2 A span is all that we can boast,—
A fleeting hour of time:
Man is but vanity and dust,

In all his flower and prime.

3 See the vain race of mortals move,
Like shadows o'er the plain;

They rage and strive, desire and love,
But all their noise is vain.

4 Some walk in honour's gaudy show;
Some dig for golden ore :

They toil for heirs, they know not who,
And straight are seen no more.

5 What should I wish or wait for, then,
From creatures-earth and dust?
They make our expectations vain,
And disappoint our trust.

6 Now I resign my earthly hope,
My fond desires recall;

I give my mortal interest up,
And make my God my all.

દર

313. L. P. M.

Watts.

Speak, Lord! for thy servant heareth."

1 Teach me, my God, to do thy will,
Thy purposes in all fulfil,

And to thy sceptre humbly bow;
With duteous reverence, at thy feet,
In patient waiting I would sit :

Speak, Lord! thy servant heareth now.

2 Renew thine image, Lord! in me: Lowly and gentle may I be;

And ever watching unto prayer:

No anger may'st thou ever find,
No pride, in my unruffled mind,

But faith, and heaven-born peace be there.

3 A patient, a victorious mind,

That life, and all things cast behind,
Springs forth obedient to thy call;
A heart that no desire can move,-
But still to adore, believe and love,-
Give me, my God, my Life, my All.

314. L. P. M.

From the German.

The Blessings of the good Man. Ps. cxii.
1 THAT man is blessed, who stands in awe
Of God, and loves his sacred law;
He gains on earth a fair renown:
While sinners with their hopes decay,
He shall enjoy an endless day,

A heavenly, an immortal crown.
2 His hands, while they his alms bestow,
His glory's future harvest sow:

The sweet remembrance of the just,
Like a green root, revives and bears
A train of blessings for his heirs,

When dying nature sleeps in dust.
3 Beset with threatening dangers round,
Unmoved shall he maintain his ground,

His conscience bears his courage up: The soul that's filled with virtue's light, Shines brightest in affliction's night,

And sees in darkness beams of hope.

Tate, alt'd.

315. c. M.

The Way of the Righteous and of the Wicked. Ps. i. 1 THAT man, in life wherever placed, Has happiness in store,

Who walks not in the wicked's way,
Nor learns their guilty lore:

2 Nor from the seat of scornful pride
Casts forth his eyes abroad,
But with humility and awe

Still walks before his God.

3 That man shall flourish like the trees
Which by the streamlet grow,
Whose fruitful top is spread on high,
And firm, the root below.

4 But he whose blossom buds in guilt
Shall to the ground be cast,

And, like the rootless stubble, tossed
Before the sweeping blast.

5 For God, that God the good adore,
Will give them peace and joy;
But all the hopes of wicked men,
Will utterly destroy.

316. c. M.

+ Burns, alt'd

Prospect of the universal Spread of Spiritual Blessings.

1 THE Common Parent, Lord of all,

Who sits enthroned above,

With perfect wisdom rules the world,
And with impartial love.

2 Soon may his name, from shore to shore,
Sound all the earth abroad;
And distant nations know and love
Their Saviour, and their God!

3 The day will come, the happy day,-
Such his eternal will,

When light, and truth, and grace divine,
The spacious earth shall fill.

4 God will diffuse the blessings round,
So richly scattered here;
Till the creation's utmost bound,

Shall see, adore, and fear.

317. L. M.

Watts, alt'd.

The weeping Seed-Time, and joyful Harvest. Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6

1 THE darkened sky-how thick it lowers! Troubled with storms, and big with showers; No cheerful gleam of light appears,

But nature pours forth all her tears.

2 Yet let the sons of grace revive;
God bids the soul that seeks him, live;
And from the gloomiest shade of night,
Calls forth a morning of delight.

3 The seeds of ecstacy unknown,
Are in these watered furrows sown:
See the green blades! how thick they rise,
And with fresh verdure bless our eyes!

4 In secret foldings they contain

Unnumbered ears of golden grain ;
And heaven shall pour its beams around,
Till the ripe harvest load the ground.

5 Then shall the trembling mourner come, And find his sheaves, and bear them home; The voice, long broke with sighs, shall sing, Till heaven with hallelujahs ring.

318. L. M.

The universal Providence of God.

Doddridge.

1 THE earth, and all the heavenly frame,
Their great Creator's love proclaim;
He gives the sun his genial power,
And sends the soft refreshing shower.
2 The ground with plenty blooms again,
And yields her various fruits to men;
To men, who from thy bounteous hand
Receive the gifts of every land.

3 Nor to the human race alone
Is thy paternal goodness shown:
The tribes of earth, and sea, and air,
Enjoy thy universal care.

4 Not ev❜n a sparrow yields its breath,
Till God permits the stroke of death:
He hears the ravens when they call,—
The Father and the Friend of all!

319. c. M.

Gibbons.

Approaching Death and Judgment. Heb. x. 24, 25.

1 THE day approaches, O my soul!

The great decisive day,

Which, from the verge of mortal life,
Shall bear thee far away.