1 WHEREWITH shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
Oh! how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone?
2 Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?
Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?
3 O no, my soul ! 'twere fruitless all ;
Such offerings are vain :
No fatlings from the field or stall
His favor can obtain.
4 To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;
To God with humble reverence bow,
And to his glory live.
5 Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere,
He never will despise ;
And cheerful duty he'll prefer
To costly sacrifice.
1 WELCOME, Sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes!
2 The King himself comes near,
And feasts his saints to-day;
Here we may sit, and see him here,
And love, and praise, and pray.
3 One day amidst the place
Where my dear Lord hath been,
Is sweeter than ten thousand days
Of pleasurable sin.
4 My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this;
And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.
1 COME we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known:
Join in a song of sweet accord,
And thus surround his throne.
2 The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place:
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
3 The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits, on earthly ground,
From faith and hope may grow.
4 Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry:
We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high.
1 SEARCHER of hearts, to thee are known
The inmost secrets of my breast;
At home, abroad, in crowds, alone,
Thou mark'st my rising and my rest,
My thoughts far off through every maze,
Source, stream and issue, all my ways.
2 How from thy presence should I go,
Or whither from thy spirit flee,
Since all above, around, below,
Exist in thine immensity?
If up to heaven I take my way,
I meet thee in eternal day;
3 If in the grave I make my bed
With worms and dust, lo, thou art there;
If, on the wings of morning sped,
Beyond the ocean I repair,
I feel thine all-controlling will,
And thy right hand upholds me still.
4 How precious are thy thoughts of peace,
Oh God, to me! how great the sum !
New every morn, they never cease;
They were, they are, and yet shall come
In number and in compass, more
Than ocean's sand, or ocean's shore.
1 EARLY, my God, without delay,
I haste to seek thy face,
My thirsty spirit faints away,
Without thy cheering grace.
2 So pilgrims on the scorching sand,
Beneath a burning sky,
Long for a cooling stream at hand,
And they must drink or die.
3 Not life itself, with all its joys,
Can my best passions move,
Nor raise so high my cheerful voice,
As thy forgiving love.
4 Thus till my last expiring day,
I'll bless my God and King;
Thus will I lift my hands to pray,
And tune my lips to sing.
L. M. SPIRIT OF PSALMS.
1 FATHER of spirits! Nature's God!
Our inmost thoughts are known to thee;
Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word,
And every private action see.
2 Could we on morning's swiftest wings
Pursue our flight through trackless air;
Or dive beneath deep ocean's springs,
Thy presence still would meet us there.
3 In vain may guilt attempt to fly,
Concealed beneath the pall of night;
One glance from thy all-piercing eye
Can kindle darkness into light.
4 Search thou our hearts, and there destroy
Each evil thought, each secret sin;
And fit us for those realms of joy,
Where nought impure shall enter in.
1 In all my vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thine ali-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest;
My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.
3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they're formed within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
'He knows the sense I mean.
4 O wond'rous knowledge, deep and high,
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.
5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.
1 My soul shall praise thee, O my God!
Through all my mortal days;
And to eternity prolong
Thy vast, thy boundless praise.
2 In each bright hour of peace and hope,
Be this my sweet employ:
Devotion heightens all my bliss,
And sanctifies my joy.
3 When gloomy care or keen distress
Invade my throbbing breast,
My tongue shall learn to speak thy praise,
And soothe my pains to rest.
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