The Folly of Self dependence. Prov. iii. 5, 6.
1 THE swift not always in the race
Shall seize the crowning prize;
Not always wealth and honour grace
The labour of the wise.

2 Fond mortals but themselves beguile
When on themselves they rest :
Blind is their wisdom, weak their toil,-
By Thee, O Lord, unbless'd.

3 Evil and good before Thee stand,
Thy missions to perform;

The blessing comes at thy command,
At thy command the storm.

4 O Lord, in all our ways we'll own
Thy providential power,
Intrusting to thy care alone
The lot of every hour.

HYMN 81.

The invitations and promises of celestial wisdom. Prov. iii.

13---18.

1

THE wisdom of the Lord,

2

3

Descending from above,

Invites the sons of men

In language full of love:

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are paths of peace.

Her riches are divine;

Her treasures, always full,

Brighter than rubies, shine,

And satisfy the soul:

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are paths of peace.

She is a tree of life,

And fruit celestial yields,
Which sin can never give
In all its blasted fields:

4

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are paths of peace.

On Wisdom's pleasant ways
The sun will always shine;
To cheer our souls with peace,
And prospects all divine:

And

Oh! come, and try her pleasant ways, you shall find her paths are peace. HYMN 82.

Christ the wisdom of God. Prov. viii. 1--4, 22---36. 1 SHALL wisdom cry aloud,

2

3

4

And not her speech be heard?
The voice of God's eternal Word,
Deserves it no regard?

He was God's chief delight,
His everlasting Son;

Before heaven's luminaries bright,

Or earth, or hills begun.

His gracious thoughts at first.
On man's salvation ran;

Ere sin was born, or Adam's dust
Was fashion'd into man.

Receive the proffer'd grace,

Ye children, and be wise.

Happy the man, that keeps his ways;
The man that shuns them dies.

HYMN 83.

Wisdom, bliss, and salvation. Prov. viii. 34---36.

1 REFUSE not wisdom from the Lord;
Blest is the man that hears his word,
Keeps daily watch before his gates,
And at his door for mercy waits.

2 He that finds wisdom shall obtain
Immortal wealth and heavenly gain.
Immortal life is his reward,

Life, and the favour of the Lord.

3 Who spurns at wisdom's mild control,
Wounds and destroys the heaven-born soul;
And he, that hates the ways of God,
Loves death, and seeks hell's drear abode.
HYMN 84.

The prayer of Agur. Prov. xxx. 7---9.
1 FOUNTAIN of blessing! ever blest!
Grant what thy servants now request;
So shall thy servants be content,
And life be in thy service spent.

2 Give us nor poverty extreme,

Nor dang'rous wealth's o'erflowing stream; Teach us vain error's path to fly; Convenient food each day supply.

3 Rich, we shall then life's comforts share, As men dependent on thy care:

Poor, we shall honesty maintain, Nor murm'ring take Thy Name in vain. 4 Who is the Lord?-let mortals know, 'Tis from His hand all blessings flow. Whate'er he gives, whate'er denies, Trust, hope, and peace, His Name supplies. HYMN 85.

The houses of mourning and mirth. Eccl. vii. 2---6. 1 WHILE others crowd the house of mirth, And love the gaudy show;

Let such as would with wisdom dwell
Frequent the house of woe.

2 Better to weep with those that weep,
And share the mourner's smart,
Than mix with fools in transient joys
That cheat and wound the heart.

3 When holy sorrow clouds the face,
And tears bedim the eye,

The soul is led to solemn thought
And wafted to the sky.

Gg

4 What tho' the thoughtless only seek

In mirth's abode to dwell!

The wise in heart will linger oft
In grief's sequester'd cell.

HYMN 86.

The importance of life. Eccl. ix. 4---6, 10. 1 LIFE is the time to serve the Lord, Life does a time of hope afford:

A day of grace, which God has given,
To gain the endless life of heaven.
2 The living know that they must die;
But all the dead forgotten lie;

Their knowledge and their comfort gone,
Alike unknowing and unknown.

3 Whate'er our hands design to do,
Let us with all our might pursue:
For no device nor work is found,
Nor faith, nor hope, beneath the ground.
4 There are no acts of pardon past
In the cold grave to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair,
Reign in eternal silence there.

HYMN 87.

The accountableness of youth. Eccl. xi. 9, 10.' 1 THE sons of Adam, vain and young, Indulge their eyes, indulge their tongue. Love ye the day of mirth?-yet know There is a day of judgment too.

2 God from on high beholds your faults,
His book records your secret thoughts,
The works of darkness you have done
Must all appear before the sun.

3 The vengeance toy

your follies due

Should strike your heart with terror thro';
How will you stand before his face,

Or answer for his injur'd grace?

4 Almighty God, turn off their eyes
From these alluring vanities;
And let the thunder of thy word
Awake their souls to fear the Lord.
HYMN 88.

Remember now thy Creator. Eccl. xii. 1 --7.
1 REMEMBER thy Creator, God;
For Him thy powers employ.
Make Him in early youth thy fear,
Thy hope, thy trust, thy joy.

2 For soon the shades of grief will cloud
The sunshine of thy days;

The cares of life, the pains of age,
Await thy future ways.

3 The silver cord shall soon resign
Its feeble, slender hold:

The pitcher at the fountain break;
The wheel, and bowl of gold.

66

4 Then, “ earth to earth, and dust to dust,"
Thy body shall descend;
Summon'd before its Lord and Judge,
Thy spirit shall ascend.

5 Remember now that Lord and Judge,
To him through Jesus flee:

Then peace is thine; and, after death,
A blest eternity.

HYMN 89.

The glory of the Lord's house in the latter dags. Isai. ii. 1 -5. 1 BEHOLD! the mountain of the Lord

In latter days shall rise

Above the mountains and the hills,
And draw the wond'ring eyes."

2 To this the joyful nations round
All tribes and tongues shall flow;
Up to the hill of God, they say,
And to his house we'll go.