5 Thy pardoning love, so free, so sweet Dear Savior, I adore;

O keep me at thy sacred feet,

And let me rove no more.

345.

C. M.

MRS. STEELE

Desiring to return.

1 0 THOU, whose tender mercy hears
Contrition's humble sigh;

Whose hand, indulgent, wipes the tears
From sorrow's weeping eye!

2 See, low before thy throne of grace,
A wretched wanderer mourn;
Hast thou not bid me seek thy face?
Hast thou not said, 'Return?"

3 And shall my guilty fears prevail
To drive me from thy feet?
O let not this dear refuge fail,
This only safe retreat.

4 Absent from thee, my guide, my light!
Without one cheering ray,

Through dangers, fears, and gloomy night,
How desolate my way!

5 O shine on this benighted heart,

With beams of

mercy

shine;

And let thy healing voice impart
A taste of joys divine.

PRAYER AND DEVOUT EXERCISES.

346.

C. M.

WATTS.

Heartless Worship an Abomination.

1 GOD is a spirit just and wise,
He sees our inmost mind;

In vain to heaven we raise our cries,
And leave our souls behind.

2 Nothing but truth before his throne
With honor can appear;

The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.

3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bending knees the ground;
But God abhors the sacrifice

Where not the heart is found.

4 Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, And make my soul sincere ;

Then shall I stand before thy face,
And find acceptance there.

347.

L. M.

SCOTT.

Forms of Worship vain without Virtue.

1 TH' uplifted eye and bended knee
Are but vain homage, Lord, to thee;
In vain our lips thy praise prolong,
The heart a stranger to the song.

2 Can rites and forms, and flaming zeal,
The breaches of thy precepts heal?
Can fasts and penance reconcile
Thy justice, and obtain thy smile?

3 The pure, the humble, contrite mind,
Thankful, and to thy will resigned,
To thee a nobler offering yields

Than Sheba's groves, or Sharon's fields;

4 Than floods of oil, or costly wine, Rolling by thousands to thy shrine; Or than, if to thine altar led,

A first-born son the victim bled.

5 Be just and kind, and humble too,
In all you say, in all you do;
To men your charity impart,
And love your God with all your

heart.'

6 This truth, by ancient prophets given, Was by thy Son confirmed from heaven; And, deep engraved, this great command Doth on eternal pillars stand.

348.

C. M.

BROWNE.

Acceptable Worship.

1 WHEREWITH shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
O! how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone?

2 Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?

Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?

3 0 no, my soul; 'twere fruitless all;
Such offerings are vain :

No fatlings from the field or stall
His favor can obtain.

4 To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;

To God with humble reverence bow,
And to his glory live.

5 Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere, He never will despise ;

And cheerful duty he'll prefer

To costly sacrifice

349.

7s M.

J. TAYLOR.

Acceptable Offering.

1 FATHER of our feeble race,
Wise, beneficent, and kind!
Spread o'er nature's ample face,
Flows thy goodness unconfined:

Musing in the silent grove,
Or the busy walks of men,
Still we trace thy wondrous love,
Claiming large returns again.

2 Lord, what offering shall we bring,
At thine altars when we bow?
Hearts, the pure unsullied spring
Whence the kind affections flow;
Soft compassion's feeling soul,
By the melting eye expressed;
Sympathy, at whose control

Sorrow leaves the wounded breast;

3 Willing hands to lead the blind,
Bind the wounded, feed the poor;
Love, embracing all our kind;
Charity, with liberal store :—
Teach us, O thou heavenly king,
Thus to show our grateful mind,
Thus the accepted offering bring,
Love to thee and all mankind.

350.

C. M.

ANONYMOUS.

The Lord's Prayer.

1 0 THOU, enthroned in worlds above,
Our Father and our Friend!
Lo, at the footstool of thy love
Thy children humbly bend.

2 All reverence to thy name be given; Thy kingdom wide displayed;

And, as thy will is done in heaven,
Be it on earth obeyed.

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