432.

1 STRAIT is the way, the door is strait,
That leads to joys on high;
'Tis but a few that find the gate,

While crowds mistake and die.
2 Belovéd self must be denied,
The mind and will renewed,
Passion suppressed, and patience tried,
And vain desires subdued.

3 Lord! can a feeble, helpless worm,
Fulfill a task so hard?

Thy grace must all my work perform,
And give the free reward.

Rom 3: 19.

1 VAIN are the hopes, the sons of men
On their own works have built;
Their hearts, by nature, all unclean,
And all their actions, guilt.

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2 Let Jew and Gentile stop their mouths,
Without a murmuring word;

And the whole race of Adam stand
Guilty before the Lord.

3 Jesus! how glorious is thy grace;--
When in thy name we trust,

Our faith receives a righteousness,
That makes the sinner just.

Zech. 9: 12.

1 How sad our state by nature is!
Our sin-how deep it stains!
And Satan holds our captive minds
Fast in his slavish chains.

2 But there's a voice of sovereign grace,
Sounds from the sacred word:
"Ho! ye despairing sinners, come,
And trust a pardoning Lord."

C. M.

C. M.

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434.

435.

3 My soul obeys th' almighty call,
And runs to this relief;

I would believe thy promise, Lord:
Oh, help my unbelief!

4 A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy kind arms I fall :

Be thou my Strength and Righteousness
My Saviour and my All.

Romans 8: 8.

1 How helpless guilty nature lies,
Unconscious of its load!

The heart, unchanged, can never rise
To happiness and God.

2 Can aught, beneath a power divine,
The stubborn will subdue?
'Tis thine, almighty Spirit! thine,
To form the heart anew.

3 'Tis thine, the passions to recall,
And upward bid them rise;
To make the scales of error fall,
From reason's darkened eyes;—

4 To chase the shades of death away,
And bid the sinner live;

A beam of heaven, a vital ray,
'Tis thine alone to give.

5 Oh, change these wretched hearts of ours,
And give them life divine;

Then shall our passions and our powers,
Almighty Lord, be thine.

Galatians 2:16.

1 In vain we seek for peace with God
By methods of our own:
Nothing, O Saviour! but thy blood
Can bring us near the throne.

C. M.

C. M.

2 The threatenings of the broken law
Impress the soul with dread:
If God his sword of vengeance draw,
It strikes the spirit dead.

3 But thine illustrious sacrifice
Hath answered these demands;
And peace and pardon from the skies
Are offered by thy hands.

4 'Tis by thy death we live, O Lord!
'Tis on thy cross we rest:
Forever be thy love adored,
Thy name forever blessed.

1 LORD, how secure my conscience was,
And felt no inward dread!

I was alive without the law,

And thought my sins were dead.

2 My hopes of heaven were firm and bright;
But since the precept came

With a convincing power and light,
I find how vile I am.

3 My guilt appeared but small before,
Till terribly I saw

How perfect, holy, just, and pure,
Is thine eternal law.

4 Then felt my soul the heavy load;
My sins revived again :

I had provoked a dreadful God,
And all my hopes were slain.

5 My God, I cry with every breath
For some kind power to save,

To break the yoke of sin and death,
And thus redeem the slave.

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437.

1 My former hopes are fled,

My terror now begins;
I feel, alas! that I am dead
In trespasses and sins.

2 Ah! whither shall I fly?
I hear the thunder roar;
The law proclaims destruction nigh,
And vengeance at the door.

3 When I review my ways,

I dread impending doom;

But sure a friendly whisper says-
"Flee from the wrath to come."

4 I see, or think I

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see,

A glimmering from afar;

A beam of day that shines for me
To save me from despair.

5 Forerunner of the sun,

It marks the pilgrim's way;
I'll gaze upon it while I run,
And watch the rising day.

Job 9:2-6.

1 АH! how shall fallen man
Be just before his God?
If he contend in righteousness,
We fall beneath his rod.

2 If he our ways should mark,
With strict inquiring eyes,
Could we, for one of thousand faults,
A just excuse devise?

3 All-seeing, powerful God!

Who can with thee contend?
Or who, that tries the unequal strife,

Shall prosper

in the end?

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439.

4 The mountains, in thy wrath,
Their ancient seats forsake;
The trembling earth deserts her place,
Her rooted pillars shake.

5 Ah! how shall guilty man

Contend with such a God?

None-none can meet him, and escape,
But through the Saviour's blood.

1 CAN sinners hope for heaven,
Who love this world so well?
Or dream of future happiness,
While on the road to hell?

2 Shall they hosannas sing,

With an unhallowed tongue?
Shall palms adorn the guilty hand
Which does its neighbor wrong?

3 Can sin's deceitful way

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Conduct to Zion's hill?

Or those expect with God to reign
Who disregard his will?

4 Thy grace, O God, alone,

Good hope can e'er afford!

The pardoned and the pure shall see
The glory of the Lord.

1 How heavy is the night

That hangs upon our eyes,

Till Christ with his reviving light
Over our souls arise!

2 Our guilty spirits dread

To meet the wrath of heaven;
But, in his righteousness arrayed,
We see our sins forgiven.

S. M.

S. M.