3 Jesus! Thou Sun of righteousness!
Thy quickening influence give;
And let thy word have free success,
That all, who hear, may live.
4 That word, thy Spirit's sword applied,
Shall vanquish every sin,
Till Satan's empire is destroy'd,
And thine is form'd within.
PSALM 20.
God the Giver of victory and national success. 1 WHILE nations, fired with mutual rage, In fierce contention warfare wage, God reigns on heaven's eternal throne, And makes their wills subserve his own. 2 On horses some their hope repose; Some urge the chariot on their foes; But we such feeble aids disclaim; Our trust is in Jehovah's name. 3 The God of battles, Thee we own; The victory, Lord, is thine alone: To Thee our grateful hearts we raise, And own thy hand, and sing thy praise. 4 Oh! when we praise and when we pray, Do Thou, whom heaven and earth obey, Accept the praise, confirm the prayer, And make our safety still thy care.
The Lord the Shepherd of his people.
1 JEHOVAH all our wants supplies,
And every wish prevents :
In pastures green He feeds our souls
"Beside the shepherds' tents.
2 When from the limits of the fold.
With heedless feet we stray,
He gently leads his wanderers home,
And keeps us in the way.
3 Though in the vale of death we walk, No evil will we fear:
Thy rod and staff shall be our trust,
For Thou art always near.
4 Thy mercy and thy love shall smooth Each rugged path we tread :
And in thy courts our days we'll spend,
Till number'd with the dead.
PSALM 23.
(P. M. PASTORALE.)
The Lord the Shepherd of his people.
1 THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care:
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye:
My noon-day walks He shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2 When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales, and dewy meads,
My weary, wandering, steps He leads,
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
3 Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my wants beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And streams shall murmur all around.
4 Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For Thou, O Lord! art with me still;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.
PSALM 24.
(L. M. CHESHUNT.)
The ascension of Christ.
1 LIFT up your heads, ye heavenly gates;
Ye everlasting doors, give way:
Behold! the King of glory waits:
Celestial powers, his voice obey.
2 Who is the King of glory? Who?
The Lord of hosts, in battle strong:
Who Satan, sin, and death o'erthrew,
And leads in chains the captive throng.
3 Behold! the King of glory waits;
Celestial powers, his voice obey:
Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates:
Ye everlasting doors, give way.
4 Who is the King of glory? Who?
Jesus, of power supreme possest,
To whom eternal praise is due;
God over all, for ever blest.
PSALM 25.
(C. M. BEDFORD.)
The sinner's hope in God's mercy alone.
1 To Thee, O Lord! we lift our souls,
To Thee for safety flee;
Let not our foes confound our hopes,
Which all are placed on Thee.
2 When on the guilt of former years
Our thoughts revolving turn,
The sorrows of our hearts enlarge,
Our troubled spirits mourn.
3 But grace and mercy reign with Thee,
Surpassing every sin,
Mercy to pardon all without,
And grace to cleanse within.
4 Forgive our numerous sins, O God!
The sins of age, and youth;
Reveal thy ways, and teach thy paths,
And guide us in thy truth.
5 Our anxious eyes and fervent souls
Are fix'd on Thee, O Lord!
Let not thine Israel plead in vain,
Nor trust in vain thy word.
PSALM 27.
(L. M. ROME.)
God the Father and Friend of his people.
1 THOU Lord, our Guard, our Light, our Way, What dangers, shall our souls dismay? God of our life! whom need we fear, When foes assault, if Thou art near?
2 One wish, with holy transport warm,
Our hearts have form'd, and yet shall form,
One thing we ask ;-to spend our days
In Zion's courts with prayer and praise.
3 Though every earthly friend depart,
And love forsake a parent's heart,
The Lord, on whom our hopes depend,
Will prove a Father and a Friend.
4 Ye trembling saints! in every strait,
On God with sacred courage wait.:
His grace will life and strength afford:
Oh! wait then daily on the Lord.
PSALM 28.
(C. M. MESSIAH.)
God the strength of his saints.
1 O LORD our Rock! to Thee we fly,
And pour in prayer our breath;
Bow down, and hear, lest we become
Like them who sleep in death.
2 Regard our supplications, Lord!
The cries that we repeat,
With weeping eyes, and lifted hands,
Before thy mercy-seat.
3 Oh! cast us not away with those,
Whose ways are ways of sin,
Whose works proclaim their awful doom,
Ere judgment shall begin.
4 O Thou! the Strength of all thy saints, In whom we live and move,
Still feed us with the bread of life,
And bless us with thy love.
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