4 At thy command the vernal bloom
Revives the world from winter's gloom;
The summer's heat the fruit matures,
And autumn all her treasures pours.
5 From thee proceed domestic ties,
Connubial bliss, parental joys;
On thy support the nations stand,
Obedient to thy high command.
6 Let ev'ry pow'r of heart and tongue
Unite to swell the grateful song;
While age and youth in chorus join,
And praise the majesty divine.
970 For preservation against national foes. L M.
1 HEAR us, O Lord, in time of need,
And let thy name our cause defend;
Grant that our efforts may succeed,
And vict'ry on our steps attend.
2 On horse and chariot some rely,
And some in numbers make their boast;
Our trust is in the Lord most high ;
His favor is itself a host.
3 In his salvation we rejoice,
And lift our banners in his name;
Lord, hear our supplicating voice,
And put our haughty foes to shame.
4 Spread over us thy shelt'ring wing,
And bless with peace our favor'd land;
That we may still thy glory sing,
By whose protecting care we stand.
971 Prayer for national gratitude and holiness. L. M
ORD, let thy goodness lead our land,
I Still' saved by thine almighty hand,
The tribute of its love to bring
To thee, our Savior and our King. 2 Let ev'ry sacred temple raise Triumphant songs of holy praise;
Let ev'ry peaceful, private home
A temple, Lord, to thee become.
3 Still be it our supreme delight
To walk as in thy glorious sight;
Still in thy precepts and thy fear,
Till life's last hour, to persevere.
National hymn.
1 MY country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride,
From ev'ry mountain side
Let freedom ring.
2 My native country, thee-
Land of the noble free-
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
3 Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song:
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,-
The sound prolong.
4 Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.
TEMPERANCE.
Prayer for quickening grace.
1 MY soul lies cleaving to the dust;
Lord, give me life divine;
From vain desires, and every lust,
Turn off these eyes of mine.
2 I need the influence of thy grace
To speed me in thy way,
Lest I should loiter in my race
Or turn my feet astray.
3 Are not thy mercies sov'reign still,
And thou a faithful God?
Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal
To run the heavenly road?
4 Does not my heart thy precepts love,
And long to see thy face?
And yet how slow my spirits move
Without enliv'ning grace!
5 Then shall I love thy gospel more,
And ne'er forget thy word,
When I have felt its quick'ning power
To draw me near the Lord.
Prayer for grace in trial.
FATHER of all our mercies, thou
In whom we move and live,
Hear us in heaven, thy dwelling, now,
And answer, and forgive.
2 When, harrass'd by ten thousand foes,
Our helplessness we feel,
O give the weary soul repose,
The wounded spirit heal.
3 When dire temptations gather round,
And threaten or allure,
By storm or calm, in thee be found
A refuge strong and sure.
4 From day to day, O may we grow
In faith, in hope, and love,
And walk in holiness below
To holiness above.
Succor implored in conflicts.
1 ALAS! what hourly dangers rise!
What snares beset my way!
To heaven, O let me lift mine eyes,
And hourly watch and pray.
2 How oft my mournful thoughts complain,
And melt in flowing tears!
My weak resistance, ah, how vain!
How strong my foes and fears!
3 O gracious God, in whom I live,
My feeble efforts aid;
Help me to watch, and pray, and strive
Though trembling and afraid.
4 Increase my faith, increase my hope,
When foes and fears prevail;
O bear my fainting spirit up,
Or soon my strength will fail.
5 Whene'er temptations lure my heart,
Or draw my feet aside,
My God, thy powerful aid impart,
My Guardian and my Guide.
6 O keep me in thy heavenly way,
And bid the tempter flee;
And let me never, never stray
From happiness and thee.
976 (933) For temperance meetings.
OUND the temp'rance standard rally,
All the friends of human kind;
Snatch the devotees of folly,
Wretched, perishing and blind:
Loudly tell them
How they comfort now may find.
2 Bear the blissful tidings onwards,
Bear them all the world around;
Let the myriads thronging downwards,
Hear the sweet and blissful sound,
And, obeying,
In the paths of peace be found.
3 Plant the temp 'rance standard firmly,
Round it live, and round it die;
Young and old defend it sternly,
Till we gain the victory,
And all nations
Hail the happy Jubilee.*
977 (934) Praise for the increase of temperance. L. M.
E praise thee, Lord, if but one soul,
While the past year prolong'd its flight,
Turn'd shudd'ring from the pois'nous bowl,
To health and liberty and light.
2 We praise thee-if one clouded home,
Where broken hearts despairing pin'd,
Beheld the sire and husband come,
Erect, and in his perfect mind.
3 No more a weeping wife to mock,
Till all her hopes in anguish end-
No more the trembling mind to shock,
And sink the father in the fiend.
4 Still give us grace, Almighty King,
Unwav'ring at our posts to stand;
Till grateful at thy shrine we bring
The tribute of a ransom'd land.
FOR BIBLE SOCIETIES.
978 (937) Value of the Bible.
Holy Book! thou word divine
Of him who spake as ne'er man spake;
Go, for Omnipotence is thine,
And to thy truths the nations wake.
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