1

2

3

4

4 And his that gentle voice we hear,
Soft as the breeze of even,

That checks each fault, that calms each fear,
And speaks of heaven.

5 And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are his alone.

6 Spirit of purity and grace,
Our weakness, pitying, see;
O, make our hearts thy dwelling-place,
And worthier thee.

6 & 10 s. M.

296.

Desires for God's Presence.

WILT thou not visit me?

JONES VERY.

The plant beside me feels thy gentle dew;
Each blade of grass I see

From thy deep earth its quickening moisture drew.

Wilt thou not visit me?

Thy morning calls on me with cheering tone,
And every hill and tree

Lend but one voice, the voice of thee alone.

Come! for I need thy love

More than the flower the dew, or grass the rain; Come, like thy holy dove,

And let me in thy sight rejoice to live again.

Yes! thou wilt visit me;

Nor plant nor tree thine eye delights so well,
As when, from sin set free,

Man's spirit comes with thine in peace to dwell.

C. M.

297.

DODDRIDGE.

God the Salvation of his People.

1 How long shall dreams of earthly bliss Our flattering hopes employ,

And mock our fond, deluded eyes
With visionary joy?

2 Why from the mountains and the hills Is our salvation sought,

While our eternal Rock 's forsook,
And Israel's God forgot?

3 The living spring neglected flows
Full in our daily view;

Yet we, with anxious, fruitless toil,
Our broken cisterns hew.

4 These fatal errors, gracious God,
With gentle pity see;

To thee our roving eyes direct,
And fix our souls on thee.

L. M.

298.

RIPPON'S COL.

Spiritual Influences compared to Rain.

1 THE dews and rains, in all their store, Watering the pastures o'er and o'er, Are not so copious as that grace Which sanctifies and saves our race.

2 As, in soft silence, vernal showers Descend and cheer the fainting flowers, So, in the secrecy of love,

Falls the sweet influence from above.

3 That heavenly influence let me find
In holy silence of the mind,
While every grace maintains its bloom,
Diffusing wide its rich perfume.

4 Nor let these blessings be confined
To me, but poured on all mankind;
Till earth's wild wastes in verdure rise,
And a new Eden bless our eyes.

L. M.

299.

Living Water.

DODDRIDGE.

1 BLEST Jesus! Source of grace divine,
What soul-refreshing streams are thine!
O, bring these healing waters nigh,
Or we must droop, and fall, and die.

2 No traveller through desert lands,
'Midst scorching suns and burning sands,
More eager longs for cooling rain,
Or pants the current to obtain.

3 Our longing souls aloud would sing,
"Spring up, celestial fountain, spring;
To a redundant river flow,

And cheer this thirsty land below."

4 May this blest torrent near my side
Through all the desert gently glide;
Then, in Immanuel's land above,
Spread to a sea of joy and love!

1 O, HAPPY is the man who hears
Instruction's warning voice,
And who celestial Wisdom makes
His early, only choice.

2 Wisdom has treasures greater far
Than east or west unfold;
And her rewards more precious are
Than is the gain of gold.

3 In her right hand she holds to view
A length of happy years;
And in her left the prize of fame
And honor bright appears.

4 She guides the young, with innocence,
In pleasure's paths to tread;
A crown of glory she bestows
Upon the hoary head.

5 According as her labors rise,
So her rewards increase;

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

1 SHALL Wisdom cry aloud,

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

2

"I was his chief delight,

His everlasting Son,

Before the first of all his works,

Creation, was begun.

3 "Before the flying clouds, Before the solid land,

4

5

6

Before the fields, before the floods,
I dwelt at his right hand.

"When he adorned the skies,
And built them, I was there,

To order when the sun should rise,
And marshal every star.

"When he poured out the sea,
And spread the flowing deep,

I gave the flood a firm decree,
In its own bounds to keep.

"Then come, receive my grace,
Ye children, and be wise:

Happy the man that keeps my ways;
The man that shuns them dies."

C. M.

302.

COWPER.

Human Frailty.

1 WEAK and irresolute is man;
The purpose of to-day,
Woven with pains into his plan,
To-morrow rends away.

2 Some foe to his upright intent
Finds out his weaker part;

Virtue engages his assent,
But pleasure wins his heart.