tears;

Yet when he comes with kind designs, Through all the way his terror shines." 2 On him the race of man depends, Far as the earth's remotest ends, Where the Creator's name is known By nature's feeble light alone. 3 Sailors, that travel o'er the flood, Address their frighted souls to God, When tempests rage and billows roar At dreadful distance from the shore. 4 He bids the noisy tempests cease; He calms the raging crowd to peace, When a tumultuous nation raves, Wild as the winds, and loud as waves. 5 Whole kingdoms, shaken by the storm, He settles in a peaceful form; Mountains establish'd by his hand, Firm on their old foundations stand. 6 Behold his ensigns sweep the sky, New comets blaze, and lightnings fly! The heathen lands, with swift surprise, From the bright horror turn their eyes. 7 At his command the morning ray Smiles in the east, and leads the day; He guides the sun's declining wheels Over the tops of western hills. 8 Seasons and times obey his voice; The evening and the morn rejoice

To see the earth made soft with showers, Laden with fruit, and dress'd in flowers.

9 'T is from his watery stores on high
He gives the thirsty ground supply;
He walks upon the clouds, and thence
Doth his enriching drops dispense.
10 The desert grows a fruitful field,
Abundant food the valleys yield;
The valleys shout with cheerful voice,
And neighb'ring hills repeat their joys.
11 The pastures smile in green array,
There lambs and larger cattle play;
The larger cattle and the lamb
Each in his language speaks thy name.
12 Thy works pronounce thy power divine:
O'er every field thy glories shine;
Through every month thy gifts appear;
Great God! thy goodness crowns the year.

65

PART I. C. M.

Braintree, 25.
A prayer-hearing God.

1 PRAISE waits in Zion, Lord, for thee;
There shall our vows be paid:
Thou hast an ear when sinners pray,
All flesh shall seek thine aid.

2 Lord, our iniquities prevail,

But pardoning grace is thine,
And thou wilt grant us power and skill
To conquer every sin.

3 Blest are the men whom thou wilt choose
To bring them near thy face;
Give them a dwelling in thine house,
To feast upon thy grace.

4 In answering what thy church requests, Thy truth and terror shine,

And works of dreadful righteousness
Fulfil thy kind design.

5 Thus shall the wondering nations see
The Lord is good and just;
And distant islands fly to thee,

And make thy name their trust.

6 They dread thy glittering tokens, Lord, When signs in heaven appear;

But they shall learn thy holy word,
And love as well as fear.

65

PART II. C. M. Miles-lane, 32.

The blessing of rain.

1'T IS by thy strength the mountains [stand, The sea grows calm at thy command, And tempests cease to roar.

God of eternal power;

2 Thy morning light and evening shade Successive comforts bring;

Thy plenteous fruits make harvest glad, Thy flowers adorn the spring.

3 Seasons ared times, and moons and hours,
Heaven, earth, and air are thine;
When clouds distil in fruitful showers,
The author is Divine.

4 Those wand'ring cisterns in the sky,
Borne by the winds around,
With watery treasures well supply
The furrows of the ground.

Go

Who makes the earth his care, Visits the pastures every spring,

And bids the grass appear.

2 The clouds, like rivers raised on high, Pour out, at thy command,

Their watery blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.

3 The soften'd ridges of the field
Permit the corn to spring;
The valleys rich provision yield,
And the poor labourers sing.
4 The little hills on every side

Rejoice at falling showers;

The meadows, dress'd in all their pride, Perfume the air with flowers.

5 The barren clods, refresh'd with rain, Promise a joyful crop;

The parched grounds fook green again,
And raise the reaper's hope.

6 The various months thy goodness crowns;
How bounteous are thy ways!
The bleating flocks spread o'er the downs,
And shepherds shout thy praise.

66 PART I. C. M. Southwark, 238.

1

Governing power and goodness.

SING, all ye nations, to the Lord,
Sing with a joyful noise;

With melody of sound record

His honours, and your joys.

2 Say to the Power that shakes the sky,
How terrible art thou!
Sinners before thy presence fly,
Or at thy feet they bow.'

3 [Come, see the wonders of our God,
How glorious are his ways!
In Moses' hand he puts his rod,
And cleaves the frighted seas.
4 He made the ebbing channel dry,
While Israel pass'd the flood;
There did the church begin their joy,
And triumph in their God.]

5 He rules by his resistless might:
Will rebel mortals dare
Provoke the Eternal to the fight,
And tempt that dreadful war?

6 O bless our God, and never cease;
Ye saints, fulfil his praise;

He keeps our life, maintains our peace, And

1

C. M. Sidon, 341.

Ver. 13-20. Praise to God for hear ing prayer.

No

TOW shall my solemn vows be paid To that Almighty Power, That heard the long requests I made In my distressful hour.

2 My lips and cheerful heart prepare To inake his mercies known;

Come, ye that fear my God, and hear
The wonders he has done.

3 When on my head huge sorrows fell,
I sought his heavenly aid;
He saved my sinking soul from hell,
And death's eternal shade.

4 If sin lay cover'd in my heart,

While prayer employ'd my tongue, The Lord had shown me no regard, Nor I his praises sung.

5 But God (his name be ever bless'd!) Has set my spirit free,

Nor turn'd from him my poor request, Nor turn'd his heart froin me.

[shore,

3 When shall thy name, from shore to
Sound all the earth abroad,
And distant nations know and love
Their Saviour and their God?

4 Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,
Sing loud with solemn voice;
While British tongues exalt his praise,
And British hearts rejoice.

5 He the great Lord, the sovereign Judge, That sits enthroned above,

Wisely commands the worlds he made, In justice and in love.

6 Earth shall obey her Maker's will, And yield a full increase;

Our God will crown his chosen isle

7 God the Redeemer scatters round
His choicest favours here;
While the creation's utmost bound
Shall see, adore, and fear.

68

1

PART I. L. M.

Chard, 175. Ver. 1-6, 32-35. The vengeance and compassion of God.

LET God arise in all his might,

And put the troops of hell to flight, As smoke that sought to cloud the skies Before the rising tempest flies.

2 [He comes array'd in burning flames;
Justice and vengeance are his names;
Behold his fainting foes expire
Like melting wax before the fire.]
3 He rides and thunders through the sky;
His name Jehovah sounds on high;
Sing to his name, ye sons of grace;
Ye saints, rejoice before his face.
4 The widow and the fatherless
Fly to his aid in sharp distress;
In him the poor and helpless find
A Judge that 's just, a Father kind.
5 He breaks the captives' heavy chain,
And prisoners see the light again;
But rebels that dispute his will
Shall dwell in chains and darkness still.

L. M. Berwick, 375.

Ver. 17, 18. Christ's ascension, and the gift of the Spirit.

68

1

PART III. L. M. Coombs, 45. Ver. 19-22. Praise for temporal blessings.

TE bless the Lord, the just, the good,
Who pours his blessings from the skies,
And loads our days with rich supplies.
2 He sends the sun his circuit round,
To cheer the fruits, to warm the ground
He bids the clouds, with plenteous rain,
Refresh the thirsty earth again.

3 'Tis to his care we owe our breath,
And all our near escapes from death;
Safety and health to God belong;
He heals the weak, and guards the strong.
4 He makes the saint and sinner prove
The common blessings of his love;
But the wide difference that remains
Is endless joy, or endless pains.

5 The Lord that bruised the serpent's head,
On all the serpent's seed shall tread;
The stubborn sinner's hope confound,
And smite him with a lasting wound.
6 But his right hand his saints shall raise
From the deep earth, or deeper seas;
And bring them to his courts above,-
There shall they taste his special love.

69

PART I. C. M. Walsal, 237. Ver. 1-14. The sufferings of Christ for our salvation.

1'SAVE me, O God; the swelling floods Break in upon my soul:

I sink, and sorrows o'er my head
Like mighty waters roll.

2 'I cry till all my voice be gone,
In tears I waste the day;
My God, behold my longing eyes,
And shorten thy delay.

3 They hate my soul without a cause,
And still their number grows
More than the hairs around my head,
And mighty are my foes.

Ten thousand angels fill'd the sky; Those heavenly guards around thee wait, Like chariots that attend thy state. 2 Not Sinai's mountain could appear More glorious when the Lord was there; While he pronounced his dreadful law, And struck the chosen tribes with awe. 3 How bright the triumph none can tell, When the rebellious powers of hell, That thousand souls had captive made, Were all in chains like captives led. 4 Raised by his Father to the thoug He sent the promised Spirit down With gifts and grace for rebel men, That God might dwell on earth again.

That men could never pay, And gave those honours to thy law, Which sinners took away.'

5 Thus, in the great Messiah's name. The royal prophet mourns;

6

Thus he awakes our hearts to grief,
And gives us joy by turns.

Now shall the saints rejoice and find
Salvation in my name,

For I have borne their heavy load
Of sorrow, ping will shame.

7' Grief, like a garment, clothed me round
And sackcloth was my dress,
While I procured for naked souls,
A robe of righteousness.

8 'Amongst my brethren and the Jews I like a stranger stood,

And bore their vile reproach, to bring The Gentiles near to God.

9 'I came in sinful mortals' stead,

To do my Father's will:

Yet when I cleansed my Father's house, They scandalized my zeal.

10 My fasting and my holy groans

Were made the drunkard's song;
But God, from his celestial throne
Heard my complaining tongue.

11 He saved me from the dreadful deep, Nor let my soul be drown'd:

He raised and fix'd my sinking feet
On well-establish'd ground.
12 T was in a most accepted hour
My prayer arose on high,

And for my sake my God shall hear
The dying sinner's cry.'

69

Ver. 14-21, 26, 29, 32. The passion and exaltation of Christ.

1 NOW let our lips, with holy fear, And mournful pleasure, sing,

The sufferings of our great High Priest,
The sorrows of our King.

2 He sinks in floods of deep distress;
How high the waters rise!
While to his heavenly Father's ear
He sends perpetual cries.

3 'Hear me, O Lord, and save thy Son, Nor hide thy shining face;

Why should thy favourite look like one
Forsaken of thy grace?

4' With rage they persecute the man
That groans beneath thy wound;
While for a sacrifice I pour
My life upon the ground.

5 They tread my honour to the dust,
And laugh when I complain;
Their sharp, insulting slanders add
Fresh anguish to my pain.

6All my reproach is known to thee,
The scandal and the shame;
Reproach has broke my bleeding heart,
And lies defiled my name.

7 'I look'd for pity, but in vain;
My kindred are my grief:

I ask my friends for comfort round,
But meet with no relief.

8 With vinegar they mock my thirst;
They give me gall for food:
wil my dying groans,
They triumph in my blood.

9 Shine into my distressed sou,
Let thy compassions save;

And though my flesh sink down to death, Redeem it from the grave.

38

10 I shall arise to praise thy name, Shall reign in worlds unknown; And thy salvation, O my God, Shall seat me on thy throne.'

69

1

PART III. C. M. Abridge, 201. God glorified, and sinners saved. FATHER, I sing thy, wondrous grace, my Saviour's name; He bought salvation for the poor, And bore the sinner's shame.

2 His deep distress has raised us high; His duty and his zeal

Fulfill'd the law which mortals broke, And finish'd all thy will.

3 His dying groans, his living songs, Shall better please my God,

Than harp or trumpet's solemn sound, Than goats or bullocks' blood.

4 This shall his humble followers see, And set their hearts at rest:

They by his death draw near to thee,
And live for ever bless'd.

5 Let heaven, and all that dwell on high,
To God their voices raise,
While lands and seas assist the sky,
And join t' advance the praise.

6 Zion is thine, most holy God;
Thy Son shall bless her gates:
And glory, purchased by his blood,
For thy own Israel waits.

Behold the rising billows roll

To overwhelm his holy soul.

2 In long complaints he spends his breath, While hosts of hell, and powers of death, And all the sons of malíce join

To execute their cursed design.

3 Yet, gracious God, thy power and love Has made the curse a blessing prove; Those dreadful sufferings of thy Son Atoned for sins which we had done. 4 The pangs of our expiring Lord The honours of thy law restored: His sorrows made thy justice known, And paid for follies not his own. 5 O for his sake our guilt forgive, And let the mourning sinner live: The Lord will hear us in his name, Nor shall our hope be turn'd to shame. PART II. L. M. Virginia, 234. Ver. 7, &c. Christ's sufferings and zeal.

69

1'T WAS TUA thy sake, eternal God,
Thy Son sustain'ú that heavy lond
Of base reproach and sore disgrace,
And shame defiled his sacred face.

2 The Jews, his brethren, and his kin, Abused the man that check'd their sin: While he fulfill'd thy holy laws, They hate him, but without a cause. 3 ['My father's house,' said he,' was made A place for worship, not for trade:' Then scattering all their gold and brass, He scourged the merchants from the place.]

4 [Zeal for the temple of his God Consumed his life, exposed his blood: Reproaches at thy glory thrown He felt, and mourn'd them as his own.] 5 [His friends forsook, his followers fled, While foes and arms surround his head; They curse him with a slanderous tongue, And the false judge maintains the wrong.] 6 His life they load with hateful lies, And charge his lips with blasphemies; They nail him to the shameful tree; There hung the man that died for me. 7 [Wretches, with hearts as hard as stones, Insult his piety and groans:

Gall was the food they gave him there, And mock'd his thirst with vinegar.]

71

PART I. C. M. Arlington, 17. Ver. 5-9. The aged saint's reflection and hope.

My live upon thy truth;

Y God, my everlasting hope,

Thine hands have held my childhood up,
And strengthen'd all my youth.

2 My flesh was fashion'd by thy power,
With all those limbs of mine:
And from my mother's painful hour
I've been entirely thine.

3 Still has my life new wonders seen,
Repeated every year;

Behold my days that yet remain,
I trust them to thy care.

4 Cast me not off when strength declines, When hoary hairs arise;

And round me let thy glories shine,
Whene'er thy servant dies.

5 Then in the history of my age,
When men review my days,
They'll read thy love in every page,
In every line thy praise.

1

PART III. C. M. Devizes, 14. Ver. 17-21. The aged Christian's prayer and song.

LOD of my childhood and my youth,
The guide of all my days,

I have declared thy heavenly truth,
And told thy wondrous ways.

2 Wilt thou forsake my hoary hairs,
And leave my fainting heart?
Who shall sustain my sinking years
If God my strength depart?

3 Let me thy power and truth proclaim To the surviving age,

And leave a savour of thy name
When I shall quit the stage.

4 The land of silence and of death
Attends my next remove;

O may these poor remains of breath
Teach the wide world thy love.

PAUSE.

5 Thy righteousness is deep and high,
Unsearchable thy deeds;

Thy glory spreads beyond the sky,
And all my praise exceeds.

6 Oft have I heard thy threatenings roar, And oft endured the grief;

But when thy hand has press'd me sore,
Thy grace was my relief.

7 By long experience have I known
Thy sovereign power to save;
At thy command I venture down
Securely to the grave.

8 When I lie buried deep in dust,
My flesh shall be thy care;
These withering limbs with thee I trust,
To raise them strong and fair.