5 Exert thy sacred influence here;
Thy mourning servants bless:

O change to strains of cheerful praise,
Their accents of distress!

489. L. M.

Doddridge.

The Christian Farewell. 2 Cor. xiii. 11.

1 THY presence, ever living God!
Wide through all nature spreads abroad:
Thy watchful eyes, which never sleep,
In every place thy children keep.

2 While near each other we remain,
Thou dost our lives and powers sustain ;
When separate, we rejoice to share
Thy counsels, and thy gracious care.
3 To thee we now commit our ways,
And still implore thy heavenly grace;
Still cause thy face on us to shine,
And guard and guide us still as thine.
4 Give us within thy house to raise
Again united songs of praise;
Or, if that joy no more be known,
Give us to meet around thy throne.
Doddridge.

490. L. M.

An Evening Hymn.

1 THUS far the Lord has led me on;
Thus far his power prolongs my days;
And every evening shall make known
Some fresh memorial of his grace.

465. L. M.

Retirement and Meditation.

1 Mr God! permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee:
Amidst ten thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.

2 Call me away from flesh and sense;
Thy gracious word can draw me thence:
I would obey the voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign.

3 Be earth, with all her scenes, withdrawn; Let noise and vanity be gone;

In secret silence of the mind,

My heaven, and there my God, I find.

466. c. M.

Watts.

On Recovery from a Dangerous Sickness.

1 My God! thy service well demands
The remnant of my days;
Why was this fleeting breath renewed
But to renew thy praise?

2 Thine arms of everlasting love
Did this weak frame sustain,
When life was hovering o'er the grave,
And nature sunk in pain.

3 Calmly I watched my ebbing life e;
I knew thy time was best;

Nor feared to obey my Father's call,
To his eternal rest.

4 Into thy hands, my gracious God!
Did I my soul resign;

And humbly trusted in thy grace,
For pardoning love is thine.

5 Back from the borders of the grave,
At thy command I come;

Nor would I wish a speedier flight
Το my celestial home.

6 Where thou appointest mine abode,
There would I choose to be;
For in thy presence death is life,
And earth is heaven with thee.

467. L. M.

Doddridge.

God our Helper. 1 Sam. vii. 12.

1 My Helper, God! I bless thy name! The same thy power, thy grace the same: The tokens of thy friendly care

Open, and crown, and close the year.

2 Amidst ten thousand deaths I stand,
Supported by thy guardian hand;
And see, when I survey thy ways,
Ten thousand monuments of praise.
3 Thus far thine arm hath led me on;
Thus far I make thy mercy known;
And, while I tread this desert land,
New blessings shall new songs demand.
4 My grateful soul on Jordan's shore,
Shall raise one sacred pillar more:
Then bear, in thy bright courts above,
Inscriptions of immortal love.

Doddridge.

1

2

468. s. M.

Prayer in Sickness.

1 My Sovereign! to thy throne,
With humble hope I press;
O bow thine ear, to hear the groan
Of anguish and distress!

2 My life, bowed down with pain,
Mourns its decaying bloom;

3

Lord! clothe these bones with flesh again,
And spare me from the tomb.

Without one murmuring word,
Thy chastening I receive;
But with submission ask, O Lord!
A merciful reprieve.

My supplicating voice,
Unwearied, I will raise:

6

Say to thy servant's soul, rejoice'
And fill my mouth with praise.

469. P. M.

Angels proclaiming the Birth of Christ.
No war nor battle's sound

Was heard the world around

Scott.

No hostile chiefs to furious combat ran;
But peaceful was the night,

In which the Prince of light

His reign of peace upon the earth began.

The shepherds on the lawn,

Before the point of dawn

In social circle sat; while all around
The gentle fleecy brood,

Or cropp'd the flowery food,

Or slept, or sported on the verdant ground.

3

When lo! with ravished ears,
Each swain delighted hears

Sweet music, offspring of no mortal hand;
Divinely warbled voice,

Answering the stringed noise,

With blissful rapture charmed the listening band.

They saw a glorious light

Burst on their wondering sight.
Harping in solemn choir, in robes arrayed,

The helmed cherubim

And sworded seraphim

Are seen in glittering ranks, with wings displayed.

5 Sounds of so sweet a tone

6

Before were never known,

But when of old the sons of morning sung,
While God disposed in air

Each constellation fair,

And the well-balanced world on hinges hung.

Hail, hail, auspicious morn!

The Saviour Christ is born :'

(Such was the immortal seraph's song sublime) Glory to God in heaven!

To man sweet peace be given,

Sweet peace and friendship to the end of time!'

Milton, alt'd. by the Rev. Dr. Gardiner.

470. L. M.

The aged Christian, longing for Heaven.

10 COULD I Soar to worlds above,
That blessed abode of peace and love!
How gladly would I mount and fly
On angels' wings to joys on high!