When Satan and his host appear,
Like him of old, I faint and fear;
Like him, by faith, with joy I see,
A greater host engag'd for me.
The saints espouse my cause by pray'ı,
The angels make my soul their care;
Mine is the promise seal'd with blood,
And Jesus lives to make it good.
131. The importunate Widow. S. M.
OUR Lord, who knows full well
The heart of ev'ry saint,
Invites us by a parable,
To pray and never faint.
He bows his gracious ear,
We never plead in vain;
Yet we must wait till he appear,
And pray, and pray again.
Though unbelief suggest,
Why should we longer wait?
He bids us never give him rest,
But be importunate.
"Twas thus a widow poor,
Without support or friend,
Beset the unjust judge's door,
And gain'd, at last, her end.
For her he little car'd,
As little for the laws;
Nor God, nor man, did he regard,
Yet he espous'd her cause.
She urg'd him day and night,
Would no denial take;
At length, he said,
For my own quiet's sake."
And shall not Jesus hear
His chosen when they cry?
Yes, though he may awhile forbear,
He'll help them from on high,
His nature, truth, and love,
Engage him on their side;
When they are griev'd, his bowels move, And can they be deny'd?
Then let us earnest be,
And never faint in pray'r; He loves our importunity,
And makes our cause his care.
132. Prayer for mercies on the Church. C. M.
JESUS, who bought us with his blood,
And makes our souls his care,
Was known of old as Israel's God,
And answer'd Jabez' pray'r.
Jabez, a child of grief! the name
Befits poor sinners well;
For Jesus bore the cross and shame,
To save our souls from hell,
Teach us, O Lord, like him to plead
For mercies from above:
O come, and bless our souls indeed,
With light, and joy, and love.
The gospel's Promis'd Land is wide,
We fain would enter in:
But we are press'd on ev'ry side
With unbelief and sin.
Arise, O Lord, enlarge our coast,
Let us possess the whole,
That Satan may no longer boast
He can thy work control.
Oh! may thy hand be with us still,
Our guide and guardian be,
To keep us safe from ev'ry ill,
Till death shall set us free.
Help us on thee to cast our care,
And on thy word to rest;
That Israel's God, who heareth pray'r,
Will grant us our request.
133. Pleading with God. S. M.
FATHER, we seek thy grace,
In thine appointed way;
Wilt thou conceal thy lovely face,
And not regard our plea?
The promise makes us bold,
When at thy throne we bow;
In humble faith, we hold thee, Lord,
To thine engagements now.
We plead thy promise made;
"Tis from conditions free; "In bonds of everlasting love, "I'll be a God to thee,"
Here we depose our trust,
"Tis here our hopes recline;
Eternal truth and righteousness
Appear in every line,
'Tis like a living spring
Of waters sweet and clear:
There's not an if, to foul the stream,
Or peradventure here.
Free in the fountain head,
The source from whence it came;
In wills and shalls of gospel grace,
Eternally the same.
Himself he'll not deny,
By oath and promise bound;
Here rise your expectations high;
"Tis sure and solid ground.
134. God present in the Assembly of his
"WHERE two or three together meet
My love and mercy to repeat,
"And tell what I have done,
"There will I be," saith God," to bless,
"And ev'ry burden'd soul redress,
"Who worships at my throne."
Make one in this assembly, Lord,
Speak to each heart some healing word,
To set the spirit free;
Impart a kind celestial show'r,
And grant that we may spend an hour
In fellowship with Thee.
Tho' few in number, yet we claim
The promise made in Jesu's name;
It stands divinely free:
Thou art our Father and our Friend,
Thy tender mercies can extend
To sinners such as we.
Guilt from the troubled soul remove,
Constrain the soul, by love, to love,
Release from slavish fear;
Then, tho' in tents of sin we groan,
We'll sing like those around thy throne,
Till thou shalt bring us there.
135. On opening a Place for social Prayer.
GREAT Source of Light, without a shade, Who hast in love this promise made,
Where'er 1 find a praying few,
"With them I'll meet, and bless them too."
Thy presence, Lord, made Salem blest,
"Twas call'd Thy sacred place of rest;
And when Thy glory here we see,
As Salem was this house shall be.
Here let our pray'rs, like incense, rise
Of sweet perfume towards the skies;
Our converse bless, from care set free,
While we, in spirit, worship Thee.
Here, to each other, we'll reveal
The sorrows, and the joys we feel;
And walk in love in wisdom's way,
As children of the light and day.
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