And let thy kind, thy gracious word

Sustain each trembling heart. 4 O never let our souls remove

From this divine retreat;
Still let us trust thy power and love,

And dwell before thy feet.

84 5s & 6s.

HOW honoured, how dear,
1 That sacred abode,
Where Christians draw near

Their Father and God!
Mid worldly commotion,

Our wearied soul faints
For the house of devotion-

The house of thy saints. 2 Thou Hearer of prayer!

Still grant us a place, Where Christians repair

To the courts of thy grace:
More blest, beyond measure

One day so employed,
Than years of vain pleasure

By worldlings enjoyed. 3 The Lord is a sun:

The Lord is a shield: What grace has begun,

With glory is sealed: He hears the distressed,

He succours the just; And they shall be blessed,

Who make him their trust.

TIE SCRIPTURES. 85

L. M.
TWAS by thy Spirit gracious Lord,
I The ancient prophets spoke thy

word; Thy Spirit did their tongues inspire, And warmed their hearts with heavenly

fire. 2 The works and wonders which they

wrought, Confirmed the messages they brought; The prophet's pen succeeds his breath,

To save the holy words from death. 3 Great God! our eyes with pleasure look

On the dear volume of thy book;
There we behold our Saviour's face,

And learn his name, and feel his grace. 4 Let the false raptures of the mind

Be lost, and vanish in the wind; ..
Here we can fix our hope secure; ; !

This is thy word, and must endure. 86

L. M.
FTERNAL Spirit!'twas thy breath .
V The oracles of truth inspired,
And kings, and holy seers of old,
With strong prophetic impulse fired."
2 Filled with thy great Almighty power,

Their lips with heavenly wisdom flowed;
Their hands a thousand wonders wrought,
Which bore the signature of God. /

3 The powers of earth and hell, in vain

Against the sacred word combine;

Thy providence through every age, • Securely guards the book divine.

4 Thee, its great Author, source of light,

Thee, its preserver, we adore;
And humbly ask a ray from thee,,
Its hidden wonders to explore.

87

C. M.
FATHER of mercies, in thy word
I Wbat endless glory shines;
For ever be thy name adored

For these celestial lines.

2 Here may the wretched sons of want

Exhaustless riches find;
Riches above what earth can grant,

And lasting as the mind.
3 Here the Redeemer's welcome voice

Spreads heavenly peace around; .. And life, and everlasting joys, I

Attend the blissful sound. : 4 O may these heavenly pages best

Our ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may we see,

And still increasing light,
5. Divine Instructor, gracious Lord,

Be thou for ever near; .
Teach us to love thy sacred word, if

And view the Saviour there.

88

L. M.
DRAISE, everlasting praise, be paid
1 To Him who earth's foundation laid;
Praise to the God whose strong decrees

Sway the creation as he please.
2 Firm are the words his prophets give,

Sweet words on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke and spread the skies abroad.
3 O for a strong, a lasting faith,

To credit what th' Almighty saith;
To embrace the message of his Son,

And call the joys of heaven our own.
4 Then should the earth's old pillars shake,

And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls shall fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.

89

C. M.
THOU lovely Source of true delight,
1 Whom we unseen adore;
Unveil thy beauties to our sight,

That we may love thee more.
2 Thy glory o'er creation shines;

But in thy sacred word,
We read in fairer, brighter lines,

Our bleeding, dying Lord.
3 'Tis here, whene'er our comforts droop,

And sins and sorrows rise,
Thy love with cheerful beams of hope,

Our fainting heart supplies.

4 Jesus, our Lord, our life, our light,

O come with blissful ray;
Break radiant through the shades of

night,

And chase our fears away. 5 Then shall our souls with rapture trace

The wonders of thy love;
But the full glories of thy face

Are only known above.
90 . L. M.
COME, blessed Spirit, source of light,
Whose power and grace are uncon-

fined,
Dispel the gloomy shades of night,

The thicker darkness of the mind. 2 To our illumined eyes display

The glorious truth thy word reveals;
Cause us to run the heavenly way;

The book unfold, unloose the seals. 3 Tbine inward teachings make us know,

The mysteries of redeeming love,
The emptiness of things below,

The excellence of things above. 4 While through this dubious maze we

stray, Spread, like the sun, thy beams abroad, To show the dangers of the way,

And guide our feeble steps to God. 91 . L. M.

GOD, the gospel of thy Son,
Doth make thy holy counsels known;