;

Still on thy merit, gracious Lord,

Enable me to lean;
Ever in thee may I be found,

My hiding-place from sin !
Exult, my soul, thy safety stands

Unshaken as his throne !
His people's everlasting life

Is founded on his own. 56

JHOU very present aid

In suffering and distress;
The soul which still on thee is stay'd,

Is kept in perfect peace.
The soul, by faith reclined

On the Redeemer's breast,
'Mid raging storms exults to find

An everlasting rest.
Sorrow and fear are gone,

Whene'er thy face appears :
It stills the sighing orphan's moan,

And dries the widow's tears :
It hallows every cross ;

It sweetly comforts me,
Makes me forget mine every loss,

And find my all in thee.
Jesus, to whom I fly,

Doth all my wishes fill.
What though created streams are dry,

I have the fountain still.
Stript of mine earthly friends,

I find them all in One:
And peace and joy that never ends,

And heaven, in Christ, begun.

57
THOU hidden love of God, whose height,

, ;

I see from far thy beauteous light,
Inly I sigh for thy repose :
My heart is pain'd, nor can it be
At rest, till it finds rest in thee.
'Tis mercy all, that thou hast brought
My mind to seek her peace in thee ;
Yet while I seek, but find thee not,
No peace my wandering soul shall see:
O when shall all my wanderings end,
And all my steps to thee-ward tend !
Is there a thing beneath the sun
That strives with thee my heart to share ?
Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there;
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it hath found repose in thee.
O Love, thy sovereign aid impart,
To save me from low-thoughted care;
Chase this self-will through all my heart,
Through all its latent mazes there :
Make me thy duteous child, that I
Ceaseless may Abba, Father, cry!
58

THEE will I love, my strength, my tower;

I ,

Thee will I love with all my power,

In all thy works, and thee alone:
Thee will I love till sacred fire
Fills my whole soul with

Ah! why did I so late thee know,

Thou lovelier than the sons of men ? Ah! why did I no sooner go

To thee, the only ease in pain ? Ashamed I sigh and inly mourn, That I so late to thee did turn.

In darkness willingly I stray'd;

I heard thee, yet from thee I roved; Far wide my wandering thoughts were spread, Thy creatures more than thee I loved

: And now, if more at length I see, 'Tis through thy light, and comes from thee. I thank thee, uncreated Sun,

That thy bright beams on me have shined ; I thank thee, who hast overthrown

My foes and heal’d my wounded mind;
I thank thee, whose enlivening voice
Bids my freed heart in thee rejoice.
Uphold me in the upward race,

Nor suffer me again to stray;
Strengthen my feet with steady pace

Still to press forward in thy way:
Let all my powers, with all their might,
In thy sole glory now unite.
Thee will I love, my joy, my crown,

Thee will I love, my Lord, my God,
Thee will I love, beneath thy frown,

Or smile,-thy sceptre, or thy rod : What though my flesh and heart decay, Thee shall I love in endless day.

SIDE

59
YING of Jesus, sing for ever,

Of the love that changes never.
Who or what from him can sever
Those he makes his own

.? With his blood the Lord has bought them; When they knew him not, he sought them, And from all their wand'rings brought them,

His the praise alone. Through the desert Jesus leads them, With the bread of heav'n he feeds them, And through all the way he speeds them

To their home above. There they see the Lord who bought them, Him who came from heaven, and sought them, Him who by his Spirit taught them,

Him they serve and love.
Let his people sing with gladness,
Other mirth than this is madness,
Mirth it is that ends in sadness,

Be it far away
'Tis the saints have solid treasure,
They can sing with holy pleasure,
And their joy will know no measure,

In the final day.
60
VWEETER sounds than music knows,

Charm me in Emmanuel's name; All her hopes my spirit owes

To his birth, and cross, and shame.

When he came the angels sung
“ Glory be to God on high !"
Lord, unloose my stammering tongue,
Who shall louder sing than I ?
Did the Lord a man become
That he might the law fulfil,
Bleed and suffer in my room,
Canst thou then, my soul, be still ?
No, I must my praises bring,
Though they worthless are and weak;
For should I refuse to sing,
Sure the very stones would speak.
O my Saviour, Shield, and Sun,
Shepherd, Brother, glorious Friend!
Every precious name in one,
I will love thee without end.

61

SING, my tongue, the Saviour's glory,

Lift on high the wondrous trophy,

Tell the triumph of the King :
He, the world's Redeemer, conquers

Death, through death now vanquishing. Born for us, and for us given;

Son of man, like us below, He, as man with men, abiding

Dwells, the seed of life to sow: He, our heavy griefs partaking,

Thus fulfils his life of woe.

F