2 Wisdom its dictates here imparts,
To form our minds, to cheer our hearts;
Its influence makes the sinner live;
It bids the drooping saint revive.

3 Our raging passions it controls,
And comfort yields to contrite souls;
It brings a better world in view,
And guides us all our journey through.
4 May, this blest volume ever lie
Close to my heart, and near my eye,
Till life's last hour my soul engage,
And be my chosen heritage.

Searching the Scriptures.

1 IMPOSTURE shrinks from light,
And dreads the curious eye:
But sacred truths the test invite,
They bid us search and try.

2 O may we still maintain

A meek, inquiring mind;
Assured we shall not search in vain,
But hidden treasures find.

3 With understanding blest,
Created to be free,

Our faith on man we dare not rest,
Subject to none but thee.

4 Lord, give the light we need;
With soundest knowledge fill;
From noxious error guard our creed,
From prejudice our will.

5 The truth thou shalt impart,
May we with firmness own;
Abhorring each evasive art,
And fearing thee alone.

196.

C. M.

COWPER.

Light and Glory of the Word.

1 THE Spirit breathes upon the word,
And brings the truth to sight;
Precepts and promises afford
A sanctifying light.

2 A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic like the sun!

It gives a light to every age;
It gives, but borrows none.

3 The hand that gave it still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
His truths upon the nations rise,
They rise, but never set.

4 Let everlasting thanks be thine,
For such a bright display,

As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.

5 My soul rejoices to pursue

The steps of him I love;
Till glory break upon my view
In brighter worlds above.

175

197.

L. M.

WATTS.

Prophecy and Inspiration.

1 'Twas by an order from the Lord, The ancient prophets spoke his word; His Spirit did their tongues inspire,

And warmed their hearts with heavenly fire.
2 The works and wonders which they wrought,
Confirmed the messages they brought;
The prophet's pen succeeds his breath,
To save the holy words from death.

3 Great God! mine eyes with pleasure look
On the dear volume of thy book;
There my Redeemer's face I see,
And read his name who died for me.

4 Let the false raptures of the mind
Be lost, and vanished in the wind;
Here I can fix my hope secure;
This is thy word, and must endure.

198.

L. M.

Beddome.

The Scriptures our Light and Guide.

1 WHEN Israel through the desert passed,
A fiery pillar went before,

To guide them through the dreary waste,
And lessen the fatigues they bore.

2 Such is thy glorious word, O God;
"Tis for our light and guidance given;
It sheds a lustre all abroad,

And points the path to bliss and heaven.

3 It fills the soul with sweet delight,
And quickens its inactive powers;
It sets our wandering footsteps right,
Displays thy love, and kindles ours.

4 Its promises rejoice our hearts;
Its doctrines are divinely true:
Knowledge and pleasure it imparts;
It comforts and instructs us too.

5 Ye favored lands, who have this word,
Ye saints, who feel its saving power,
Unite your tongues to praise the Lord,
And his distinguished grace adore.

199.

C. M.

C. WESLEY.

Heavenly Bread.

1 WHAT is the chaff, the word of man,
When set against the wheat?
Can it a dying soul sustain,

Like that immortal meat?

2 Thy word, O God, with heavenly bread
The children doth supply;
And those who by thy word are fed,
Their souls shall never die.

200. L. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Divine Teachings and their happy Consequences.
1 BRIGHT Source of intellectual rays,
Father of spirits and of grace,
O dart, with energy unknown,
Celestial beamings from thy throne.

2 Thy sacred book we would survey, Enlightened with that heavenly day; And ask thy Spirit with the word,

To teach our souls to know the Lord. 3 So shall our children learn the road That leads them to their fathers' God, And, formed by lessons so divine, Shall infant minds with knowledge shine. 4 So shall the haughtiest soul submit, With children placed at Jesus' feet; The rising swell of pride shall cease, And thy sweet voice be heard in peace.

1 COME, blessed Spirit, source of light,
Whose power and grace are unconfined,
Dispel the gloomy shades of night,
The thicker darkness of the mind.

2 To mine illumined eyes display
The glorious truth thy word reveals;
Cause me to run the heavenly way;
The book unfold, unloose the seals.

3 Thine inward teachings make me know,
The mysteries of redeeming love,
The emptiness of things below,
The excellence of things above.

4 While through this dubious maze I stray,
Spread, like the sun, thy beams abroad,
To show the dangers of the way,
And guide my feeble steps to God.