2 But we have no such lengths to go,
Nor wander far abroad;
Where'er thy saints assemble now,
There is a house for God.
3 Here, mighty God! accept our vows,
Here let thy praise be spread;
Bless the provisions of thy house,
And fill thy poor with bread.
4 Here let the son of David reign;
Let God's anointed shine;
Justice and truth his court maintain,
With love and power divine.
HYMN 22. C. M.
Asking the Way to Zion. Jer. i. 5.
NQUIRE, ye pilgrims, for the way,
That leads to Zion's hill;
And thither set your steady face,
With a determin'd will.
2 Invite the strangers all around, `·
Your pious march to join;
And spread the sentiments you feel
Of faith and love divine.
3 Come, let us to his temple haste,
And seek his favour there;
Before his footstool humbly bow,
And pour our fervent prayer.
4 Come, let us join our souls to God,
In everlasting bands;
And seize the blessings he bestows
With eager hearts and hands.
5 Come, let us seal, without delay,
The covenant of his grace;
Nor shall the years of distant life
Its memory efface.
6 Thus may our rising offspring haste
To see their fathers' God; Nor e'er forsake the happy path Their youthful feet have trod.
HYMN 23. C. M.
Attendance on Divine Worship. Ps. cxxii.
OW did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,
In God's own house let us appear,
And keep the solemn day.
2. My soul shall pray for Zion still
While life or breath remains;
There my best friends, my kindred dwell,
There God my saviour reigns.
3 Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest!
With holy gifts and heavenly grace
Be her attendants blest!
HYMN 24.
The church the garden of God.
ORD! 'tis a pleasant thing to stand
In gardens planted by thy hand;
Let me within thy courts be seen,
Like a young cedar, fresh and green.
2 There grow thy saints in faith and love,
Blest with thine influence from above;
Not Lebanon, with all its trees,
Yields such a comely sight as these.
3 The plants of grace shall ever live;
Nature decays, but grace must thrive;
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish strong and fair.
4 Laden with fruits of age, they show
The Lord is holy, just, and true;
None that attend his courts shall find
A God unfaithful or unkind.
HYMN 25. L. M.
Acceptable Worship.
Can with pure and holy fires;
COM
COME! pay the worship God requires,
When love celestial warms the breast,
Our homage, and our vows, are blest.
2 When piety, and truth refin'd,
Possess the temple of the mind,
With grateful flames the altars glow,
And God will visit man below.
HYMN 26. C. M.
The same subject.
WHEREWITH shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
Oh! how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone?
2 Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?
Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?
3 0 no, my soul; 'twere fruitless all;
Such offerings are vain :
No fatlings from the field or stall
His favour can obtain.
4 To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;
To God with humble rev'rence bow,
And to his glory live.
5 Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere,
He never will despise ;
And cheerful duty he'll prefer
To costly sacrificé.
Sincerity and Hypocrisy. John iv. 24.
OD is a spirit just and wise,
He sees our inmost mind;
In vain to heaven we raise our eyes,
And leave our souls behind.
2 Nothing but truth before his throne
With honour can appear;
The formal hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.
3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bended knees the ground:
But God abhors the sacrifice,
Where not the heart is found.
4 Lord! search my thoughts, and try my ways,
And make my soul sincere; Then may I stand before thy face,
And find acceptance there.
HYMN 28. L. M.
Things below and Things above. Ps. ciii. 15, 16.
F mortal life, how short the date!
Like flow'ts, which in their brightest state
With gaudy hues the fields adorn,
But soon by passing storms are torn.
2 Their boasted beauty reft away,
How quick the vernal blooms decay!
Each in an hour its pride resigns,
And with'ring in the dust reclines.
3 So transient is the life of man,
At most a brief contracted span;
It blooms, it fades; it serves to show
How vain, how frail are things below.
4 To things above with fix'd desire
Then let our better hopes aspire ;
To realms where, in eternal day,
Nor mortals die, nor flowers decay.
HYMN 29. Eights and Sevens Metre.
Surrounding the Mercy Seat.
NAR from mortal cares retreating,
Here, our willing footsteps meeting,
Every heart to heaven aspires.
From the Fount of glory beaming
Light celestial cheers our eyes;
Mercy from above proclaiming
Peace and pardon from the skies.
2 Who may share this great salvation ?—
Every pure and humble mind;
Every kindred, tongue and nation,
From the dross of guilt refin'd:
Blessings all around bestowing,
God withholds his care from none:
Grace and mercy ever flowing
From the fountain of his throne.
3 Every stain of guilt abhorring,
Firm and bold in virtue's cause,
Still thy providence adoring,
Faithful subjects to thy laws,
Lord! with favour still attend us,
Bless us with thy wondrous love;
Thou, our sun and shield, defend us:
All our hope is from above.
The love of God better than life. Ps. lxiii. 1-6.
GREAT God, indulge my humble claim;
Thou art my joy, and thou my rest;
The glories that compose thy name,
Stand all engag'd to make me blest.
2 While in thy house I now appear
Among thy saints, and seek thy face;
O may
I see thy mercy here,
And taste the blessings of thy grace!
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