202.

C. M.

CHRISTIAN PSALMIST.

The Seed of the Word.

1 LORD of the harvest, God of grace,
Send down thy heavenly rain:
In vain we plant without thine aid,
And water too in vain.

2 May no vain thoughts, those birds of prey, Defraud us of our gain;

Nor anxious cares, those baleful thorns,
Choke up the precious grain.

3 Ne'er may our hearts be like the rock,
Where but the blade can spring,

Which, scorched with heat, becomes by noon
A dead, a useless thing.

4 Let not the joys thy gospel gives

A transient rapture prove;

Nor may the world by smiles and frowns
Our faith and hope remove.

5 But may our hearts, like fertile soil,
Receive the heavenly word;

So shall our fair and ripened fruits
Their hundred fold afford.

203.

C. M.

BP. HEBER.

The Sced of the Word.

10 GOD, by whom the seed is given,

By whom the harvest blest;

Whose word, like manna showered from heaven, Is planted in our breast;

2 Preserve it from the passing feet,
And plunderers of the air;
The sultry sun's intenser heat,
And weeds of worldly care!

3 Though buried deep, or thinly strewn,
Do thou thy grace supply:

The hope in earthly furrows sown
Shall ripen in the sky.

204.

C. M.

WATTS.

Supplication for a Blessing on the Word.

1 LONG have I sat beneath the sound Of thy salvation, Lord;

But still how weak my faith is found,
And knowledge of thy word!

2 How cold and feeble is my love!
How negligent my fear!

How low my hope of joys above!
How few affections there!

3 Great God, thy sovereign power impart
To give thy word success;
Write thy salvation in my heart,

And make me learn thy grace.

4 Show my forgetful feet the way
That leads to joys on high:

There knowledge grows without decay,
And love shall never die.

180

CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY.

205.

C. M.

WATTS.

Message of John the Baptist.

1 JOHN was the prophet of the Lord,
To go before his face;

The herald which the Prince of Peace
Sent to prepare his ways.

2 He makes the great salvation known,
He speaks of pardoned sins;
While grace divine, and heavenly love,
In its own glory shines.

3"Behold the Lamb of God," he cries,
"That takes our guilt away:

I saw the Spirit o'er his head
On his baptizing day.

4 "Be every vale exalted high,
Sink every mountain low;

The proud must stoop, and humble souls
Shall his salvation know.

5"The heathen realms with Israel's land
Shall join in sweet accord;
And all that's born of man shall see
The glory of the Lord.

6 "Behold the Morning Star arise,
Ye that in darkness sit;

He marks the path that leads to peace,
And guides our doubtful feet."

206.

11s. M.

DRUMMOND.

Prepare ye the Way of the Lord.

1 A VOICE from the desert comes awful and shrill ; The Lord is advancing! prepare ye the way ! The word of Jehovah he comes to fulfil,

And o'er the dark world pour the splendor of day.

2 Bring down the proud mountain, though towering to heaven,

And be the low valley exalted on high:

The rough path and crooked be made smooth and even,

For, Zion! your King, your Redeemer is nigh. 3 The beams of salvation his progress illume; The lone dreary wilderness sings of her Lord; The rose and the myrtle there suddenly bloom, And the olive of peace spreads its branches abroad.

207. C. M.

CHRISTIAN PSALMIST.

Christ's Coming foretold.

1 BEHOLD my servant; see him rise
Exalted in my might!

Him have I chosen, and in him
I place supreme delight.

2 On him, in rich effusion poured,
My Spirit shall descend;

My truths and judgment he shall show
To earth's remotest end.

3 Gentle and still shall be his voice; No threats from him proceed;

The smoking flax shall he not quench, Nor break the bruised reed.

4 The feeble spark to flames he'll raise; The weak will not despise ;

Judgment he shall bring forth to truth, And make the fallen rise.

5 The progress of his zeal and power
Shall never know decline,

Till foreign lands and distant isles
Receive the law divine.

208.

C. M.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALMS.

The Day-Spring from on High. Ps. 130.

1 GREAT God, wert thou extreme to mark The deeds we do amiss,

Before thy presence who could stand,
Who claim thy promised bliss?
But oh! all merciful and just,

Thy love surpasseth thought;
A gracious Saviour has appeared,
And peace and pardon brought.

2 Thy servants in the temple watched
The dawning of the day,
Impatient with its earliest beams
Their holy vows to pay;

And chosen saints far off beheld
That great and glorious morn,
When the glad day-spring from on high
Auspiciously should dawn.