Secret communion with God.
WEET is the prayer whose holy stream In earnest pleading flows;
Devotion dwells upon the theme,
And warm and warmer glows.
2 Faith grasps the blessing she desires;
Hope points the upward gaze;
And Love, celestial Love, inspires
The eloquence of praise.
3 But sweeter far the still small voice,
Unheard by human ear,
When God has made the heart rejoice,
And dried the bitter tear.
4 No accents flow, no words ascend;
All utt'rance faileth there;
But God himself doth comprehend,
And answer, silent prayer.
FULL of trembling expectation,
Feeling much, and fearing more,
Mighty God of my salvation,
I thy timely aid implore.
2 Suff'ring Son of man, be near me,
In my suff'rings to sustain;
By thy sorer griefs to cheer me,-
By thy more than mortal pain,
3 By thy most severe temptation
In that dark Satanic hour;
By thy last mysterious passion,
Screen me from the adverse power.
4 By thy fainting in the garden,
By thy dreadful death, I pray,
Write upon my heart the pardon;
Take my sins and fears away.
MY Saviour from the wrath to come,
From present evil save;
Avert the deep impending gloom,-
The darkness of the grave.
2 Still hold my soul in life, I pray;
A dying worm reprieve;
And let me all my lengthen'd day
Unto thy glory live.
3 Now, Lord, I have to thee made known
My troubled soul's request,
And sink in calm dependence down,
Within thine arms to rest :-
4 Secure, in danger's darkest hour,
Thy faithfulness to prove,
Protected by almighty power,
And everlasting love.
In sickness: Praying for recovery.
ANGEL of covenanted grace
Come, and thy healing power infuse; Descend in thine own time, and bless, And give the means their hallow'd 'use.
2 Obedient to thy will alone,
To thee in means I calmly fly:
My life, I know, is not my own;
To God I live, to God I die.
3 Thy holy will be ever mine:
If thou on earth detain me still,
I bow, and bless the grace divine,-
I suffer all thy holy will.
4 I come, if thou my strength restore,
To serve thee with my strength renew'd
Grant me but this, I ask no more-
To spend and to be spent for God.
Consolations in sickness.
THEN languor and disease invade
This trembling house of clay,
Tis sweet to look beyond my pains,
And long to fly away-
2 Sweet to look inward, and attend
The whispers of his love;
Sweet to look upward, to the place
Where Jesus pleads above;-
3 Sweet to look back, and see my name
In life's fair book set down;
Sweet to look forward, and behold
Eternal joys my own;-
4 Sweet to reflect how grace divine
My sins on Jesus laid;
Sweet to remember that his blood
My debt of suff"ring paid;---
5 Sweet to rejoice in lively hope,
That, when my change shall come,
Angels shall hover round my bed,
And waft my spirit home."
6 If such the sweetness of the stream,
What must the fountain be,
Where saints and angels draw their bliss
Directly, Lord, from thee.
Y God, thy service well demands
The remnant of my days;
Why was this fleeting breath renew'd,
But to renew thy praise?
2 Thine arms of everlasting love
Did this weak frame sustain,
When life was hov'ring o'er the grave,
And nature sank with pain.
8 I calmly bow'd my fainting head
Upon thy faithful breast,
And waited for my Father's call
To his eternal rest.
4 Into thy hands, my Saviour God,
Did I my soul resign,
In firm dependence on that truth
Which made salvation mine.
5 Back from the borders of the grave,
At thy command, I come;
Nor will I ask a speedier flight
To my celestial home.
6 Where thou appointest mine abode,
There would I choose to be;
For in thy presence death is life,
And earth is heaven with thee.
The gates of death.
THOU God who hearest prayer,
Every hour and everywhere,
Listen to my feeble breath,
Now I touch the gates of death:
For His sake whose blood I plead,
Hear me in this hour of need.
2 Hear and save me, gracious Lord,
For my trust is in thy word;
Wash me from the stain of sin,
That thy peace may rule within;
May I know myself thy child,
Ransom'd, pardon'd, reconciled.
3 Thou art merciful to save;
Thou hast snatch'd me from the grave;
I would kiss the chast'ning rod,
O my Father and my God!
Only hide not now thy face,
God of all-sufficient grace.
4 Leave me not, my strength, my trust;
O remember I am dust:
Leave me not again to stray;
Leave me not the tempter's prey:
Fix my heart on things above;
Make me happy in thy love.
A Sabbath in the sick-chamber.
THOUSANDS, O Lord of Hosts, this day
Around thine altars meet;
And tens of thousands throng to pay
Their homage at thy feet.
2 They sing thy deeds, as I have sung,
In sweet and solemn lays;
Were I among them, my glad tongue
Might learn new themes of praise.
3 For thou art in their midst to teach,
When on thy Name they call;
And thou hast blessings, Lord, for each,-
Hast blessings, Lord, for all,
4 I, of such fellowship bereft,"
In spirit turn to thee:
O, hast thou not a blessing left,-
A blessing, Lord, for me!
5 Behold thy pris'ner;-loose my bands,
If 'tis thy gracious will;
If not,-contented in thy hands,-
Behold thy pris'ner still.
6 I may not to thy courts repair,
Yet here thou surely art;
Lord, consecrate a house of prayer
In my surrender'd heart.
7 To faith reveal the things unseen;
To hope, the joys untold;
Let love, without a veil between,
Thy glory now behold.
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