IX. CHRIST OUR REFUGE, STRENGTH, AND
DEFENCE.

A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. ISAIAH XXXII. 2.

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.-PSALM lxi. 2.

Gen. xv. 1-Deut. xxxiii. 12, 27-Ruth ii. 12-1 Sam. xv. 29 -2 Sam. xxii. 2, 3, 19, 31-Job xxxviii. 11-Psalm ix. 9-xvii. 8-xviii. 1, 2, 31, 35–xxii. 19—xxvii. 1, 5—xxviii. 7, 8-xxxi. 20 -xxxii. 7-xxxvi. 7—xlvi. 1—lv. 6, 8—lvii. 1—lix. 9, 16, 17lxi. 2-4-lxii. 6-8-lxiii. 7—lxv. 5—lxxi. 3-lxxiii. 26-lxxviii. 35-lxxxiv. 5, 11-lxxxix. 26-xc. 1-xci. 1-7, 9-cxix. 114cxxxviii. 7-cxlii. 4, 5-cxliii. 9-Prov. xiv. 26-xviii. 10-xxii. 3-xxx. 5-Cant. ii. 3-Isaiah iv. 6-viii. 14-xii. 2-xxv. 4xxvi. 4—xxvii. 4, 5—xxviii. 12—xlv. 24-xlix. 2—li. 1, 6-8, 16– Jer. xvi. 19-1. 6-Joel iii. 16-Nah. i. 7-Hab. iii. 19-Zeph. ii. 3-Zech. ix. 12.

Matt. iii. 7-xi. 28-30-Mark ix. 6, 8-John xv. 4-Heb. vi. 18, 19.

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the raging billows roll,
While the tempest still is high:

Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past :
Safe into the haven guide;

O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, oh, leave me not alone,

Still support and comfort me!

All my trust on Thee is stay'd,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head

With the shadow of Thy wing!

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
All in all in Thee I find:

Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,

Heal the sick, and lead the blind! Just and holy is Thy name,

I am all unrighteousness;

Vile and full of sin I am,

Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to pardon all my sin ;
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;

Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.

WESLEY.

When, overwhelm'd with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift mine eyes.

O lead me to the Rock

That's high above my head,
And make the covert of Thy wings
My shelter and my shade.

Within Thy presence, Lord,
For ever I'll abide ;

Thou art the Tower of my defence,
The Refuge where I hide.

My soul shall cry to Thee, O Lord!
To Thee, supreme, incarnate Word!
My Rock and Fortress, Shield and Friend,
Creator, Saviour, Source, and End!
And Thou wilt hear Thy servant's prayer,
Though death and darkness speak despair.、

Ah! why by passing clouds opprest,
Should vexing thoughts distract my breast?
Turn, turn to Him in every pain,
Whom never suppliant sought in vain ;
Thy strength in joy's extatic day,
Thy hope where joy hath passed away.

:

Thou art our Refuge in the day
Of trouble Thou art still our stay;
Thy name, in which is power sublime,
A shelter in the needful time.

BARTON.

Awake, sweet harp of Judah, wake!
Retune thy strings for Jesus' sake;
We sing the Saviour of our race,
The Lamb, our shield and hiding-place.

When God's right arm is bar'd for war,
And thunders clothe His cloudy car,
Where, where, oh where! shall man retire,
T'escape the horrors of His ire?

'Tis He, the Lamb, to whom we fly,
While the dread tempest passes by;
God sees His well-beloved's face,
And spares us in our hiding-place.

Thus, while we dwell in this low scene,
The Lamb is our unfailing screen;
To Him, though guilty, still we run,
And God still spares us for His Son.

While yet we sojourn here below,
Pollutions still our hearts o'erflow;
Fall'n, abject, mean, a sentenc'd race,
We deeply need a hiding-place.

Yet courage-days and years will glide,
And we shall lay these clods aside;
Shall be baptiz'd in Jordan's flood,
And wash'd in Jesus' cleansing blood.

Then pure, immortal, sinless, freed,
We thro' the Lamb shall be decreed;
Shall meet the Father face to face,
And need no more a hiding-place!

HENRY KIRKE WHITE.

Now I have found the blessed ground,
Where my soul's anchor may remain,
The Lamb of God, who for my sin,
Was a propitiation slain :

Whose mercy shall unshaken stay,
When heaven and earth have passed away.

Tho' waves and storms go o'er my head,

Tho' strength, and health, and friends be gone; Though joys be wither'd all, and dead,

Tho' every comfort be withdrawn ;

Steadfast on this my soul relies,-
Father! Thy mercy never dies.

Fixed on this ground will I remain,
Tho' my heart fail, and flesh decay;
This anchor shall my soul sustain,

When earth's foundations melt away,
Mercy's full power I then shall prove,
Loved with an everlasting love.

MORAVIAN.