The Minister's prayer: Boldness in the Gospel
HALL I, for fear of feeble man,
The Spirit's course in me restrain?
Or, undismay'd in deed and word,
Be a true witness of my Lord?
2 Awed by a mortal's frown, shall I
Conceal the word of God Most High?
How then before thee shall I dare
To stand, or how thine anger bear?
3 Shall I, to soothe the' unholy throng,
Soften thy truth, or smooth my tongue,
To gain earth's gilded toys,-or flee
The cross endured, my Lord, by thee?
4 What then is he whose scorn I dread?
Whose wrath or hate makes me afraid?
A man! an heir of death! a slave
To sin a bubble on the wave!
5 Yea, let men rage; since thou wilt spread
Thy shadowing wings around my head:
Since in all pain thy tender love
Will still my sure refreshment prove.
GOD of my life, to thee
My cheerful soul I raise;
Thy goodness bade me be,
And still prolongs my days:
I see my natal hour return,
And bless the day that I was born.
2 A clod of living earth,
I glorify thy name,
From whom alone my birth,
And all my blessings came:
Creating and preserving grace,
Let all that is within me praise.
3 Long as I live beneath,
To thee O let me live;
To thee my every breath
In thanks and praises give :
Whate'er I have, whate'er I am,
Shall magnify my Maker's Name.
4 My soul and all its powers
Thine, wholly thine, shall be;
All, all my happy hours
I consecrate to thee:
Me to thine image now restore,
And I shall praise thee evermore.
5 I wait thy will to do,
As angels do in heaven;
In Christ a creature new,
Most graciously forgiven:
I wait thy perfect will to prove,
All sanctified by spotless love.
6 Then, when the work is done,
The work of faith with power,
Receive thy favour'd son,
In death's triumphant hour:
Like Moses, to thyself convey,
And kiss my raptured soul away.
YHASTISED by an indulgent God,
I would the kind chastisement feel;
But never faint beneath the rod,
Nor desp'rate, nor insensible :-
2 From each extreme divinely kept,
The trouble coming from above
I would with thankful awe accept,
And bless with tears my Father's love.
Secret communion with God.
WEET is the prayer whose holy stream
In carisst pleading Hows;
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.
Saviour from the wrath to come,
M From prefent evil savet,
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.
NGEL 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.
WHEN 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.
MY 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.
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