39

THIRD PART.

Ver. 9-13. Sick-bed Devotion.

1 GOD of my life, look gently down,
Behold the pains I feel;

But I am dumb before thy throne,
Nor dare dispute thy will.
2 Diseases are thy servants, Lord,
They come at thy command;
I'll not attempt a murmuring word,
Against thy chastening hand.

3 Yet may I plead, with humble cries,―
Remove thy sharp rebukes;

My strength consumes, my spirit dies,
Through thy repeated strokes.

4 Crushed as a moth beneath thy hand,
We moulder to the dust;

Our feeble powers can ne'er withstand,
And all our beauty's lost.

5 This mortal life decays apace;

How soon the bubble's broke!
Adam and all his numerous race
Are vanity and smoke.

6 I'm but a sojourner below,
As all my fathers were;
May I be well prepared to go,
When I the summons hear.

7 But if my life be spared a while,
Before my last remove,

Thy praise shall be my business still,
And I'll declare thy love.

C. M.

40

Ver. 1, 2, 3, 5, 17. A Song of Deliverance.

1

1I

WAITED patient for the Lord,
He bowed to hear my cry;
He saw me resting on his word,
And brought salvation nigh.

2 He raised me from a horrid pit,
Where, mourning, long I lay;
And from my bonds released
my feet,
Deep bonds of miry clay.

3 Firm on a rock he made me stand,
And taught my cheerful tongue
To praise the wonders of his hand,
In a new, thankful song.

4 I'll spread his works of grace abroad;
The saints with joy shall hear;
And sinners learn to make my God
Their only hope and fear.

5 How many are thy thoughts of love!
Thy mercies, Lord, how great!
We have not words nor hours enough
Their numbers to repeat.

6 When I'm afflicted, poor, and low,
And light and peace depart,
My God beholds my heavy wo,
And bears me on his heart.

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Ver. 6-9. The Incarnation and Sacrifice of Christ. 1 THUS saith the Lord, "Your work is vain, Give your burnt offerings o'er;

In dying goats and bullocks slain

My soul delights no more."

2 Then spake the Saviour, "Lo, I'm here, My God, to do thy will;

Whate'er thy sacred books declare,

Thy servant shall fulfill.

3 "Thy law is ever in my sight,
I keep it near my heart;

Mine ears are opened with delight
To what thy lips impart."

4 And see

-the bless'd Redeemer comes-
Th' eternal Son appears;

And at the appointed time assumes
The body God prepares.

5 Much he revealed his Father's grace,
And much his truth he showed;
And preached the way of righteousness,
Where great assemblies stood.

6 His Father's honor touched his heart,
He pitied sinners' cries,

And, to fulfill a Saviour's part,
Was made a sacrifice.

7 No blood of beasts, on altars shed,
Could wash the conscience clean;
But the rich sacrifice he paid
Atones for all our sin.

8 Then was the great salvation spread,
And Satan's kingdom shook;
Thus by the woman's Promised Seed,
The serpent's head was broke.

40

Ver. 5-10. Christ our Sacrifice.

L. M.

1 THE wonders, Lord, thy love has wrought Exceed our praise, surmount our thought; Should I attempt the long detail,

My speech would faint, my numbers fail.

2 No blood of beasts on altars spilt

Can cleanse the souls of men from guilt;
But thou hast set before our eyes

An all-sufficient sacrifice.

3 Lo, thine eternal Son appears;
To thy design he bows his ears;
Assumes a body well prepared,
And well performs a work so hard.
4" Behold I come," the Saviour cries,
With love and duty in his eyes;
"I come to bear the heavy load
Of sins, and do thy will, my God.
5 T is written in thy great decree,
'Tis in the book foretold of me,
I must fulfill the Saviour's part;
And lo, thy law is in my heart.
6 "I'll magnify thy holy law,
And rebels to obedience draw,
When on my cross I 'm lifted high,
Or to my crown above the sky.

66

7 "The Spirit shall descend and show
What thou hast done, and what I do;

The wondering world shall learn thy grace,
Thy wisdom and thy righteousness."

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Ver. 1-3. Pity for the Afflicted.

BLESS'D is the man whose bowels move
melt with pity to the poor;

L. M.

Whose soul, by sympathizing love, Feels what his fellow saints endure. 2 His heart contrives for their relief

More good than his own hands can do;
He, in a time of general grief,

Shall find the Lord has mercy too.
3 His soul shall live secure on earth,.
With secret blessings on his head,
When drought and pestilence and dearth
Around him multiply their dead.

4 Or if he languish on his couch,

God will pronounce his sins forgiven;
Will save him with a healing touch,
Or take his willing soul to heaven.

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Ver. 1-5. Absence from the House of God mourned.

1 WITH earnest longings of the mind,
My God, to thee I look;

So pants the hunted hart to find
And taste the cooling brook.

2 When shall I see thy courts of grace,
And meet my God again?

So long an absence from thy face
My heart endures with pain.

3 Temptations vex my weary soul,
And tears are my repast;

The foe insults without control,-
"And where 's your God at last ?"
4 'Tis with a mournful pleasure now
I think on ancient days:

Then to thy house did numbers go,
And all our work was praise.

5 But why, my soul, sunk down so far
Beneath this heavy load?

Why do my thoughts indulge despair,
And sin against my God?

6 Hope in the Lord, whose mighty hand
Can all thy woes remove;

For I shall yet before him stand,
And sing restoring love.

42

MY

SECOND PART.

Ver. 6-11. Hope in Affliction. spirit sinks within me, Lord, But I will call thy name to mind, And times of past distress record,

When I have found my God was kind. 2 Huge troubles, with tumultuous noise, Swell like a sea, and round me spread; Thy water-spouts drown all my joys, And rising waves roll o'er my head. 3 Yet will the Lord command his love, When I address his throne by day; Nor in the night his grace remove; The night shall hear me sing and pray. 4 I'll cast myself before his feet,

And say, "My God, my heavenly Rock, Why doth thy love so long forget

L.M.

The soul that groans beneath thy stroke ?"
5 I'll chide my heart that sinks so low;
Why should my soul indulge in grief?
Hope in the Lord, and praise him too;
He is my rest, my sure relief.

6 Thy light and truth shall guide me still;
Thy word shall my best thoughts employ,
And lead me to thy heavenly hill,
My God, my most exceeding joy.

42

1 AS

SECOND VERSION.

Ver. 1-5. Thirsting for God.

S pants the hart for cooling streams,
When heated in the chase,

So longs my soul, O God, for thee
And thy refreshing grace.

2 For thee, my God, the living God,
My thirsty soul doth pine;

Oh, when shall I behold thy face,
Thou Majesty divine?

3 I sigh, with anxious care oppressed,
To think of happier days,

When with the joyful crowd I went
To sing glad songs of praise.

C. M.