1 RELIGION is the chief concern
Of mortals here below;
May I its great importance learn,
Its sovereign virtue know.
2 More needful this than glittering wealth,
Or aught the world bestows;
Nor reputation, food, or health,
Can give such sweet repose.
3 Religion should our thoughts engage,
Amidst our youthful bloom;
"Twill fit us for declining age,
"Twill fit us for the tomb.
4 O may my heart, by grace renewed,
Be my Redeemer's throne;
And be my stubborn will subdued,
His government to own.
5 Let lively hope my soul inspire;
Let warm affections rise;
And may I wait with strong desire
To mount above the skies.
HYMN 357. C. M. [#]
Inconstancy in Religion.
1 IMMORTAL Source of light and grace,
We hail thy sacred name:
Through every year's revolving round,
Thy goodness is the same.
2 On us, all worthless as we are,
It wondrous mercy pours;
Sure as the world's established course,
Abundant as the showers.
3 In flowing tears our guilt we mourn,
And loud implore thy grace
To bear our feeble footsteps on
In all thy righteous ways.
4 Armed with this energy divine,
Our steadfast souls shall move;
And with increasing transports press,
To reach thy courts above.
HYMN 358. C. M. [#or b ]
Experimental Religion.
1 O FOR a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame,
And light to shine upon the road,
That leads me to the Lamb!
2 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
3 Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
4 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
5 So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
And purer light shall mark the road,
That leads me to the Lamb.
1 How blest is man, O God,
When first, with single eye,
He views the glory of thy grace,
The day-spring from on high.
2 Through storms which cloud the skies,
And brood o'er earthly things,
The Sun of righteousness breaks forth,
With healing in his wings.
3 Struck by that light, his heart,
A barren soil no more,
Sends shoots of righteousness abroad,
Where follies sprung before.
4 The soul, so dreary once,
Once misery's dark domain,
Feels happiness unknown before,
And owns a heavenly reign.
HYMN 360. L. M. [#]
A Conversation becoming the Gospel.
1 WHEN Jesus, our great Master, came
To teach us in his Father's name,
In every act, in every thought,
He lived the precepts which he taught.
2 So let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all divine.
3 Thus shall we best proclaim abroad
The honours of our Maker, God,
When his salvation reigns within,
And grace subdues the power of sin.
4 Our flesh and sense must be denied,
Passion and envy, lust and pride;
While justice, temperance, truth, and love,
Our inward piety approve.
5 What though we drink of sorrow's cupReligion bears our spirits up;
Hope waits the coming of the Lord,
And faith stands leaning on his word.
HYMN 361. S. M. [# or b]
Misimprovement of religious Privileges.
1 LONG have we heard the sound
Of thy salvation, Lord;
Yet still how weak our faith is found,
And knowledge of thy word.
2 How feeble is our love;
How negligent our fear;
How low our hope of joys above,
How few affections there.
3 Lord, ere our feet retire
From this devoted place,
Our feeble purposes inspire
With thine awakening grace.
4 O shed through every heart
A glow of love divine;
Nor let thy grace from us depart,
Till we are wholly thine.
HYMN 362. C. M. [# or b]
Comforts of Religion.
1 WHEN gloomy thoughts and boding fears
The trembling heart invade,
And all the face of nature wears
A universal shade,-
2 Religion's dictates can assuage
The tempest of the soul;
And every fear shall cease to rage,
At her divine control.
3 Through life's bewildered, darksome way,
Her hand unerring leads,
And o'er the path her heavenly ray
A cheering lustre sheds.
4 When feeble reason, tired and blind,
Sinks helpless and afraid,
This blest supporter of the mind
Affords a powerful aid.
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