Nor fear the serpent's wily arts,
Nor fear the lion's roar.
4 O may thy grace the nations lead,
And Jews and Gentiles come,
All travelling through one beauteous gate
To one eternal home.
Inconstancy lamented.-Hos. vi. 4.
1 THE wandering star, and fleeting wind,
Are emblems of the fickle mind:
The morning cloud and early dew
Bring our inconstancy to view.
2 But cloud and wind, and dew and star,
Only a faint resemblance bear:
Nor can there aught in nature be
So changeable and frail as we.
3 Our outward walk and inward frame,
Are scarcely through an hour the same;
We vow, and straight our vows forget,
And then those very vows repeat.
4 We sin forsake, to sin return;
Are hot, then cold, now freeze, now burn;
Now sink to hell, in dark despair,
Then soar to heaven, and triumph there.
5 With flowing tears, Lord, we confess
Our folly and unsteadfastness;
When shall these hearts more stable be,
Fix'd by thy grace alone on Thee!
The Guidance of God's Holy Spirit.—Hos. xi. 3.
THAT We may walk with God,
He forms our hearts anew;
Takes us, like Ephraim, by the hand,
And teaches us to go.
The work to be perform'd is ours,
The strength is all his own.
Assisted by his grace,
We still pursue our way;
And hope at last to reach the prize,
Secure in endless day.
'Tis He that works to will,
"Tis He that works to do;
His is the power by which we act,
His be the glory too.
The Restoration of Israel.-Amos vii. 2. 1 "By whom shall Jacob now arise ?" For Jacob's friends are few:
And (what might fill us with surprise)
They seem divided too.
2" By whom shall Jacob now arise?"
For Jacob's foes are strong;
I read their triumph in their eyes,
They think he'll fail ere long.
3" By whom shall Jacob now arise?"
Can any tell by whom?
Say, shall this branch that wither'd lies,
Again revive and bloom?
4 Lord, thou can'st tell-the work is thine; The help of man is vain:
On Jacob now arise and shine,
And he shall live again.
The Gourd of Jonah.—Jonah iv. 6, 7.
1 OUR joy is a created good;
How soon it fades away!
Fades (at the morning hour bestow'd)
Before the noon of day.
2 Joy, by its violent excess,
To certain ruin tends,
And all our rapturous happiness
In hasty sorrow ends.
3 In vain doth earthly bliss afford
A momentary shade;
It rises like the prophet's gourd,
And withers o'er my head.
4 But of my Saviour's love possess'd,
No more for earth I pine;
Secure of everlasting rest
Beneath the heavenly Vine.
For a day of National Humiliation.Micah vi. 1, 2, 3. 1 HEARKEN, ye hills; ye mountains hear; Jehovah vindicates his laws;
Trembling in silence at his bar,
Thou earth, attend thy Maker's cause.
2 Israel, stand forth-present thy plea;
And charge the Almighty to his face ;
Say, if his rules oppressive be;
Say, if defective be his grace.
3 Eternal Judge, the action cease;
Our lips are seal'd in conscious shame :
"Tis ours in sackcloth to confess,
And thine, the sentence to proclaim.
4 Ten thousand witnesses arise,
Thy mercies, and our crimes appear,
More than the stars that deck the skies,
And all our dreadful guilt declare.
5 How shall we come before thy face,
And in thine awful presence bow?
What offerings can secure thy grace,
Or calm the terrors of thy brow?
6 Thousands of rams in vain might bleed;
Rivers of oil might blaze in vain ;
Or the first-born's devoted head,
With horrid gore thine altar stain.
7 But thy own Lamb, all-gracious God,
Whom impious sinners dared to slay,
Hath sovereign virtue in his blood,
To purge the nation's guilt away.
8 With humble faith to that we fly,
With that be Britain sprinkled o'er;
Trembling no more in dust we lie,
And dread thy hand and bar no more.
69.
Unbelief repelled.-Hab. iii. 17, 18.
1 AWAY, my unbelieving fear!
Fear shall in me no more take place!
My Saviour doth not yet appear,
He hides the brightness of his face :
But shall I therefore let Him go,
And basely to the tempter yield?
No-in the strength of Jesus, no-
I never will give up my shield.
2 Although the vine its fruit deny,
Although the olive yield no oil,
The withering fig-tree droop and die,
The field elude the tiller's toil;
The empty stall no herd afford,
And perish all the bleating race,-
Yet will I triumph in the Lord,
The God of my salvation praise.
3 Barren although my soul remain,
And not one bud of grace appear,
No fruit of all my toil and pain,
But sin, and only sin is here;
Although my gifts and comforts lost,
My blooming hopes cut off I see,
Yet will I in my Saviour trust,
Whose matchless grace can reach to me.
4 In hope believing against hope,
His promised mercy will I claim;
His gracious word shall bear me up
To seek salvation in his name.
Soon, my dear Saviour, bring it nigh:
My soul shall then outstrip the wind;
On wings of love mount up on high,
And leave the world and sin behind.
The Suffering People of God.-Zeph. iii. 12. 1" POOR and afflicted," Lord, are thine, Among the great unfit to shine;
But though the world may think it strange, They would not with the world exchange. 2" Poor and afflicted," 'tis their lot, They know it, and they murmur not; 'Twould ill become them to refuse The state their Master deign'd to choose. 3" Poor and afflicted," yet they sing, For Jesus is their glorious King;
Through sufferings perfect now He reigns,
And shares in all their griefs and pains.
4" Poor and afflicted," but ere long
They join the bright celestial throng;
Their sufferings then will reach a close,
And heaven afford them sweet repose.
5 And while they walk the thorny way,
They oft are heard to sigh, and say-
Dear Saviour, come, O quickly come!
And take thy mourning pilgrims home.
Living waters.-Zech. xiv. 8, 9.
1 Now living waters flow
To cheer the humble soul;
From sea to sea the rivers go,
And spread from põle to pole.
Now righteousness shall spring,
And grow on earth again:
Jesus Jehovah be our King,
And o'er the nations reign.
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