5 How decent and how wise!

How glorious to behold!
Beyond the pomp that charms the eyes,

And rites adorned with gold. 6 The God we worship now

Will guide us till we die
Will be our God while here below,

And ours above the sky.

555
H. M.

Watts.
Longing for the House of God. Ps. 84.
1 LORD of the worlds above,

How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of thy love,
Thine earthly temples, are !
To thine abode

My heart aspires

With warm desires

To see my God.
2 The sparrow for her young

With pleasure seeks a nest,
And wandering swallows long
To find their wonted rest :
My spirit faints

With equal zeal

To rise and dwell

Among thy saints.
3 O happy souls that pray

Where God appoints to hear !
O happy men that pay

Their constant service there !

They praise thee still,

And happy they

That love the way
To Zion's hill.

4 They go from strength to strength

Through this dark vale of tears,
Till each arrives at length,
Till each in heaven appears :
O glorious seat,

When God our King

Shall thither bring

Our willing feet !
5 To spend one sacred day

Where God and saints abide,
Affords diviner joy
Than thousand days beside:
Where God resorts,

I love it more

To keep the door
Than shine in courts.

6 The Lord his people loves ;

His hand no good withholds
From those his heart approves,
From pure and pious souls:
Thrice happy he,

O God of hosts,

Whose spirit trusts
Alone in thee.

439

556

S. M.

E. TAYLOR,

Invitation to the House of God.

1 COME to the house of prayer,

O thou afflicted, come;
The God of peace shall meet thee there ;

He makes that house his home.

2 Come to the house of praise,

Ye who are happy now;
In sweet accord your voices raise,

In kindred homage bow. 3 Ye aged, hither come,

For ye have felt his love;
Soon shall your trembling tongues be dumb,

Your lips forget to move.
4 Ye young, before his throne,

Come, bow; your voices raise ;
Let not your hearts his praise disown,

Who gives the power to praise. 5 Thou, whose benignant eye

In mercy looks on all,
Who seest the tear of misery,

And hear'st the mourner's call, — 6 Up to thy dwelling-place,

Bear our frail spirits on,
Till they outstrip time's tardy pace,

And heaven on earth be won.

440

557

L. M.

SALISBURY COL. The House of God. 1 LO, God is here! Let us adore,

And humbly bow before his face ; Let all within us feel his power,

Let all within us seek his grace.
2 Lo, God is here! Him day and night

United choirs of angels sing :
To him, enthroned above all height,

Heaven's host their noblest homage bring. 3 Being of beings, may our praise

Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill; Still may we stand before thy face,

Still hear and do thy sovereign will.

558
C. M.

Milton. Delight in God's House. Ps. 84. 1 HOW lovely are thy dwellings fair,

O Lord of hosts! how dear
The pleasant tabernacles are,

Where thou dost dwell so near ! 2 My soul doth long, and almost die,

Thy courts, O Lord, to see;
My heart and flesh aloud do cry,

O living God, for thee.
3 Happy, who in thy house reside,

Where thee they ever praise ;
Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide,

And in their hearts thy ways.

4 They journey on from strength to strength,

With joy and gladsome cheer, Till all before our God at length

In Zion do appear. 5 Lord God of hosts, that reign'st on high,

That man is truly blest, Who only on thee doth rely,

And in thee only rest.

559
L. M. 6L.

Bishop HEBER. Seeking Refuge. 1 FORTH from the dark and stormy sky,

Lord, to thine altar's shade we fly;
Forth from the world, its hope and fear,
Father, we seek thy shelter here:
Weary and weak, thy grace we pray ;

Turn not, O Lord, thy guests away.
2 Long have we roamed in want and pain;

Long have we sought thy rest in vain ;
Wildered in doubt, in darkness lost,
Long have our souls been tempest-tost :
Low at thy feet our sins we lay ;
Turn not, O Lord, thy guests away.

560
C. M.

Watts.
The Safety and Protection of the Church.
1 HOW honorable is the place

Where we adoring stand,
Sion, the glory of the earth,

And beauty of the land !