299.

C. M.

WATTS.

The Gospel Covenant sure. Ps. 89. 1 My never-ceasing song shall show The mercies of the Lord,

And make succeeding ages know
How faithful is his word.

2 The sacred truths his lips pronounce
Shall firm as heaven endure;
And if he speak a promise once
Th' eternal grace is sure.

3 How long the race of David held
The promised Jewish throne!
But there's a nobler covenant sealed
To David's greater Son.

4 His seed forever shall possess
A throne above the skies;

The meanest subject of his grace
Shall to that glory rise.

5 Lord God of hosts, thy wondrous ways Are sung by saints above;

And saints on earth their honors raise
To thine unchanging love.

300.

L. M.

WATTS.

The Promises sure.

1 PRAISE, everlasting praise be paid
To him who earth's foundations laid;
Praise to the God whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please.

2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord,
Who rules his people by his word;
And there, as strong as his decrees,
He sets his kindest promises.

3 Each of them powerful as that sound
That bid the new-made world go round;
And stronger than the solid poles,
On which the wheel of nature rolls.
4 O for a strong, a lasting faith,

To credit what th' Almighty saith!
T'embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own!
5 Then, should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls would fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar;

6 Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,

Where the eternal Builder reigns,

And his own courts his power sustains.

301.

C. M.

The Same.

WATTS.

1 BEGIN, my tongue, some heavenly theme, And speak some lofty thing;

The mighty works, or mighty name
Of our eternal King!

2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
Or sound his power abroad;
Sing the blest promise of his grace,
And the performing God.

3 Proclaim salvation from the Lord
To sinful, dying men;

His hand has writ the sacred word
With an immortal pen.

4 Engraved as in eternal brass

The gracious promise shines;

Nor can the powers of darkness raze
Those everlasting lines.

5 His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.

302.

C. M.

*GIBBONS.

All Nations promised to Christ.

1 FATHER, is not thy promise pledged
To thine exalted Son,

That through the nations of the earth
Thy word of life shall run

2 'Ask, and I give the heathen lands
For thine inheritance,

And to the world's remotest shores
Thine empire shall advance.'

3 Hast thou not said, the blinded Jews
Shall their Redeemer own;
While Gentiles to his standard crowd,
And bow before his throne?

4 Are not all kingdoms, tribes, and tongues, Beneath th' expanse of heaven,

To the dominion of thy Son,

Without exception, given ?

5 From east to west, from north to south,
Then be his name adored!
Europe, with all thy millions, shout
Hosannas to thy Lord!

6 Asia and Africa, resound

From shore to shore his fame
And thou, America, in songs,
Redeeming love proclaim!

303.

C. M.

GIBBONS.

Universal Spread of the Gospel.

1 LORD, send thy word, and let it run,
Armed with thy Spirit's power;
Ten thousand shall confess its sway,
And bless the saving hour.

2 Beneath the influence of thy grace
The barren wastes shall rise,

With sudden greens and fruits arrayed,
A blooming paradise.

3 True holiness shall strike its root
In each regenerate heart,
Shall in a growth divine arise,

And heavenly fruits impart.

4 Peace, with her olives crowned, shall stretch Her wings from shore to shore;

No trump shall rouse the rage of war,
Nor murderous cannon roar.

5 Lord, for those days we wait; - those days Are in thy word foretold;

Fly swifter, sun and stars, and bring
This promised age of gold!

6 Amen, with joy divine, let earth's
Unnumbered myriads cry;

Amen,―with joy divine, let heaven's
Unnumbered choirs reply!

304.

8s & 7s M.

ANONYMOUS.

Prayer for the Spread of the Gospel.

1 O'ER the gloomy hills of darkness
Look, my soul, be still and gaze;
All the promises do travail
With a glorious day of

grace.

2 Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness.
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light;
And from eastern coast to western,
May the morning chase the night.
3 May the glorious day approaching
On their grossest darkness flame,
And the everlasting gospel
Spread abroad thy holy name.
4 Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ;
Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting wide dominions
Multiply and still increase.

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