362

C. M.

Support in God's Covenant.

DODDRIDGE.

1 MY God, the covenant of thy love

Abides forever sure,

And in its matchless grace I feel
My happiness secure.

2 What though my house be not with thee,
As nature could desire?
To nobler joys than nature gives,
Thy servants all aspire.

3 Since thou, the everlasting God,
My Father art become,

Jesus my Guardian and my Friend,
And heaven my final home,

4 I welcome all thy sovereign will;
For all that will is love;

And, when I know not what thou dost,
I wait the light above.

1 WHEN, overwhelmed with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To Heaven I lift my eyes.

2 O, lead me to the Rock

That's high above my head,
And make the covert of thy wings
Mv shelter and my shade.

WATTS.

3 Within thy presence, Lord,
Forever I'll abide;

Thou art the Tower of my defence,
The Refuge where I hide.

God our Portion. Ps. 73.

1 GOD! my Supporter and my Hope,
My Help forever near,

Thine arm of mercy held me up,
When sinking in despair.

WATTS.

2 Thy counsels, Lord, shall guide my feet Through this dark wilderness,

Thy hand conduct me near thy seat,
To dwell before thy face.

3 Were I in heaven without my God,
"Twould be no joy to me;

And whilst this earth is my abode,
I long for none but thee.

4 What if the springs of life were broke,
And flesh and heart should faint?
God is my soul's eternal Rock,

The Strength of every saint.

5 Behold, the sinners that remove Far from thy presence die; Not all the idol gods they love

Can save them when they cry.

6 But to draw near to thee, my God, Shall be my sweet employ;

My tongue shall sound thy works abroad, And tell the world my joy.

365

L. M.

God the Happiness of his People.

Doddridge.

1 MY God, whose all-pervading eye
Views earth beneath, and heaven above,
Witness if here or there thou seest
An object of mine equal love.

2 Not the gay scenes, where mortal men
Pursue their bliss, and find their woe,
Detain my rising heart, which springs
The nobler joys of heaven to know.
3 This feeble flesh shall faint and die,

This heart renew its pulse no more; E'en now it views the moment nigh, When life's last movements all are o'er. 4 But come, thou vanquished king of dread, With thy own hand thy power destroy; "Tis thine to bear my soul to God,

My Portion and eternal Joy.

366

C. M.

MRS. STEELE.

True Happiness to be found only in God.

1 WHEN fancy spreads her boldest wings,
And wanders, unconfined,

Amid the unbounded scene of things
Which entertain the mind, -

2 In vain I trace creation o'er,
In search of sacred rest;
The whole creation is too poor,
Too mean, to make me blest.

3 In vain would this low world employ
Each flattering, specious wile;
There's nought can yield a real joy,
But my Creator's smile.

4 Let earth and all her charms depart,
Unworthy of the mind;

In God alone this restless heart
An equal bliss can find.

5 Great Spring of all felicity,
To whom my wishes tend,
Do not these wishes rise from thee,
And in thy favor end?

367

C. M.

WATTS.

The Soul's chief Delight in God.

1 LORD, 'tis an infinite delight To see thy lovely face,

To dwell whole ages in thy sight,

And feel thy vital rays.

2 Show me thy face, and I'll away
From all inferior things;

Speak, Lord, and here I quit my clay,
And stretch my airy wings.

3 Sweet was the journey to the sky
The wondrous prophet tried;
"Climb up the mount," says God, "and die;"
The prophet climbed, and died.

4 In God's own arms he left the breath That God's own spirit gave;

His was the noblest road to death,

And his the sweetest grave.

368

L. M.

WATTS.

Nothing on Earth to satisfy the Desires of the Mind.

1 I SEND the joys of earth away;

Away, ye tempters of the mind,
False as the smooth, deceitful sea,

And empty as the whistling wind.
2 There's nothing round this spacious earth
That satisfies my large desire;
To boundless joy and solid mirth
My nobler, purer thoughts aspire.

3 Now to the shining realms above

I stretch my hands and glance mine eyes; O for the pinions of a dove

To bear me to the upper skies!

4 There, from the bosom of my God,
Oceans of endless pleasures roll;
There would I fix my last abode,
And drown the sorrows of my soul.

WATTS.

369

L. M.

No Rest on Earth.

1 MAN has a soul of vast desires;
He burns within with restless fires;
Tossed to and fro, his passions fly
From vanity to vanity.

2 In vain on earth we hope to find
Some solid good to fill the mind;
We try new pleasures, but we feel
The inward thirst and torment still.