584, 585.

OCCASIONS IN PRIVATE

6 Where thou shalt settle my abode,

There would I choose to be; For in thy presence death is life,

And earth is heaven with thee.

584.

L. M.

WATTS. Sickness and Sorrow removed. Ps. 30 1 I WILL extol thee, Lord, on high;

At thy command diseases ily;
Who but a God can speak, and save

From the dark borders of the grave! 2 Sing to the Lord, ye saints of his,

And tell how large his goodness is;
Let all your powers rejoice and bless,
While

you record his holiness. 3 His anger but a moment stays;

His love is life and length of days; Though grief and tears the night employ, The morning star restores the joy.

585.

C. M.

ANONYMOUS. The Widow's Prayer. 1 THOUGH, faint and sick, and worn away

With poverty and woe,
My widowed feet are doomed to stray

Mid thorny paths below;
2 Be thou, O Lord ! my Savior still —

My confidence and guide ;. I know that perfect is thy will,

Whate'er that will decide. 3 I know the soul that trusts in thee

Thou never wilt forsake;

454

587. C. M.

COTTON. In Affliction, 1 AFFLICTION is a stormy deep,

Where wave resounds to wave;
Though o'er my head the billows roll,

I know the Lord can save. 2 When darkness and when sorrows rose,

And pressed on every side,
The Lord has still sustained my steps,

And still has been my guide.
3 Perhaps, before the morning dawn,

He will restore my peace;
For he who bade the tempest roar,

Can bid the tempest cease.
4 In the dark watches of the night

I'll count his mercies o'er;
I'll praise him for ten thousand past,

And humbly sue for more.
5 Here will I rest, here build my hopes,

Nor murmur at his rod;
He's more than all the world to me, -
My health, my life, my God!

456

589.

L. M.

STENNETT. Pride lamented. 1 Oft have I turned my eye within,

And brought to light some latent sin ;
But pride, the vice I most detest,

Still lurks securely in my breast.
2 Here with a thousand arts she tries

To dress me in a fair disguise,
To make a guilty, wretched worm

Put on an angel's brightest form.
3 She hides my follies from mine eyes,

And lifts my virtues to the skies;
And while the specious tale she tells,

Her own deformity conceals.
4 Rend, O my God, the veil away:

Bring forth the monster to the day;
Expose her hideous form to view,

And all her restless power subdue. 5 So shall humility divine

Again possess this heart of mine ;
And form a temple for my God,
Which he will make his loved abode.

3 By doubt perplexed, in error lost,

With trembling step he seeks his way;
How vain of wisdom's gift the boast!

Of reason's lamp how făint the ray! 4 Follies and crimes, a countless sum,

Are crowded in life's little span :
How ill, alas! does pride become

That erring, guilty creature, mạn!
5 God of our lives! Father divine !

Give us a meek and lowly mind;
In modest worth O let us shine,
And peace in humble virtue find.

590.

L. M.

*ENFIELD Absurdity of Pride. 1 WHEREFORE should man, frail child of elay,–

Who, from the cradle to the shroud,
Lives but the insect of a day,-

O why should mortal man be proud ?2 His brightest visions just appear,

Then vanish, and no more are found;
The stateliest pile his pride can rear,
A breath may level with the ground.

458

591. L. M.

BEDDO Inconstancy in Religion. 1 The wandering star, and fleeting wind,

Both represent th' unstable mind;
The morning cloud, and early dew,

Bring our inconstancy to view. 2 But cloud and wind, and dew and star,

Faint and imperfect emblems are;
Nor can there aught in nature be

So fickle and so false as we. 3 Our outward walk, and inward frame,

Scarce through a single hour the same; We vow, and straight s forget,

And then these very vows repeat. 4 We sin forsake, to sin return;

Are hot, are cold, now freeze, now burn In deep distress, then raptures feel, We soar to heaven, then sink to hell

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our vows