Search, prove my heart-it pants for thee;
Oh burst these bonds, and set it free!
2 If in this darksome wild I stray,
Be thou my light-be thou my way;
No foes, nor danger will I fear,
While thou, my Saviour, God, art near.
3 When rising floods my soul o'erflow,
When sinks my heart in waves of wo,
Jesus, thy timely aid impart,
To raise my head-and cheer my heart.
4 Oh let thy hand support me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill,
Where toil, and grief, and pain shall cease,
Where all is calm-and all is peace.
1 LORD, through the dubious path of life
Thy feeble servant guide!
Supported by thy powerful arm,
My footsteps shall not slide.
2 Let others, swelled with empty pride,
Of wisdom make their boasts;
My wisdom and my strength must come
From thee, the Lord of hosts.
3 To thee, O my unerring Guide!
I would myself resign;
In all my ways acknowledge thee,
And form my will to thine.
4 Thus shall each blessing of thy hand
Be doubly sweet to me;
In all my griefs I still shall have
A refuge, Lord, in thee.
1 THOU, Lord,through every changing scene,
Hast to the saints a refuge been;
Through every age, eternal God!
Their pleasing home-their safe abode.
2 In thee our fathers sought their rest,
And were with thy protection blest;
Behold their sons, a feeble race!
We come to fill our fathers' place.
3 Through all the thorny paths we tread,
Ere we are numbered with the dead,
When friends desert-and foes invade,
Be thou our all-sufficient aid!
4 And when this pilgrimage is o'er,
And we must dwell on earth no more,
To thee, great God! may we ascend,
And find an everlasting Friend.
5 To thee our infant race we'll leave;
Them may their fathers' God receive;
That voices, yet unformed, may raise
Succeeding hymns of humble praise.
1 AUTHOR of good-to thee we turn:
Thine ever-wakeful eye
Alone can all our wants discern-
Thy hand alone supply,
2 Oh let thy love within us dwell,
Thy fear our footsteps guide;
That love shall vainer loves expel,
That fear all fears beside.
3 And oh, by error's force subdued,
Since oft, with stubborn will,
We blindly shun the latent good,
And grasp the specious ill;-
4 Not what we wish-but what we want,
Let mercy still supply:
The good we ask not, Father, grant—
The ill we ask-deny.
1 GOD of our fathers! by whose hand
Thy people still are blest,
Be with us through our pilgrimage,
Conduct us to our rest.
2 Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.
3 Oh spread thy sheltering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father's loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.
4 Such blessings from thy gracious hand
Our humble prayers implore;
And thou, the Lord, shalt be our God,
And portion evermore.
Scripture Characters and Examples.
1 RISE, O my soul-pursue the path
By ancient worthies trod;
Aspiring, view those holy men,
Who lived and walked with God.
2 Though dead, they speak in reason's ear,
And in example live;
Their faith, and hope, and mighty deeds,
Still fresh instruction give.
3 'Twas thro' the Lamb's most precious blood,
They conquered every foe;
To his almighty power and grace,
Their crowns of life they owe.
4 Lord, may I ever keep in view
The patterns thou hast given,
And ne'er forsake the blessed road,
That led them safe to heaven.
1 GIVE me the wings of faith, to rise
Within the vail, and see
The saints above-how great their joys!
How bright their glories be!
2 Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears.
f1 3 I ask them whence their victory came;
They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
Their triumph to his death.
4 They marked the footsteps that he trod,
(His zeal inspired their breast;)
And, following their incarnate God,
Possess the promised rest.
5 Our glorious Leader claims our praise
For his own pattern given,
While the long cloud of witnesses
Show the same path to heaven.
Youth admonished of the Judgment.
1 YE sons of Adam, vain and young,
Indulge your eyes-indulge your tongue;
Enjoy the day of mirth-but know
There is a day of judgment too.
2 God from on high beholds your thoughts;
His book records your secret faults;
The works of darkness you have done
Must all appear before the sun.
Aff 3 Almighty God, turn off their eyes
From these alluring vanities;
And let the thunder of thy word
Awake their souls to fear the Lord.
1 NOW, in the heat of youthful blood,
Remember your Creator, God:
Behold the months come hastening on,
When you shall say-'My joys are gone.'
2 Behold, the aged sinner goes,
Oppressed with guilt and heavy woes,
Down to the regions of the dead,
With endless curses on his head.
3 The dust returns to dust again;
The soul, in agony of pain,
Ascends to God-not there to dwell,
But hears her doom-and sinks to hell.
Aff 4 Eternal King! I fear thy name;
Teach me to know how frail I am:
And when my soul must hence remove,
Give me a mansion in thy love.
582 Youth admonished to remember their Creator.
1 CHILDREN, to your Creator, God,
Your early honors pay;
While vanity and youthful blood
Would tempt your thoughts astray.
2 Be wise and make his favor sure,
Before the mournful day,
When youth and mirth are known no more,
And life and strength decay.
3 The memory of his mighty name
Demands your first regard;
Nor dare indulge a meaner flame,
Till you have loved the Lord.
1 WHILE in the tender years of youth,
In nature's smiling bloom,
Ere age arrive, and trembling wait
Its summons to the tomb ;-
2 Remember thy Creator, God;
For him thy powers employ;
Make him thy fear, thy love, thy hope,
Thy portion, and thy joy.
3 He shall defend and guide thy course
Through life's uncertain sea,
Till thou art landed on the shore
Of blest eternity.
The Young asking for divine Guidance.
1 FROM earliest dawn of life,
Thy goodness we have shared;
And still we live to sing thy praise,
By sovereign mercy spared.
2 To learn and do thy will,
O Lord, our hearts incline;
And o'er the paths of future life
Command thy light to shine.
3 While taught thy word of truth,
May we that word receive;
And when we hear of Jesus' name,
In that blest name believe !
4 Oh let us never tread
The broad, destructive road,
But trace those holy paths which lead
To glory, and to God.
1 GREAT Saviour! who didst condescend
Young children in thine arms to take,
Still prove thyself the children's friend,
And save them for thy mercy's sake.'
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