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3 Lord, have mercy when we know
First how vain this world below;
When its darker thoughts oppress,
Doubts perplex, and fears distress ;
When the earliest gleam is given
Of the bright but distant heaven;
Then thy fostering grace afford;
Then, O, then, have mercy, Lord!

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Breathing after Holiness.

WATTS.

1 O, THAT the Lord would guide my ways To keep his statutes still!

O, that my God would grant me grace

To know and do his will!

2 O, send thy Spirit down, to write
Thy law upon my heart!

Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
Nor act the liar's part.

3 From vanity turn off mine eyes;
Let no corrupt design,
Nor covetous desires, arise
Within this soul of mine.

4 Order my footsteps by thy word,
And make my heart sincere ;
Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear.

5 Make me to walk in thy commands;
"T is a delightful road;

Nor let my head, nor heart, nor hands,
Offend against my God.

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Pleasures of a good Conscience.

1 LORD, how secure and blest are they Who feel the joys of pardoned sin!

WATTS.

Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea
Their minds have heaven and peace within.
2 The day glides sweetly o'er their heads,
Made up of innocence and love;
And soft and silent as the shades,

Their nightly minutes gently move.

3 Quick as their thoughts their joys come on, But fly not half so swift away!

Their souls are ever bright as noon,

And calm as summer evenings be.

4 How oft they look to th' heavenly hills,
Where groves of living pleasures grow!
And longing hopes and cheerful smiles
Sit undisturbed upon their brow.

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Freedom from Error, Guilt, and Folly.
1 BLEST Instructer! from thy ways
Who can tell how oft he strays?
Save from error's growth our mind,
Leave not, Lord, one root behind.
2 Purge us from the guilt that lies.
Wrapt within our heart's disguise;
Let us thence, by thee renewed,
Each presumptuous sin exclude.
3 Let our tongues, from error free,
Speak the words approved by thee:
To thine all-observing eyes
Let our thoughts accepted rise.

4 While we thus thy name adore,
And thy healing grace implore,
Blest Instructer! bow thine ear:
God our strength! propitious hear.

MERRICK.

390.

L. M.

Christian Stability.

J. F. OBERLIN.

1 O LORD, thy heavenly grace impart,
And fix my frail, inconstant heart;
Henceforth my chief desire shall be
To dedicate myself to thee.

2 Whate'er pursuits my time employ,
One thought shall fill my soul with joy;
That silent, secret thought shall be,
That all my hopes are fixed on thee.
3 Thy glorious eye pervadeth space;
Thy presence, Lord, fills every place;
And, wheresoe'er my lot may be,
Still shall my spirit cleave to thee.
4 Renouncing every worldly thing,
And safe beneath thy spreading wing,
My sweetest thought henceforth shall be,
That all I want I find in thee.

391.

C. P. M.

Pardon.

HENRY MOORE.

1 SOFT are the fruitful showers that bring
The welcome promise of the spring,
And soft the vernal gale :

Sweet the wild warblings of the grove,
The voice of nature and of love,

That gladden every vale.

2 But softer in the mourner's ear
Sounds the mild voice of mercy near,
That whispers sins forgiven;
And sweeter far the music swells,
When to the raptured soul she tells
Of peace and promised heaven.

3 Fair are the flowers that deck the ground;
And groves and gardens, blooming round,
Unnumbered charms unfold:

Bright is the sun's meridian ray,
And bright the beams of setting day,
That robe the clouds in gold.

4 But far more fair the pious breast,
In richer robes of goodness dressed,
Where heaven's own graces shine;
And brighter far the prospects rise,
That burst on faith's delighted eyes,
From glories all divine.

392.

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1 "JOY to those that love the Lord!"
Saith the sure, eternal word;
Not of earth the joy it brings,
Tempered in celestial springs.
2 'T is the joy of pardoned sin
When we feel 't is well within ;
'T is the joy that fills the breast
When the passions sink to rest.
3 'T is a joy that, seated deep,
Leaves not when we sigh and weep;
Spreads itself in virtuous deeds,
Sighs for woe, in pity bleeds.
4 Stern and awful are its tones
When the patriot martyr groans,
And, the death-pulse beating high,
Rapture blends with agony.

5 Tend'rer is the form it wears,
Touched in love, dissolved in tears,
When, subdued, at Jesus' feet,
Sinners clasp the mercy-seat.

6 Joy e'en here! a budding flower,
Struggling with the storm and shower,
Till its season to expand,

Planted in its native land.

CHRISTIAN AFFECTIONS AND LIFE.

393.

C. M.

What is Prayer?

MONTGOMERY.

1 PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,

The motion of a hidden fire,

That trembles in the breast.

2 Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,

The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

3 Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try,

Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.

4 Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,

The watchword at the gates of death
He enters heaven with prayer.

5 Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways;

While angels in their songs rejoice,

And cry,

"Behold, he prays!"

;

6 In prayer, on earth, the saints are one;
They 're one in word and mind;
When with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

7 O Thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hast trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray!

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