2 How sweet to be allowed to pray
Our sins may be forgiven!
With filial confidence to say,
Father, who art in heaven!"
3 How sweet the words of peace to hear
From him to whom 't is given
To wake the penitential tear,
And lead the way to heaven!
4 And if, to make our sins depart,
In vain the will has striven,
He who regards the inmost heart
Will send his grace from heaven.
1 GREAT GOD, this sacred day of thine Demands our souls' collected powers. May we employ in work divine These solemn, these devoted hours; may our souls adoring own
The grace which calls us to thy throne.
2 Hence, ye vain cares and trifles, fly;
Where God resides appear no more ;
Omniscient God, thy piercing eye
Can every secret thought explore:
O may thy grace our hearts refine,
And fix our thoughts on things divine.
3 The word of life dispensed to-day
Invites us to a heavenly feast.
May every ear the call obey;
Be every heart a humble guest;
O bid the wretched sons of need
On soul-reviving dainties feed.
4 Thy spirit's powerful aid impart ;
O may thy word, with life divine,
Engage the ear, and warm the heart;
Then shall the day indeed be thine;
Then shall our souls, adoring own
The grace which calls us to thy throne.
1 FATHER in heaven, to thee my heart
Would lift itself in prayer ;
Drive from my soul each earthly thought
And show thy presence there.
2 Each moment of my life renews
The mercies of my Lord,
Each moment is itself a gift
To bear me on to God.
3 0, help me break the galling chains,
This world has round me thrown,
Each passion of my heart subdue,
Each darling sin disown.
4 0 Father, kindle in my
A never dying flame
Of holy love, of grateful trust
In thine almighty name.
Invocation for Lord's Day Morning.
1 WELCOME, delightful morn,
Thou day of sacred rest!
We hail thy glad return :
Lord, make these moments blest.
From low delights and mortal toys
We soar to reach immortal joys.
2 Now may the King descend,
And fill his throne of grace;
Thy sceptre, Lord, extend,
While we address thy face.
O let us feel thy quickening word,
And learn to know and fear the Lord.
3 Descend, celestial Dove,
With all thy quickening powers;
Disclose a Saviour's love,
And bless these sacred hours:
Then shall our souls new life obtain,
Nor sabbaths be enjoyed in vain.
C. P. M.
Attendance on Worship.
1 I'LL bless Jehovah's glorious name,
Whose goodness heaven and earth proclaim,
With every morning light;
And at the close of every day,
To him my cheerful homage pay,
Who guards me through the night.
2 Then in his churches to appear,
And pay my humble worship there,
Shall be my sweet employ :
The day that saw my Saviour rise
Shall dawn on my delighted eyes
With pure and holy joy.
3 With grateful sorrow in my breast,
I'll celebrate the dying feast
Of my exalted Lord;
And, while his perfect love I view,
His bright example I 'll pursue,
And meditate his word.
Delight in the House of God.
1 How pleased and blest was I
To hear the people cry,
"Come, let us seek our God to-day!"
Yes, with a cheerful zeal,
We haste to Zion's hill,"
And there our vows and honors pay.
2 Zion, thrice happy place,
Adorned with wondrous grace,
And walls of strength embrace thee round;
In thee our tribes appear,
To pray, and praise, and hear
The sacred gospel's joyful sound.
3 May peace attend thy gate,
And joy within thee wait,
To bless the soul of every guest;
The man who seeks thy peace,
And wishes thine increase,
A thousand blessings on him rest.
1 LOVE divine, all love excelling,
Joy of heaven, to earth come down!
Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
All thy faithful mercies crown.
Father! thou art all compassion,
Pure, unbounded love thou art;
Visit us with thy salvation,
Enter every longing heart.
2 Breathe, O breathe thy loving spirit
Into every troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find thy promised rest.
Come, almighty to deliver,
Let us all thy life receive,
Graciously come down, and never,
Never more thy temples leave.
1 0 THOU, to whom, in ancient time,
The lyre of Hebrew bards was strung,
Whom kings adored in song sublime,
And prophets praised with glowing tongue!
2 Not now on Zion's height alone
Thy favored worshipper may dwell;
Nor where, at sultry noon, thy Son,
Sat weary, by the Patriarch's well.
3 From every place below the skies,
The grateful song, the fervent prayer·
The incense of the heart-may rise
To Heaven, and find acceptance there.
4 To thee shall age, with snowy hair,
And strength and beauty bend the knee,
And childhood lisp, with reverent air,
Its praises and its prayers to thee.
5 0 Thou, to whom, in ancient time,
The lyre of prophet-bards was strung,
To thee, at last, in every clime
Shall temples rise, and praise be sung.
Prayer for special Favor.
1 WITHIN thy house, O Lord, our God,
In glory now appear;
Make this a place of thine abode,
And shed thy blessings here.
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