Our Times are in thy Hand.
1 OUR times are in thy hand, and thou
Wilt guide our footsteps at thy wil
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 humble, prostrate will
Find in thine all-sufficiency
A claim to love and serve thee still.
"Why sayest thou my way is hid from the Lord?"
ALONG my earthly way,
How many clouds are spread!
Darkness, with scarce one cheerful ray,
Seems gathering o'er my head.
2 Yet, Father, thou art love:
O hide not from my view!
But when I look, in prayer, above,
Appear in mercy through!
3 My pathway is not hid;
Thou knowest all my need;
And I would do as Israel did,-
Follow where thou wilt lead.
4 Lead me, and then my feet
Shall never, never stray;
But safely I shall reach the seat
Of happiness and day.
5 And O from that bright throne,
I shall look back, and see,
The path I went, and that alone,
Was the right path for me.
The Dead speaking to the Living.
1 RISE, O my soul! pursue the path
By ancient worthies trod;
Aspiring, view those holy men
Who lived and walked with God.
2 Though dead, they speak in reason's ear,
And in example live;
Their faith, and hope, and mighty deeds,
Still fresh instruction give.
3 Confiding in his heavenly strength,
They conquered every foe;
To his almighty power and grace
Their crowns of life they owe.
4 Lord, may I ever keep in view
The patterns thou hast given;
And never wander from the road
That led them safe to heaven.
1 OUR country is Immanuel's ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.
2 Oft do our eyes with joy o'erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;
Yet naught but heaven our hopes can raise,
And naught but sin our fears.
2 Thy kingdom come, with power and grace
To every heart of man;
Thy peace, and joy, and righteousness,
In all our bosoms reign.
3 The righteousness that never ends,
But makes an end of sin;
The joy that human thought transcends,
Into our souls bring in.
4 The kingdom of established peace,
Which can no more remove;
The perfect powers of godliness,
Th' omnipotence of love.
1 MY GOD, permit my tongue
This joy, to call thee mine;
And let my early cries prevail
To taste thy love divine.
2 My thirsty, fainting soul
Thy mercy does implore;
Not travellers in desert lands
Can pant for water more.
3 For life, without thy love,
No relish can afford;
No joy can be compared to this,
To serve and please the Lord.
4 Since thou hast been my help,
To thee my spirit flies,
And on thy watchful providence
My cheerful hope relies.
'O God, my soul thirsteth for thee."
1 0 GOD! thou art my God alone;
Early to thee my soul shall cry,
A pilgrim in a land unknown,
A thirsty land, whose springs are dry.
2 Yet through this rough and thorny maze,
I follow hard on thee, my God;
Thine hand unseen upholds my ways,
I lean upon thy staff and rod.
3 Thee, in the watches of the night,
When I remember on my bed,
Thy presence makes the darkness light;
Thy guardian wings are round my head.
4 Better than life itself thy love,
Dearer than all beside to me;
For whom have I in heaven above,
Or what on earth, compared with thee?
1 SHINE forth, Eternal Source of light!
And make thy glories known;
Fill our enlarged, adoring sight
With lustre all thine own.
2 Vain are the charms, and faint the rays
The brightest creatures boast;
And all their grandeur and their praise
Is in thy presence lost.
3 To know the Author of our frame
Is our sublimest skill;
True science is to read thy name,
True life to obey thy will.
4 For this I long, for this I pray,
And following on pursue,
Till visions of eternal day
Fix and complete the view.
1 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 noonday walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2 When in the sultry g.ebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary, wandering steps he leads,
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
3 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 friendly staff shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.
4 Though, in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile,-
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crowned,
And streams shall murmur all around.
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