Then mercy on our failings, Lord!
Our sinking faith renew!
And when thy sorrows visit us,
O send thy patience too.

469. C. M.

1 O help us, Lord! each hour of need
Thy heavenly succour give;
Help us in thought, and word, and deed,
Each hour on earth we live.

2 O help us, when our spirits bleed
With contrite anguish sore,

And when our hearts are cold and dead, O help us, Lord, the more.

3 O help us, through the prayer of faith,
More firmly to believe;

For still the more the servant hath,
The more shall he receive.

4 O help us, Father, from on high;
We know no help but Thee;

O help us so to live and die,
As Thine in heaven to be.

470. L. M.

1 0 Thou to whose all-searching sight
The darkness shineth as the light!
Search, prove my heart, it pants for Thee;
O burst these bonds, and set it free!

2 If in the darksome wild I stray,
Be Thou my light, be Thou my way;
No fraud, nor violence I fear,

Nor foes, while Thou my God art near. 3 When rising floods my soul o'erflow, When sinks my heart in waves of woe; Through Jesus timely aid impart,

To raise my head, and cheer my heart.
4 Saviour! where'er thy steps I see,
Dauntless, untired, I'd follow thee!
O let thy hand support me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill.

5 If rough and thorny be the way,
My strength proportion to my day;
Till toil, and grief, and pain shall cease,
Where all is calm with God's own peace.

471. P. M.

1 Our hope in sorrow, sorrow leaves;
May sorrow still reveal it;

He who the heart of bliss bereaves,
He has the power to heal it.

2 Our dearest hopes He would not crush, And pass unheeding by them;

Nor bid our eyes with sorrows gush,
Unless His love could dry them.

3 A bruised reed He will not break:
But hearts that bow before Him
Shall own His mercy while they ache,
And gratefully adore Him.

472. L. M.

1 Our times are in Thy hand, and Thou
Wilt guide our footsteps at Thy will:
Lord to Thy purposes we bow:
Do Thou Thy purposes fulfil!

2 Life's mighty waters roll along;
Thy Spirit guides them as they roll:
And waves on waves impetuous throng
At Thy command, at Thy control.

3 Lord! we Thy children look to Thee, And with an humbled, prostrate will, Find in Thine all-sufficiency

1

A claim to love and serve Thee still.

473. P. M.

Say not, my soul, "From whence
Can God relieve my care?"
Remember that Omnipotence

Has servants everywhere:
But if as weak and poor

Thou seekest charity,

Christ may come knocking at thy door,

And ask relief of thee.

2

3

4

He comes as truth denied;
Comes as a wounded heart;
Sees if with courage well supplied
And kindliness thou art.

Will he an alms receive?
Then never doubt and fret;
Is God less able to relieve,
More likely to forget?

God's help is always sure,
His methods seldom guessed;
Delay will make our pleasure pure,
Surprise will give it zest:

His wisdom is sublime,

His heart profoundly kind;
God never is before His time,
And never is behind.

Hast thou assumed a load

Which few will share with thee?

And art thou carrying it for God,

And shall He fail to see?

Be comforted at heart,

Thou art not left alone:

Now, thou the Lord's companion art,

And soon wilt share His throne.

474. C. M.

1 I cannot call affliction sweet,
And yet 't was good to bear;
Affliction brought me to Thy feet,
And I found comfort there.

2 My weaned soul was all resigned
To Thy most gracious will;

Oh! had I kept that better mind,
Or been afflicted still!

3 Where are the vows which then I vowed,
The joys which then I knew!

Those vanished, like the morning cloud,
These, like the early dew.

4 Lord! grant me grace for every day,
Whate'er my state may be,
Through life and death with truth to say,
"My God is all to me!"

475. 10s M.

1 Thou that art strong to comfort, look on me! I sit in darkness and behold no light;

Over my soul the waves of agony

Have gone, and left me in a rayless night.

2 A bruised and broken reed sustain! sustain ! Divinest Comforter, to Thee I fly,

To whom no soul hath ever fled in vain;
Support me with Thy love, or else I die.

3 Father, whate'er I had, it all was Thine;
A God of mercy Thou hast ever been ;
O, help me what I most loved to resign,
And if I murmur, count it not for sin.