Praise to God.
ISLINGTON. L. M.
O GOD, my heart is fixt, is bent,
Its thankful tribute to present;
And, with my heart, my voice I'll raise
To thee, my God, in songs of praise.
Awake my heart, awake my voice,
And in harmonious hymns rejoice:
With morning's earliest dawn awake,'
Your part in prayer and praise to take.
Thy praises, Lord, I will resound
To all the list'ning nations round:
Thy mercy to the heaven ascends,
Thy truth beyond the clouds extends.
Be thou, O God, exalted high;
And, as thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth display'd,
Till thou art here, as there, obey'd.
PSALM LVIII.
Rulers responsible to God.
BEDFORD. C. M.
SPEAK, O ye judges of the earth,
If just your sentence be;
And let not innocence appeal
To heaven from your decree!
Let not your hearts or judgments be
By fraud or malice sway'd;
Nor ever be your hands by bribes
To violence betray'd.
When God shall judge, the just will see
All crimes due vengeance meet;
And all his enemies shall bend
In terror at his feet.
Transgressors shall with grief behold
Just men rewards obtain;
And own a God, whose justice will
Each partial judge arraign,
God our only and sure Helper.
MARTYRDOM. C. M.
DEFEND and save me from my foes; O Lord, I pray to thee;
Preserve my trembling soul from those
Who daily strive with me.
'Tis by thy strength alone I stand;
On thee my hopes depend;
For thou art still a help at hand,
Who only canst defend.
Since thou hast been my help, O God,
My refuge in distress,
I'll tell thy gracious acts abroad,
Thy glorious name confess.
"Tis from thy boundless power and
My health and safety spring;
And early songs of grateful praise
My joyful heart shall bring.
Humiliation in Time of national Divisions.
DOVERSDALE. L. M.
CHASTIS'D, O Lord, cast off by thee,
O grant us still thy face to see;
And may the people, once thy care,
Again thy gracious presence share !
How trembles this divided land,
Beneath the terrors of thy hand!
O thou, the God whom we adore,
Compose its strifes, its peace restore.
Behold us, Lord, opprest with woj
As exil'd from thy care we go;
O, let us yet thy mercy share,
And hear, O hear, our ceaseless prayer.
Our hope, on man repos'd in vain,
O let thy strength, great God, sustain ;
And may we, on thine aid reclin'd,
In thee our firm protector find!
WHEN, overwhelm'd with grief,
My heart within me dies;
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift mine eyes.
O lead me to the rock
That's high above my head;
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.
Within thy presence, Lord,
For ever I'll abide ;
Thou art the tower of my defence,
In thee will I confide.
Give me, O Lord, the lot
Of those who fear thy name:
When endless life thy saints enjoy,
May I possess the same!
PSALM LXII.
God our only Hope and Trust.
MY soul waits patiently on God,
He only is my sure abode,
My refuge and my friend;
Trusting in him I shall not fall;
For when did he despise their call,
Who on his grace depend?
O all ye people, seek his face;
On him your whole dependence place,
In comfort, or in wo:
Pour out your hearts before the Lord;
He will a sure relief afford,
And save from ev'ry foe.
Cease ye in mortal man to trust,-
The feeble offspring of the dust,-
Whose highest state is vain:
Look up to God, who reigns on high ;
For they who on his love rely,
Shall endless life obtain.
Thirst for the Privileges of God's House.
ST. MARTIN'S. P. M.
O GOD, my gracious God, to thee
My morning prayers shall offer'd be ;
For thee my thirsty soul doth pant:
My fainting flesh implores thy grace
Within this dry and barren place,
Where I refreshing waters want.
O, may my longing heart once more
That glory and that power adore,
Which thy majestic house displays:
Because to me thy wondrous love
Than life itself doth dearer prove,
My lips shall always speak thy praise.
When I lie down, sweet sleep to find,
Thou, Lord, art present to my mind;
And when I wake in dead of night,
Because thou still dost succour bring,
Beneath the shadow of thy wing
I rest in safety and delight.
PSALM LXIV.
God's Righteous Judgments.
While at thy throne in prayer I bend;
Preserve my life when danger's near
From ev'ry foe, from ev'ry fear.
Protect me from the secret snare,
When sin and death their arts prepare;
From powers of earth and hell combin'd,
Let me in thee a refuge find.
When thou shalt bend thy dreadful bow,
And dart thy wrath on ev'ry foe,
The trembling world shall own thy rod,
And speak thy wondrous works, O God.
But glory shall adorn the just,
While in Jehovah's name they trust;
And cheerful songs their joy proclaim,
Who love his word, and fear his name.
God's Mercy and Goodness.
ANGELS' SONG. L. M.
FOR thee, O God, our constant praise
In Sion waits, thy chosen seat:
Our promis'd altars there we'll raise,
And all our zealous vows complete.
O thou, who to the humble prayer
Dost ever bend a fav'ring ear;
To thee shall all mankind repair,
And at thy gracious throne appear.
Our sins, though numberless, in vain
To stop thy flowing mercy try;
For grace shall cleanse the guilty stain,
And wash away the crimson dye.
How blest the man, who, near to thee,
Within thy sacred dwelling lives!
Who there salvation longs to see,
And taste the joy thy presence gives.
PSALM LXV. (PART II.)
Thanksgiving for Harvest.
PORTUGUESE. L. M.
THY gifts, O God, the circling year
With fresh returns of plenty crown ;
Thy blessings all around appear;
The swelling clouds drop fatness down.
While from exhaustless stores the rain
Descending fills the thirsty ground;
The barren lands rejoice again,
With richest fruits and herbage crown'd.
Thy bounteous hand the blessing pours;
The valleys and the fruitful fields
Thou makest soft with gentle showers;
And nature all her fulness yields.
Large flocks and herds the plains adorn;
The hills their joyful tribute bring;
The valleys wave with golden corn,
And seem their Maker's praise to sing.
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