Ye people of His choice; Stand up, and bless the Lord your God, With heart, and soul, and voice.

Though high above all praise,

Above all blessing high,

Who would not fear His holy name,
And laud and magnify?

Oh, for the living flame

From His own altar brought; To touch our lips, our minds inspire, And wing to heaven our thought!

There, with benign regard,

Our hymns He deigns to hear; Though unrevealed to mortal scnse, The spirit feels Him near.

God is our strength and song,

And his salvation ours;

Then be his love in Christ proclaimed With all our ransomed powers.

Stand up, and bless the Lord;

The Lord your God, adore; Stand up, and bless his glorious name, Henceforth, forevermore.

James Montgomery, 1825,

For thou art all in all.

To thee, and thee alone,

S. M.

The angels owe their bliss; They sit around thy gracious throne, And dwell where Jesus is.

Not all the harps above

Can make a heavenly place,
If God his residence remove,
Or but conceal his face.

Nor earth, nor all the sky,
Can one delight afford;
No, not a drop of real joy,
Without thy presence, Lord.
Thou art the sea of love,

Where all my pleasures roll;
The circle where my passions move,
And centre of my soul.

To Thee my spirits fly

With infinite desire;
And yet, how far from thee I lie!
Dear Jesus, raise me higher.

Isaac Watts, ab. 1709.

529
Welcome, sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes.
The King himself comes near,
And feasts his saints to-day;
Here we may sit and see him here,
And love, and praise, and pray.
One day in such a place,

Upon the first day of the week.
Acts xx. 7.

Where thou, my God, art seen, Is sweeter than ten thousand days Of pleasurable sin.

My willing soul would stay

In such a frame as this,

And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.

Isaac Watts, 1719.

Isaac Watts, ab. 1719.

To an immortal tune;

529-533

S. M.

Let the wide earth resound the deeds Celestial grace has done.

Sing how eternal love

Its chief Beloved chose,

And bade Him raise our wretched race
From their abyss of woes.

His hand no thunder bears,
Nor terror clothes His brow;
No bolts to drive our guilty souls
To fiercer flames below.

'Twas mercy filled the throne,
And wrath stood silent by,

When Christ was sent with pardons down
To rebels doomed to die.
Now, sinners, dry your tears,
Let hopeless sorrows cease;
Bow to the sceptre of His love,
And take the offered peace.
Lord, we obey thy call:

We lay an humble claim

To the salvation thou hast brought,
And love and praise thy name.

Isaac Watts, 1700.

Where saints in prayer agree; As Jesus' parting gift, he's near Each pleading company.

Not far away is he,

To be by prayer brought nigh; But here in present majesty, As in his courts on high.

He dwells within our soul,

An ever welcome guest; He reigns with absolute control, As Monarch in the breast. Our bodies are his shrine,

And he, th' indwelling Lord; All hail, thou Comforter Divine, Pe evermore adored!

Obedient to thy will,

S. M.

We wait to feel thy power; O Lord of life, our hopes fulfill, And bless this hallowed hour. Charles H. Spurgeon, 1866.

As a father pitieth his children.
Psalm ciii. 13.

My soul, repeat His praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.

God will not always chide;

To wait for His Son from heaven. 1 Thess. i. 10.

S. M.

And when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.

High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.

His power subdues our sins;
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.

The pity of the Lord,

To those that fear his name, Is such as tender parents feel; He knows our feeble frame. He knows we are but dust,

Scattered with every breath; His anger, like a rising wind,

Can send us swift to death.

Our days are as the grass,

Or like the morning flower;

If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field
It withers in an hour.

But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.

Isaac Watts, 1719.

In expectation sweet,
We'll wait, and sing, and pray,
Till Christ's triumphal car we meet,
And see an endless day.

He comes! the Conqueror comes!
Death falls beneath his sword;
The joyful prisoners burst the tombs,
And rise to meet their Lord.
The trumpet sounds, "Awake!

Ye dead, to judgment come!"
The pillars of creation shake,

While man receives his doom. Thrice happy morn for those

Who love the ways of peace; No night of sorrow e'er shall close, Or shade their perfect bliss. Joseph Swain, ab. 1791.

537

In the morning sow thy seed.
Eccl. xi. 6.

Sow in the morn thy seed;

At eve hold not thy hand;
To doubt and fear give thou no heed,
Broadcast it o'er the land.

Thou know'st not which shall thrive,
The late or early sown;
Grace keeps the precious germ alive,
When and wherever strown;

And duly shall appear,

In verdure, beauty, strength,
The tender blade, the stalk, the ear,
And the full corn at length.

Thou canst not toil in vain :

Cold, heat, and moist, and dry, Shall foster and mature the grain For garners in the sky.

Then, when the glorious end,

The day of God, shall come, The angel reapers shall descend, And heaven shout, "Harvest home!"

James Montgomery, 1825.

538
How tender is thy hand,

Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Psalm exix. 75,

O thou beloved Lord! Afflictions come at thy command, And leave us at thy word.

How gentle was the rod

That chastened us for sin! How soon we found a smiling God, Where deep distress had been.

A Father's hand we felt,

A Father's heart we knew: With tears of penitence we knelt, And found his promise true.

We told him all our grief,

We thought of Jesus' love;

A sense of pardon brought relief, And bade our pains remove.

Now will we bless the Lord,

And in his strength confide: Forever be his name adored, For there is none beside.

My son, give me thine heart.
Prov. xxiii. 26.

Give to the Lord thine heart;

537-541

S. M.

In him all pleasures meet; Oh, come, and choose the better part, Low at the Saviour's feet.

Hear, and your soul shall live;

His peace shall be your stay Peace, which the world can never give, Can never take away.

Go with him to his cross,

Go with him to his tomb;
Your richest gain account but loss,
And tarry till he come.

Then, when you hear his voice,
Your faithful Shepherd's call,
Lift up your heads, in him rejoice,
Your God, your Guide, your All!
Sabbath Hymn Book, 1859.

540

Thomas Hastings, 1822-1850.

And keep their hearts with care; Their lips and lives, without deceit, Shall their faith sincere. prove While I concealed my guilt, I felt the festering wound, Till I confessed my sins to Thee, And ready pardon found.

Let sinners learn to pray,

Let saints keep near the throne; Our help in times of deep distress Is found in God alone.

541

S. M.

Isaac Watts, 1719

Who, then, is willing to consecrate? 1 Chron.xxix. 5.

Lord, in the strength of grace, With a glad heart and free, Myself, my residue of days,

I consecrate to Thee.

Thy ransomed servant, I

Restore to thee thine own;

And from this moment live or die. To serve my God alone.

S. M.

Charles Wesley, 1762.

Disturb this sleep of death; Quicken the smouldering embers now, By thine almighty breath.

3 Revive thy work, O Lord!

Create soul-thirst for Thee; And, hungering for the Bread of Life, Oh, may our spirits be!

4 Revive thy work, O Lord!

Exalt thy precious name;
And, by the Holy Ghost, our love
For Thee and thine inflame.

5 Revive thy work, O Lord!

And give refreshing showers; The glory shall be all thine own, The blessing, Lord, be ours.

543

Albert Midlane, 1861. That Holy Spirit of promise. Eph. i. 18.

S. M.

Being knit together in love.
Col. ii. 2.

Blest be the tie that binds

Our hearts in Christian love;

The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.

Before our Father's throne

We pour our ardent prayers:

S. M

Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts, and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,

Our mutual burdens bear; And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear.

When we asunder part,

It gives us inward pain:

But we shall still be joined in heart, And hope to meet again.

This glorious hope revives

Our courage by the way; While each in expectation lives, And longs to see the day. From sorrow, toil, and pain,

And sin, we shall be free: And perfect love and friendship reign Through all eternity.

John Fawcett, 1772.