3 Still, Lord, thy mercy 's rich and free, And runs an endless round; A boundless, purifying sea,

Where all our sins are drowned.

4 O send thy pity from on high
With pardon all divine;

Bring now thy gracious spirit nigh,
And make us wholly thine.

5 We humbly mourn our follies past
Each guilty path deplore;

Resolved, while feeble life shall last,
To tread those paths no more.

344.

C. M.

MRS. STEELE.

Rejoicing to return.

1 How oft, alas! this wretched heart Has wandered from the Lord! How oft my roving thoughts depart, Forgetful of his word!

2 Yet sovereign mercy calls,' Return :' Dear Lord, and may I come! My vile ingratitude I mourn;

O take the wanderer home.

3 And canst thou, wilt thou yet forgive,
And bid my crimes remove?
And shall a pardoned rebel live
To speak thy wondrous love?

4 Almighty grace, thy healing power
How glorious, how divine,

That can to life and bliss restore
So vile a heart as mine!

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: