Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
27 THE thing surpasses all my thought;
But faithful is my Lord;
Through unbelief I stagger not,
For God hath spoke the word.
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries, "It shall be done!"
28 OUR guilt might draw thy vengeance down
On every shore, on every town:
But view us, Lord, with pitying eye,
And lay thy lifted thunder by.
Forgive the follies of our times,
And purge our land from all its crimes:
Reform'd and deck'd with grace divine,
Let Britain yet arise and shine.
29 SEE how the fruitless fig-tree stands,
Beneath its owner's frown:
The axe is lifted in his hands,
To cut the cumberer down.
"Year after year, I come," he cries,
"And still no fruit is shown;
Nothing but empty leaves arise,
Then cut the cumberer down."
Sinner, beware! the axe of death
Is rais'd and aim'd at thee:
Awhile thy Maker spares thy breath,
Beware, O barren tree!
30 HASTEN, sinner, to be blest,
Stay not for the morrow's sun,
Lest perdition thee arrest
Ere the morrow is begun.
Lord, do thou the sinner turn!
Rouse him from his senseless state;
Let him not thy counsel spurn,
Rue his fatal choice too late!
31 OUR Lord is rich and merciful,
Our God is very kind;
O come to him, come now to him,
With a believing mind.
The Lord is great and full of might,
Our God is ever nigh:
O trust in him, trust now in him,
And have security.
32 ONCE all my servile works were done
A righteousness to raise ;
Now, freely chosen in the Son,
I freely choose his ways.
"What shall I do," was then the word,
"That I may worthier grow?"
"What shall I render to the Lord ?"
Is my enquiry now.
MY God and Father! while I stray
Far from my home, in life's rough way,
Oh! teach me from my heart to say,
"Thy will be done!" "Thy will be done!"
If thou shouldst call me to resign
What most I prize-it ne'er was mine;
I only yield thee what was thine :
"Thy will be done!"
34 NATURE with open volume stands,
To spread her Maker's praise abroad;
And every labour of his hands
Shows something worthy of a God.
But in the grace that rescued man
His brightest form of glory shines;
Here, on the cross, 'tis fairest drawn
In precious blood and crimson lines.
Here I behold his inmost heart,
Where grace and vengeance strangely join,
Piercing his Son with sharpest smart,
To make the purchased pleasures mine.
35 IN vain we ask God's righteous law
To justify us now;
Since to convince and to condemn,
Is all the law can do.
Jesus, how glorious is thy grace !
When in thy name we trust,
Our faith receives a righteousness
That makes the sinner just.
36 WHAT though this goodly mortal frame
Sink to the dust, from whence it came;
Though buried in the silent tomb,
Worms shall my skin and flesh consume;
Yet on that happy rising morn,
New life this body shall adorn;
These active powers refined shall be,
And God my Saviour I shall see.
GOD my Redeemer lives,
And often from the skies
Looks down, and watches all my dust,
Till he shall bid it rise.
Array'd in glorious grace
Shall these vile bodies shine :
And every shape and every face,
Look heavenly and divine.
These lively hopes we owe
To Jesus' dying love:
We would adore his grace below,
And sing his power above.
MY spirit looks to God alone;
My rock and refuge is his throne;
In all my fears, in all my straits,
My soul on his salvation waits.
Trust him, ye saints, in all your ways,
Pour out your hearts before his face,
When helpers fail, and foes invade,
God is our all-sufficient aid.
39 IN all my Lord's appointed ways,
My journey I'll pursue ;
"Hinder me not," ye much-loved saints,
For I must go with you.
Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead,
I'll follow where he goes;
"Hinder me not," shall be my cry,
Though earth and hell oppose.
MY rest is in heaven, my rest is not here,
Then why should I tremble when trials are
near?
Be hush'd my dark spirit, the worst that can
But shortens thy journey, and hastens thee home.
It is not for me to be seeking my bliss,
Or building my hopes in a region like this;
I look for a city that hands have not piled,
I pant for a country by sin undefiled.
41 'TIS not that I did choose thee,
For, Lord, that could not be ;
This heart would still refuse thee,
But thou hast chosen me.
Thou from the sin that stain'd me
Wash'd me and set me free,
And to this end ordain'd me,
That I should live to thee.
42 SHOULD I to gain the world's applause, Or to escape its harmless frown,
Refuse to countenance thy cause,
lines. And make thy people's lot my own;
I sell my birthright in that day,
And throw my precious soul away.
No let the world cast out my name,
And vile account me if they will;
If to confess the Lord be shame,
I purpose to be viler still.
For thee, my God, I all resign,
Content if I can call Thee mine.
43 FATHER, to that First-born of thine
Thou hast the blessing given,
The power, and dignity divine,
Th' inheritance of heaven.
O how shall I, the younger son,
The Elder's right obtain ?
I'll put my Brother's raiment on,
And thus the blessing gain.
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