Nor leave me helpless and forlorn,
The absence of thy grace to mourn.
4 When, doom'd the orphan's lot to bear,
No father's kind concern I share,
Nor o'er me wakes a mother's eye,
My wants attentive to supply ;-
5 Adopted by thy care, in Thee,
The parent and the friend I see,
And, nourish'd by thy fostering hand,
Within thy courts secure I stand.
6 Instruct me, Lord, thy path to know,
And, while with secret art the foe
My doubting steps would turn aside,
Be Thou my guardian and my guide.
SING, ye sons of might, O sing
Praise to Heaven's eternal King;
Raise to him some new-taught song,
To his praise the note prolong.
2 Hark! his voice in thunder breaks ;
Hush'd to silence, while he speaks,
Ocean's waves from pole to pole
Hear the awful accents roll.
3 Now the bursting clouds give way,
And the vivid lightnings play,
Now the wilds, by man untrod,
Hear, dismay'd, th' approaching God.
4 O'er the desolated waste
Oft the dreadful sounds have pass'd;
Oft his stroke the wood invades,
Widow'd of its leafy shades:
5 Yield the homage, that his name
From a creature's lips may claim;
While his acts to every tongue
Yield it's argument of song.
6 He the swelling surge commands;
Fix'd his throne for ever stands;
He his people shall increase,
Arm with strength, and bless with peace.
HYMN XVI.
The Young instructed. Ps. xxxiv. 9---16.
E children come; my precepts hear,
And learn the dictates of his fear;
O come, if long extent of days,
With blessings crown'd, thy hope can raise. : 2 Averse from each injurious art,
Let falsehood from thy lips depart ;
Be good thy choice; from evil cease,
And plight the ready hand to peace:
3 Him serve, whose favouring eyes survey
The hearts that his commands obey;
Him serve, whose ever open ear
With just regard their prayer shall hear.
4 But terrors, planted on his brow,
Instruct the stubborn soul to bow:
And vengeance, kindled to a flame,
Blots from the earth the impious name,
Impatience cautioned. Ps. xxxvii. 1--7.
LET not the sinner's wealth or might
The envy of thy soul excite;
Anon thine eye shall see him fade
Quick as the flower or vernal blade,
That now rejoicing lifts the head,
Now withering on the earth is spread.
2 But thou thy will to heaven's high Lord
(His faith thy trust, thy rule his word)
Submit, and, nourish'd by his hand,
Inherit from his gift the land;
In Him delight, on Him depend,
Him choose thy guide, thy way, thy end.
3 So shall his love thy wishes grant,
His care anticipate thy want,
And bid thy acts in light serene
Fair as the rising morn be seen;
Thy justice as the noon of day
Diffusive pour it's cloudless ray.
4 With patient hope await his will,
Nor let the sight of prosperous ill
Impel thee with disquiet vain,
His wise disposals to arraigu,
Lest wrath and doubt thy conscience blind,
And urge to acts of guilt thy mind.
The Vanity of Life. Ps. xxxix. 4--6. and 12, 13.
TAUGHT by thy wisdom let me learn
How soon my fabric shall return
To earth, and in the silent tomb
It's seat of lasting rest assume.
2 O let me, heavenly Lord, extend
My view to life's approaching end;
What are my days? (a span their line ;)
And what my age compar'd with thine?
3 Our life advancing to it's close,
While scarce it's earliest dawn it knows,
Swift through an empty shade we run,
And vanity and man are one.
4 With anxious pain this son of care
Toils to enrich an unknown heir,
And, counting oft his gather'd store,
With vain disquiet thirsts for more.
5 God of my fathers! here, as they,
I walk the pilgrim of a day;
A transient guest, thy works admire,
And instant to my home retire.
6 O spare me, Lord, awhile; O spare,
And nature's ruin'd strength repair,
Ere, life's short circuit wander'd o'er,
I perish, and ain seen no more!
HYMN XIX.
Compassion. Ps. xlii. 1--3.
LEST, who with generous pity glows,
Who learns to feel another's woes,
Bows to the poor man's want his ear,
And wipes the helpless orphan's tear.
2 Who to th' afflicted gives relief,
And kindly soothes each anxious grief;
In every want, in every woe,
Himself thy pity, Lord, shall know.
3 Thy love his life shall guard, thy hand
Give to his lot the chosen land,
Nor leave him in the dreadful day,
To unrelenting foes a prey.
4 When languid with disease and pain,
Thou, Lord, his spirit wilt sustain,
Prop with thine arm his sinking head,
And turn with tenderest care his bed.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalm xlii. 1, 2, 5.
IAS pants the hart for cooling springs,
So longs my soul, O King of Kings,
Thy face in near approach to see,
So thirsts, great Source of Life, for Thee.
2 With ardent zeal, with strong desires,
To Thee, to Thee my soul aspires;
When shall I reach thy blest abode?
When meet the presence of my God?
|