3 Since thy truth doth gild its pages,
May that truth, Lord, make us free;
On the Rock of endless ages
Let our faith established be.
4 To our faith we'll add the graces,
Virtue, knowledge, patience, love :
When on earth we leave our places,
Raise us all to seats above.
HYMN 499. L. M. [#]
Youthful Remembrance of God.
1 In the soft season of thy youth,
In nature's early, smiling bloom,
Ere age arrive, and trembling wait
Its summons to the silent tomb ;—
2 Remember thy Creator, God;
For him thy nobler powers employ; Make him thy Fear, thy Love, thy Hope, Thy Confidence, and highest Joy.
3 He shall defend and guide thy course
Through life's uncertain, stormy sea,
Till thou art landed on the shore
Of glorious immortality.
4 Then early seek the Lord, and choose
The path of wisdom and of truth:
The earth affords no lovelier sight
Than a discreet, religious youth.
C. M. [#]
HYMN 500. C. M.
God's Word the best Guide of Youth.
1 THE morn of life, how fair and gay!
How cheering and how new!
What hopes illume each opening day,
And brighten every view!
2 Youth's ardent mind, with joy elate, Elastic and sincere,
Suspects no ills that may await,
Nor yields a thought to fear.
3 But slippery is the path they tread,
In pleasure's dangerous way;
A thousand snares around them spread,
And oft their feet betray.
4 How shall they, then, their course pursue Through life's uncertain road?
What friendly hand will point their view
To duty and to God?
5 In God's own word the way is sure,
And clear to every eye;
It leads us in a path secure
To brighter worlds on high.
HYMN 501. H. M. [#]
Youth exhorted to Virtue.
1 EARLY in life's young days
Let each unsullied youth
Seek wisdom's peaceful ways,
And walk the path of truth:
There streams of purest pleasure flow;
There honours bloom, and virtues grow.
2 Be God's all-perfect Son
Thy Pattern and thy Guide;
Let all his will be done,
Nor trust a friend beside:
Then shalt thou heave no guilty sighs,
No tears of anguish drown thine eyes.
3 His footsteps ever trace
With vigour and delight;
He'll lead thee by his grace,
Protect thee by his might,
And safe through all this dreary waste
Conduct thee on to endless rest.
HYMN 502. L. P. M. [#]
Thanksgiving for national Prosperity.
1 How rich thy gifts, Almighty King!
From thee our public blessings spring;
Extended trade, the fruitful skies,
The treasures liberty bestows,
The endless joys the gospel shows,
All from thy boundless goodness rise.
2 Here commerce spreads the wealthy store,
Which pours from every foreign shore;
Science and art their charms display;
Religion teaches us to raise
Our voices to our Maker's praise,
As truth and conscience point the way.
3 With grateful hearts, with joyful tongues,
To God we raise united songs;
Here still may God in mercy reign;
Crown our just counsels with success,
With peace and joy our borders bless,
And all our sacred rights maintain.
HYMN 503. L. M. [#]
Annual Thanksgiving.
1 GREAT God, let all our tuneful powers
Awake, and sing thy mighty name :
Thy hand rolls on our circling hours,—
The hand from which our being came.
2 Seasons and moons, revolving round
In beauteous order, speak thy praise;
And years, with smiling mercy crowned,
To thee successive honours raise.
3 To thee we raise the annual song; To thee the grateful tribute give; Our God doth still our years prolong,
And midst unnumbered deaths we live.
4 Each changing season on our souls
Its sweetest, kindest influence sheds;
And every period, as it rolls,
Showers countless blessings on our heads.
5 Our lives, our health, our friends, we owe
All to thy vast, unbounded love;
Ten thousand precious gifts below,
And hope of nobler joys above.
HYMN 504. H. M. [#]
Thanksgiving.
1 To thee, eternal King,
We raise our thankful eyes,
From whom all blessings spring
In earth, and sea, and skies:
Each rolling year thy grace imparts,
And wakes to praise our grateful hearts.
2 The treasures of thy love
In all directions flow,
And from the fount above
Unceasing gifts bestow :
From this blest fount, indulgent Lord,
Streamed the rich glories of thy word.
3 O may the golden sun,
Full in his noon-tide blaze,
And e'en the silver moon,
Instruct our hearts to praise;
While all the stars which stud the skies
Beam love, as through unnumbered eyes.
4 Oft as returning spring
Shall waft its genial gale,
And we 'neath summer's wing
The fragrant breeze inhale,-
In every season, through all time,
Great God, we'll praise thy name divine.
HYMN 505. P. M. [#]
Call to Thanksgiving and Praise.
1 Be joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth,
O serve him with gladness and fear;
Exult in his presence with music and mirth,
With love and devotion draw near.
2 Jehovah is God, and Jehovah alone, Creator and Ruler o'er all;
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