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HYMN LXIX.

Remember the Sabbath day. Exod. xxii. 8.

SABBATH days were ne'er intended
To be spent in idle play;
How the Lord must be offended,
When we throw such time away.
Hallow'd day, by God appointed,
Let not men the day disown;
Sacred to the Lord's anointed,
All its hours are his alone.

"Tis no time for thoughtless leisure,
Foolish mirth or busy care;
Sons of God taste richer pleasure

With the Lord in praise and prayer; "Tis the time of holy resting;

God looks down from heav'n above; Meets his favour'd saints in feasting 'Neath the banners of his love.

"Tis the time in mercy given,

Gospel truth to hear and learn; Jesus now invites from heaven, Wand'ring sinners to return.

Let us then avoid for ever,

All the Sabbath-breaker's ways; From them, O Lord, our souls deliver, By thine all-sufficient grace.

HYMN LXX.

1 will pay my vows. Ps. cxvi. 18.

SEND down, O Lord, on all our youth
The spirit of thy heav'nly grace;
And let the seed of sacred truth
Find in each heart a fruitful place.

Soon to appear before thy sight,
Their vow and promise to renew;
Prepare them for the solemn rite,
Bid each his heart and life review.

The cross that mark'd their infant brow,
May it a faithful emblem
prove;
That they shall keep that sacred vow,
And walk as children of thy love.

Lord! teach them to remember thee,
Their great Creator, in their youth;
And may they grow unceasingly

In wisdom, knowledge, virtue, truth.

Thy sons and daughters, may they be Confirm'd and strengthen'd by thy grace; Preserv'd through life, O Lord! by thee, May they in heav'n behold thy face.

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HYMN LXXI.

Heaven and earth shall pass away. Mat. xxiv. 35.

THE day of wrath! that dreadful day!
When heav'n and earth shall pass away;
What power shall be the sinners stay?
Whom shall he trust that dreadful day?

When shriv'lling like a parched scroll,
The flaming heavens together roll;
When louder yet, and yet more dread,
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead.

Oh! on that day, that dreadful day, When man to judgment wakes from clay, Be thou, O Christ! the sinner's stay, Though heav'n and earth shall pass away.

PSALM LXXII.

He shall feed me in a green pasture. Ps. xxiii. 2.
THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noon-day walks he shall attend.
And all my midnight hours defend.

When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads,
My weary wand'ring steps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.

Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread;
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou O Lord art with me still;
Thy rod and staff shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

HYMN LXXIII.

The heavens declare the glory of God. Ps. xix. 1.

THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens a shining frame,
Their great original proclaim.
Th'unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display:
And publishes to ev'ry land,
The work of an Almighty hand.

Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wond'rous tale,
And nightly to the list'ning earth
Repeats the story of her birth :

While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What, though in solemn silence, all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball;
What, though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found;
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth their glorious voice,
For ever singing as they shine,
The hand that made us is divine.

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