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23. c. M.

Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer.

1 FATHER of all! Eternal God!
Supremely good and great!

Thy children, formed and blessed by thee,
Approach thy heavenly seat.

2 Thy name in hallowed strains be sung;
We join the solemn praise;

To thy great name, with heart and tongue, Our cheerful homage raise.

3 Thy mild, thy wise and righteous reign,
Let every being own;

And in our minds, thy work divine,
Erect thy gracious throne.

4 As angels in the heavenly worlds
Thy blessed commands fulfil;
So may thy creatures here below,
Perform thy holy will.

5 On thee we day by day depend,
And on thy care rely:

Give us each day our daily bread,
And every want supply.

6 Extend thy grace to every fault;
Oh, let thy love forgive!
Teach us divine forgiveness too,
Nor let resentments live.

7 Where tempting snares bestrew the way, Permit us not to tread;

And threatening evils, Lord, avert
From our unguarded head.

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8 Thy sacred name we thus adore, With cheerful, humble mind;

And praise thy goodness, power, and truth, Eternal, unconfined!

24. c. M.

The Universal Prayer.

Exeter Coll.

1 FATHER of all! whose cares extend
To earth's remotest shore;
Through every age let praise ascend;
Let every clime adore.

2 What conscience dictates to be done,
Or warns me not to do,

This, teach me more than death to shun,
That, more than life pursue.

3 If I am right, thy grace impart,
Still in the right to stay;

If I am wrong, O teach my heart
To find the better way!

4 Save me alike from foolish pride,
Or impious discontent;
At aught thy wisdom has denied,
Or aught thy goodness lent.

5 Teach me to feel another's wo,
To hide the faults I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.

6 This day, be bread and peace my lot;
But, all beneath the sun,

Thou know'st if best bestowed or not;
And let thy will be done.

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7 To thee, whose temple is all space,
Whose altar, earth, sea, skies,
One chorus let all beings raise,
All nature's incense rise!

Pope.

25. L. M.

The Bounties of Providence acknowledged. Matt. v. 45.

I FATHER of light! we sing thy name,
Who kindlest up the lamp of day;
Wide as he spreads his golden flame,
His beams thy power and love display.

2 Fountain of good! from thee proceeds,
In copious drops, the genial rain,

Which o'er the hills, and through the meads,
Revives the grass, and swells the grain.

3 Through the wide world thy bounties spread;
Yet thousands of our guilty race,
Though by thy daily bounty fed,
Despise thy law, reject thy grace.

4 Not so may our forgetful hearts
O'erlook the tokens of thy care;
But what thy liberal hand imparts,
Still own in praise, still ask in prayer.

5 So shall our suns more grateful shine,
And showers in richer drops shall fall,
When all our hearts and lives are thine,
And thou, O God! adored in all.

Doddridge..

26. c. M.

The Excellency of the Holy Scriptures.

1 FATHER of mercies! in thy word
What endless glory shines!
For ever be thy name adored,
For these celestial lines!

2 Here, may the wretched sons of want Exhaustless riches find;

Riches above what earth can grant,
And lasting as the mind.

3 Here, the fair tree of knowledge grows,
And yields a free repast;
Sublimer sweets than nature knows,
Invite the longing taste.

4 Here, springs of consolation rise,
To cheer the fainting mind;
And thirsty souls receive supplies,
And sweet refreshment find.

5 O may thy gospel ever be

Our study and delight;

And still new beauties may we see,

And still increasing light!

27. 7s. M.

The Acceptable Offering.

Mrs. Steele.

1 FATHER of our feeble race!
Wise, beneficent, and kind,
Spread o'er nature's ample face,
Flows thy goodness unconfined:

Musing in the silent grove,

Or the busy haunts of men,
Still we trace thy wondrous love,
Claiming large returns again.

2 Lord! what offering shall we bring,
At thine altars when we bow?
Hearts, the pure unsullied spring,
Whence the kind affections flow
Soft compassion's feeling soul,

By the melting eye expressed;
Sympathy, at whose control

Sorrow leaves the wounded breast,

3 Willing hands to lead the blind,
Bind the wounded, feed the poor;
Love, embracing all our kind;
Charity, with liberal store:
Teach us, O thou heavenly King!
Thus to show our grateful mind,
Thus the accepted offering bring,
Love to thee, and all mankind.

28. c. M.

John Taylor.

The Christian perfected by Divine Grace through Christ, Heb. xiii. 20, 21.

1 FATHER of peace, and God of love!
We own thy power to save,

That power by which our Shepherd rose
Victorious o'er the grave.

2 Him from the dead thou brought'st again,
When, through his sacred blood,
Confirmed and sealed for evermore,
The eternal covenant stood.

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