mankind.

John Taylor, 1799. a.

513

S. M. 1 We give Thee but Thine own,

Whate'er the gift may be :
All that we have is Thine alone,

A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
2 May we Thy bounties thus

As stewards true receive,
And gladly, as Thou blessest us,

To Thee our first fruits give.
3 hearts are bruised and dead,

And homes are bare and cold,
And lambs, for whom the Shepherd bled,

Are straying from the fold!
4 To comfort and to bless,

To find a balm for woe,
To tend the lone and fatherless,

Is angels' work below.
5 The captive to release,

The lost to God to bring,
To teach the way of life and peace,-

It is a Christ-like thing.
6 And we believe Thy word,

Though dim our faith may be;
Whate'er we do for Thine, O Lord,
We do it unto Thee.

William Walsham How. 1860. 514

C. M. 1 How shall we show our love to Thee,

Thou loving God most high,
But loving this Thy family,

For which Thou deignedst to die?
2 If Thou for me such Love didst bear,

Shall I not love again?
For all are objects of Thy care;

Thy Love doth all sustain.

3 If we have love for Thee in heaven,

'Tis seen by love on earth :
Love only, love which God hath given,

Doth prove our heavenly birth.
4 For all we know of God above,

And of His saints below,
And all we know of heaven, is Love,

And all we need to know.
5 Love is of life the only sign,

Love is our vital breath;
Love only shows the child divine,

Love only conquers death.
6 Whate'er we do, where'er we go,

Let love our sonship prove:
Our lives the fire celestial show,

Our thoughts and words be love.
7 0 deign to send the love of Thee

From highest heaven above;
For then our life Thy praise shall be,

When all our life is love.
8 With praise to Thee our strains began

With love to ee shall end;
The love of Thee, and love of man,
From heaven ( deign to send !

Isaac Williams. 1842. a.

THE CROSS AND COMFORT. 515

C. M. 1 AFFLICTION is a stormy deep,

Where wave resounds to wave;
Though o'er my head the billows roll,
I know the Lord can save.

2 The hand that now withholds my joys

Can reinstate my peace;
And He who bade the tempest roar,

Can bid that tempest cease.
3 In the dark watches of the night,

I'll count His mercies o'er;
I'll praise Him for ten thousand past,

And humbly sue for more.
4 When darkness and when sorrows rose

And pressed on every side,
The Lord has still sustained my steps,

And still has been my Guide.
5 Here will I rest, and build my hopes,

Nor murmur at His rod;
He's more than all the world to me,
My Health, my Life, my God!

Nathaniel Cotton. 1791.

516

L. M. 1 God of my life, to Thee I call!

Afflicted at Thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,

Leave not my trembling heart to fail !
2 Friend of the friendless and the faint !

Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with Thee, whose open door

Invites the helpless and the poor?
3 Did ever mourner plead with Thee,

And Thou refuse that mourner's plea ?
Does not the word still fixed remain,

That none shall seek Thy face in vain ?
4 That were a grief I could not bear,

Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God,

Supports me under every load.