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2 By thee our spirits all are known; And each remotest thought Lies wide expanded to his eye,

By whom their powers were wrought.
3 To thee, when mortal comforts fail,
Thy flock deserted flies ;

And, on th' eternal shepherd's care,
Our cheerful hope relies.

4 When o'er thy faithful servant's dust
Thy dear assemblies mourn,

In speedy tokens of thy grace,
O Israel's God, return.

5 The powers of nature all are thine,
And thine the aids of grace;
Thine arm has borne thy churches up
Through every rising race.

6 Exert thy sacred influence here,
And here thy suppliants bless,

And change, to strains of cheerful praise,
Their accents of distress.

7 With faithful heart, with skilful hand,
May this thy flock be fed;
And with a steady growing pace

To Zion's mountain led.

XIV. The Lord's People his Portion. Deut. xxxii. 9. 1 SOVEREIGN of nature, all is thine, The air, the earth, the sea :

By thee the orbs celestial shine,
And cherubs live by thee.

2 Rich in thine own essential store;

Thou call'st forth worlds at will:
Ten thousand, and ten thousand more
Would hear thy summons still.

3 What treasure wilt thou then confess?
And thy own portion call?
What by peculiar right possess,
Imperial Lord of all?

4 Thine Israel thou wilt stoop to claim,
Wilt mark them out for thine:
Ten thousand praises to thy name
For goodness so divine!

5 That I am thine, my soul would boast,
And boast its claim to thee;

Nor shall God's property be lost,
Nor God be torn from me.

XV. The eternal God his People's Refuge and Support. Deut. xxxiii. 27.

BEHOLD the great eternal God,

Spreads everlasting arms abroad,
And calls our souls to shelter there;
Wonders of mingled power and
grace
To all his Israel he displays,

Guarded from danger, and from fear.
2 Thither my feeble soul shall fly,
When terrors press, and death is nigh,
And there will I delight to dwell;
On that high tower I rear my head
Serene, nor knows my heart to dread,
Amidst surrounding hosts of hell.
3 The shadow of the Almighty's wings
Composure unmolested brings,

While threat'ning horrors round me crowd;
In vain the storms of rattling hail
The walls of this retreat assail,

And the wild tempest roars aloud.
4 In louder strains my fearless tongue
Shall warble its victorious song,
My Father's graces to proclaim;
He bears his infant offspring on
To glory radiant as his throne,

And joys eternal as his name.

XVI. The Happiness of God's Israel. Deut. xxxiii. 29.
Israel, blest beyond compare!
Unrivaled all thy glories are:
Jehovah deigns to fill thy throne,
And calls thine interest all his own.

2 He is thy Saviour; he thy Lord;
His shield is thine; and thine his sword:
Review in ecstasy of thought

The grand redemption he has wrought.
3 From Satan's yoke he sets thee free,
Opens thy passage through the sea;
He through the desart is thy guide,
And heaven for Canaan will provide.
4 Not Jacob's sons of old could boast
Such favours to their chosen host;
Their glories, which through ages shine,
Are but dim shades, and types of thine.

5 Celestial Spirit, teach our tongue
Sublimer strains than Moses sung,
Proportioned to the sweeter name
Of God the Saviour, and the Lamb.

XVII. Support in the gracious Presence of God under the Loss of
Ministers, and other useful Friends. Joshua i. 2, 4, 5.

1 NOW let our mourning hearts revive,
And all our tears be dry;

Why should those eyes be drowned in grief,
Which view a Saviour nigh?

2 What though the arm of conquering death
Does God's own house invade?

What though the prophet, and the priest
Be numbered with the dead?

3 Though earthly shepherds dwell in dust,
The aged, and the young,

The watchful eye in darkness closed,
And mute the instructive tongue;

4 Th' eternal shepherd still survives,
New comfort to impart ;

His eye still guides us, and his voice
Still animates our heart.

5 "Lo, I am with you," saith the Lord,
"My church shall safe abide;
"For I will ne'er forsake my own,
"Whose souls in me confide."

6 Through every scene of life and death,
This promise is our trust;

And this shall be our children's song,
When we are cold in dust.

XVIII. God insensibly withdrawn. Judges xvi. 20.

A Present God is all our strength,

And all our joy and hope;

When he withdraws, our comforts die,
And
every grace must droop.

2 But flattering trifles charm our hearts
To court their false embrace,
Till justly this neglected friend
Averts his angry face.

3 He leaves us, and we miss him not;

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4 And what, my soul, can then remain
One ray of light to give?
Sever'd from him, their better life,
How can his children live?

5 Hence, all ye painted forms of joy,
And leave my heart to mourn;
I would devote these eyes to tears,
Till cheer'd by his return.

6 Look back, my Lord, and own the place,
Where once thy temple stood;

For lo, its ruins bear the mark

Of rich atoning blood.

XIX. Ebenezer; or, God's helping Hand reviewed and acknowledged.

1 Sam. vii. 12.

FOR NEW-YEAR'S DAY.

1 MY helper God! I bless his name:
The same his power, his grace

the same,

The tokens of his friendly care
Open, and crown, and close the year.
2 I'midst ten thousand dangers stand,
Supported by his guardian hand;
And see, when I survey my ways,
Ten thousand monuments of praise.
3 Thus far his arm hath led me on;
Thus far I make his mercy known;
And, while I tread this desart land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.
4 My grateful soul, on Jordan's shore,
Shall raise 'one sacred pillar more:
Then bear, in his bright courts above,
Inscriptions of immortal love.

XX. The Saint encouraging himself in the Lord his God. 1 Sam. xxx. 6. · 1 JEHOVAH, 'tis a glorious name,

Still pregnant with delight;

It scatters round a cheerful beam,
To gild the darkest night.

2 What though our mortal conforts fade,
And drop like withering flowers;
Nor time nor death can break that band,
Which makes Jehovah ours.

3 My cares, I give you to the wind,
And shake you off like dust;
Well may I trust my all with him,
With whom my soul I trust.

II. SAMUEL.

XXI. Support in God's Covenant under domestic Troubles. 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.

1 MY God, the covenant of thy love

Abides for ever sure,

And in its matchless grace I feel
My happiness secure.

2 What though my house be not with thee,
As nature could desire;

To nobler joys than nature gives
Thy servants all aspire.

3 Since thou, the everlasting God,
My Father art become;

Jesus my guardian, and my friend,
And heaven my final home:

4 I welcome all thy sovereign will,
For all that will is love;

And when I know not what thou dost,
I wait the light above.

5 Thy covenant in the darkest gloom
Shall heavenly rays impart;

Which, when my eye-lids close in death,
Shall warm my chilling heart.

XXII. Support in God's Covenant in the near Views of Death.
2 Sam. xxiii. 1 and 5 compared.

1 'TIS mine, the covenant of his grace,
And every promise mine!

All sprung from everlasting love,
And seal'd by blood divine.

2 On my unworthy favour'd head
Its blessings all unite;

Blessings more numerous than the stars,
More lasting, and more bright.

3 Death, thou may'st tear this rag of flesh,
And sink my fainting head;

And lay my ruins in the grave,

Among my kindred dead:

4 But death and hell in vain shall strive
To break that sacred rest,
Which God's expiring children feel,
While leaning on his breast.

5 Th' enlarged soul thou canst not reach,
Nor rend from Christ away;

Though o'er my mouldering dust thou boast
The triumphs of a day.

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