273. C. M.

Prayer for Divine help.

10 HELP us, Lord! each hour of need
Thy heavenly succour give;
Help us in thought, in word, and deed
Each hour on earth we live.

2 O help us, when our spirits bleed
With contrite anguish sore,

And when our hearts are cold and dead,
O help us, Lord! the more.

3 0 help us, through the prayer of faith
More firmly to believe;

For still the more the servant hath,
The more shall he receive.

4 0 help us, Father, from on high;—
We know no help but thee;

O help us so to live and die,
As thine in heaven to be.

274. c. M.

Submission to the Divine Disposals.

1 O LORD! my best desires fulfil,

And help me to resign

Life, health, and comfort, to thy will,
And make thy pleasure mine.

2 Why should I shrink at thy command,
Whose love forbids my fears;
Or tremble at that gracious hand
Which wipes away my tears?

Milman.

3 No, let me rather freely yield
What most I prize to thee,
Who never hast a good withheld,
Nor wilt withhold, from me.

4 Wisdom and mercy guide my way;
Shall I resist them both,-
Short-sighted creature of a day,

And crushed before the moth?

5 But ah! my heart within me cries,
Still bind me to thy sway;

Else, the next cloud that veils the skies
Drives all these thoughts away.

275. C. M.

Cowper.

"Your life is hid with Christ in God."

10 HAPPY Souls, that dwell on high,
While yet they sojourn here!
Their hopes are fixed above the sky,
And faith forbids their fear.

2 Their conscience knows no secret sting,
While grace and joy combine

To form a life whose holy springs
Are hidden and divine.

3 They wait in secret on their God;
Their God in secret sees;
Let earth be all in arms abroad,
They dwell in heavenly peace.

4 Their pleasures rise from things unseen,
Beyond this world and time;

Where neither eye nor ear hath been,
Nor mortal thought can climb.

5 They want no pomp nor royal throne,
To raise their honours here:
Content and pleased to live unknown,
Till Christ, their life, appear.

276. L. M.

Supplication to the Searcher of Hearts. Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24.
1 O HEAR me, Lord! to thee I call,
And prostrate at thy footstool fall:
O Lord! my prayer propitious hear,
And bow to my requests thine ear.

2 Searcher of hearts! my thoughts review;
With kind severity pursue,

Through each disguise, thy servant's mind, Nor leave one stain of guilt behind.

3 To thee my inmost heart is known: Regard me from thy lofty throne; Nor e'er to my desiring eye

Thy presence, heavenly Lord! deny.

277. C. M.

Desire of Holiness. Ps. cxix.

Merrick.

1 O THAT the Lord would guide my ways
To keep his statutes still!

O that my God would grant me grace
To know and do his will!

2 In deepest characters impress
Thy law upon my heart;

Nor let my tongue the truth transgress,
Nor act the slanderer's part.

3 O turn from vanity my eyes!
Let no corrupt design,
Nor covetous desire, arise
Within this heart of mine.

4 Assist my heart, too apt to stray,
A stricter watch to keep;
And, since I've not forgot thy way,
Restore thy wandering sheep.

5 Make me to walk in thy commands;
'Tis a delightful road!

Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
Offend against my God.

278. c. M.

Watts.

Eternity of God, and Frailty of Man. Ps. xc. 1-6.

10 THOU, the first, the greatest friend
Of all the human race!

Whose strong right hand has ever been
Their stay and dwelling place!

2 Before the mountains heaved their heads Beneath thy forming hand;

Before this ponderous globe itself
Arose at thy command;

3 That power which raised, and still upholds This universal frame,

From countless, unbeginning time,
Was ever still the same.

4 Those mighty periods of years,
Which seem to us so vast,

Appear no more before thy sight,
Than yesterday that's past.

5 But man is like the morning flower,
In beauty's pride arrayed;
And long ere night cut down it lies,
All withered and decayed!

279. c. M.

Mercy to the Penitent.

Burns.

10 THOU, the wretched's sure retreat!
Who dost our cares control,
And with the cheerful smile of peace
Revive the fainting soul!

2 Did ever, Lord! thy gracious ear
The contrite prayer disdain?
Or when did misery humbly sigh,
Or supplicate in vain?

3 Oppressed with grief and shame, dissolved In penitential tears,

Thy goodness calms our anxious doubts,
And dissipates our fears.

4 New life from thy refreshing grace
The sinking heart receives:
O may we ne'er again offend

The God who thus forgives!

5 Thy grace hath caused celestial hope
To shine serenely bright,

And shed her soft and cheering beam
O'er sorrow's darkest night.

6 Our hearts adore thy mercy, Lord!
And bless the friendly ray,

Which ushers in the smiling morn
Of everlasting day.

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Mrs. Carter, alt'd.