8s, 6 & 4.
Imploring Succor.
1 FATHER, who in the olive shade,
When the dark hour came on,
Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,
Strengthen thy Son,-
2 O, by the anguish of that night,
Send us down blest relief;
Or, to the chastened, let thy might
Hallow this grief.
3 And thou, that when the starry sky
Saw the dread strife begun,
Didst teach adoring faith to cry,
Thy will be done,"
4 By thy meek spirit, thou, of all
That e'er have mourned the chief,
Blest Saviour, if the stroke must fall,
Hallow this grief.
Secret Communion with God.
1 "TWAS in the watches of the night
I thought upon thy power;
I kept thy lovely face in sight,
Amid the darkest hour.
2 While I lay resting on my bed,
My soul arose on high;
My God, my life, my hope, I said,
Bring thy salvation nigh.
3 I strive to mount thy holy hill;
I walk the heavenly road;
Thy glories all my spirit fill,
While I commune with God.
4 Thy mercy stretches o'er my head
The shadow of thy wing;
My heart rejoices in thine aid,
And I thy praises sing.
680. 6s & 4s. [Peculiar.]
Prayer for Help in Necessity.
1 LOWLY and solemn be
Thy children's cry to thee,
Father divine,
A hymn of suppliant breath,
Owning that life and death
Alike are thine.
2 O Father, in that hour,
When earth all helping power
Shall disavow, -
When spear, and shield, and crown,
In faintness are cast down, -
Sustain us, thou!
3 By Him who bowed to take
The death-cup for our sake,
The thorn, the rod, -
From whom the last dismay
Was not to pass away,
Aid us, O God.
4 While trembling o'er the grave,
We call on thee to save,
Father divine:
Hear, hear our suppliant breath;
Keep us, in life and death,
Thine, only thine.
God's Presence is Light in Darkness.
1 MY God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights!
2 In darkest shades, if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul's bright morning star,
And he my rising sun.
3 The opening neavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shows his love is mine,
And whispers, I am his.
4 My soul would leave this heavy clay,
At that transporting word,
And run with joy the shining way,
To meet my gracious Lord.
5 Fearless of hell and ghastly death,
I break through every foe:
The wings of love and arms of faith
Shall bear me conqueror through.
Backsliding and Repentance.
1 MINE eyes and my desire
Are ever to the Lord;
I love to plead his promised grace,
And rest upon his word.
2 Turn, turn thee to my soul;
Bring thy salvation near;
When will thy hand release my feet
From every deadly snare?
3 When shall the sovereign grace
Of my forgiving God
Restore me from those dangerous ways
My wandering feet have trod?
4 O, keep my soul from death,
Nor put my hope to shame;
For I have placed my only trust
In my Redeemer's name.
5 With humble faith I wait
To see thy face again;
Of Israel it shall ne'er be said,
"He sought the Lord in vain."
Ingratitude deplored.
1 IS this the kind return?
Are these the thanks we owe?.
Thus to abuse eternal love,
Whence all our blessings flow?
2 To what a stubborn frame
Has sin reduced our mind!
What strange, rebellious wretches we!
And God as strangely kind!
3 Turn, turn us, mighty God,
And mould our souls afresh;
Break, sovereign grace, these hearts of stone,
And give us hearts of flesh.
4 Let past ingratitude
Provoke our weeping eyes;
And hourly, as new mercies fall,
Let hourly thanks arise.
Backsliding and Returning.
1 O, WHERE is now that glowing love
That marked our union with the Lord?
Our hearts were fixed on things above,
Nor could the world a joy afford.
2 Where is the zeal that led us then
To make our Saviour's glory known?
That freed us from the fear of men,
And kept our eye on him alone?
3 Where are the happy seasons spent
In fellowship with him we loved?
The sacred joy, the sweet content,
The blessedness that then we proved?
4 Behold, again we turn to thee;
O, cast us not away, though vile:
No peace we have, no joy we see,
O Lord our God, but in thy smile.
1 WHERE is my Saviour now,
Whose smiles I once possessed?
Till he return, I bow,
By heavy grief oppressed:
My days of happiness are gone,
And I am left to weep alone.
2 Where can the mourner go,
And tell his tale of grief?
Ah, who can soothe his woe,
And give him sweet relief?
Earth cannot heal the wounded breast,
Or give the troubled sinner rest.
3 Jesus, thy smiles impart;
My gracious Lord, return,
And ease my wounded heart,
And bid me cease to mourn :
Then shall this night of sorrow flee,
And peace and heaven be found in thee.
The Road to Life and to Death.
1 BROAD is the road that leads to death,
And thousands walk together there;
But wisdom shows a narrow path,
With here and there a traveller.
2 "Deny thyself and take thy cross,”
Is the Redeemer's great command:
Nature must count her gold but dross,
If she would gain this heavenly land,
3 The fearful soul that tires and faints,
And walks the ways of God no more,
Is but esteemed almost a saint,
And makes his own destruction sure.
4 Lord, let not all my hopes be vain;
Create my heart entirely new
Which hypocrites could ne'er attain,
Which false apostates never knew.
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