1 Thy ways, O Lord, with wise design, Are framed up-on Thy throne above,
His ways past finding out. Rom. xi. 83.
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2 With feeble light and half obscure,
Poor mortals Thy arrangements view;
Not knowing that the least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.
3 Thy flock, thine own peculiar care,
Though now they seem to roam uneyed,
Are led or driven only where
They best and safest may abide.
4 They neither know nor trace the way
But, trusting to thy piercing eye,
None of their feet to ruin stray,
Nor shall the weakest fail or die.
5 My favored soul shall meekly learn
To lay her reason at thy throne;
Too weak thy secrets to discern,
I'll trust Thee for my guide alone.
O Thou who camest from above,
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart.
There let it for thy glory burn,
With inextinguishable blaze;
And trembling to its source return,
In humble prayer and fervent praise.
'Tis by the faith of joys to come
We walk through deserts dark as night;
Till we shall gain our heavenly home,
Faith is our guide, and faith our light.
The want of sight she well supplies,
She makes the pearly gates appear;
Far into distant worlds she pries,
And brings eternal glories near.
Cheerful we tread the desert through,
While faith inspires a heavenly ray,
Though lions roar, and tempests blow,
And rocks and dangers fill the way.
So Abraham by divine command,
Left his own house to walk with God;
His faith beheld the promised land,
And fired his zeal along the road.
L. Watts, 1709.
Behold the lilies of the field
That bloom around the Master's feet;
Their drooping leaves new fragrance yield,
By Hermon's dew and grateful heat.
Behold the sparrows as they fly;
They come at his command and call;
They seem but specks upon the sky;
And yet he notes them when they fall.
Our very hairs he counts with care;
He knows our daily hopes and fears;
When griefs assail and tempests scare,
He notes the mourner's secret tears.
Oh, look upon the Lord so near!
Repose beneath the sheltered rock;
The cross he lightens by his cheer,
The wind he tempers to his flock.
An example that ye should follow.
1 Peter ii. 21.
The winds and the sea obey Him.
Matt. viii. 27.
The billows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;
Out of the depths to Thee I call,
My fears are great, my strength is small.
O Lord, the pilot's part perform,
And guide and guard me through the storm;
Defend me from each threatening ill,
Control the waves, say, "Peace, be still!"
Amidst the roaring of the sea
My soul still hangs her hopes on Thee;
Thy constant love, Thy faithful care
Is all that saves me from despair.
Dangers of every shape and name
Attend the followers of the Lamb,
Who leave the world's deceitful shore
And leave it to return no more.
Though tempest-tost and half a wreck,
L. M. My Saviour through the floods I seek:
Let neither winds nor stormy main
Force back my shattered bark again! I
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My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in thy Word;
But in thy life the law appears
Drawn out in living characters.
Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal,
Such deference to thy Father's will,
Such love, and meekness so divine,
I would transcribe and make them mine.
Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of thy prayer;
The desert thy temptations knew,
Thy conflict, and thy victory too.
Be thou my pattern; may I bear
More of thy gracious image here;
Then God, the Judge, shall own my name
Among the followers of the Lamb.
I. Watts, 1709.
Thou hast delivered my soul from death.
Psalm cxvi. 8.
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My soul, through my Redeemer's care,
Saved from the second death I feel,
My eyes from tears of dark despair,
My feet from falling into hell.
Wherefore to him my feet shall run;
My eyes on his perfections gaze;
My soul shall live for God alone;
And all within me shout his praise.
C. Wesley, 1762.
Ye are complete in Him.
Col. ii. 10.
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Fountain of grace, rich, full, and free,
What need I, that is not in thee?
Full pardon, strength to meet the day,
And peace which none can take away.
Doth sickness fill my heart with fear?
'Tis sweet to know that thou art near
Am I with dread of justice tried?
'Tis sweet to know that Christ hath died.
In life, thy promises of aid
Forbid my heart to be afraid; .
In death, peace gently veils the eyes;
Christ rose, and I shall surely rise.
Bid purest thoughts within me rise, Like crystal dew-drops to the skies. W
L, M. And ever, as the day glides by,
May we the busy senses rein;
Keep guard upon the hand and eye,
Nor let the conscience suffer stain.
Grant us, O God, in love to thee,
Clear eyes to measure things below;
Faith, the invisible to see;
2 Come to me in the sultry noon;
Let earth's low cares for thee make room,
Lest their dull shades eclipse Thy light,
And change my fairest day to night.
3 Come to me in the evening shade,
And if my heart from Thee has strayed,
Oh, bring it back, and from afar
Smile on me like the evening star.
4 Come to me in the midnight hour,
When sleep withholds her balmy power;
Lét my lone spirit find its rest,
Like John, upon my Saviour's breast,
5 Come to me through life's varied way,
And when its pulses cease to play
Then, Saviour, come and call for me,
That where thou art, thy child may be!
And wisdom, Thee in all to know. Roman Breviary. Tr. Edward Caswell, 1848.
Faith cometh by hearing. Rom. x. 17.
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Praise, everlasting praise, be paid
To him that earth's foundations laid:
Praise to the goodness of the Lord,
Who rules his people by his word.
Firm are the words his prophets give,
Sweet words, on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke, and spread the skies abroad.I
O for a strong, a lasting faith,
To credit what the Almighty saith,
And call the joys of heaven our own.
To embrace the message of his Son,
Then should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break;
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.
I. Watts, ab. 1709.
Give Glory unto the Lord.
118 To him be glory, both now and forever. L. M. 120 My God! why hast thou forsaken me?
Great King of glory, hear the prayer
We offer now before thy throne;
For worship every heart prepare,
And on us shed thy blessing down.
Great God, thy glorious light reveal,
Fulfill to us each promise given;
May we thy gracious presence feel;
Oh make this place the gate of heaven!
Here let the savor of thy love
Attract each wandering heart to thee;
And let thy mercies from above
The mourners cheer, the captives free.
Spirit Divine, through thee we raise
To God our Father and our Friend,
And Jesus, full of truth and grace,
Glory and praise, world without end.
From Calvary a cry was heard,
A bitter and heart-rending cry;
My Saviour! every mournful word
Bespeaks thy soul's deep agony.
A horror of great darkness fell
On thee, thou spotless, holy one!
And all the swarming hosts of hell
Conspired to tempt God's only Son.
The scourge, the thorns, the deep disgrace,
These thou couldst bear, nor once repine;
But when thy Father veiled his face,
Unutterable pangs were thine.
Let the dumb world its silence break;
Let pealing anthems rend the sky;
Awake, my sluggish soul, awake!
He died, that we might never die.
Lord! on thy cross I fix mine eye;
If it should lose its strong control,
Oh let that dying, piercing cry,
L.M. Melt and reclaim my wandering soul.
Of Him who bought us with his blood;
Who now, as our High Priest above,
E'er intercedes for us with God.
Oft we forget the woe, the pain,
The bloody sweat, th' accursed tree,
The wrath his soul did once sustain,
From sin and death to set us free.
Oft we forget that, strangers here,
This world is not our rest or home;
That, waiting till our Lord appear,
Our hearts should cry, "Come, Saviour come."
Oft we forget that we are one
With every saint that loves his name;
United to Him on the throne;
Our life, our hope, our Lord, the same.
O, then, what love is here displayed,
That Jesus did this feast provide
The very night he was betrayed,
The very night before he died!
Here, in the broken bread and wine,
We hear him say, "Remember me!
I gave my life to ransom thine,
I bore thy curse to set thee free."
James George Deck, b. 1802.
John W. Cunningham, 1820.
Behold, all things are become new.
2 Cor. v. 17.
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Thou strong and loving Son of Man,
Redeemer from the bonds, of sin,
'Tis thou the living spark dost fan,
That sets my heart on fire within.
In thee I find a nobler birth,
A glory o'er the world I see,
And Paradise returns to earth,
And blooms again for us in thee.
Thou openest heaven once more to men.
The soul's true home, thy kingdom, Lord,
And I can trust and hope again,
And feel myself akin to God.
German of Fred. von Hardenberg-Novalis, 1752-1801.
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The God of peace who from the dead
Brought the Great Shepherd of the sheep;
Through His own blood on Calvary shed
Us in perpetual covenant keep:
Perfect our souls to do his will,
Working in us his holy ways;
That we his pleasure may fulfil
Through Christ, to whom be endless praise.
H., 1879,
The Holy Jerusalem Descending.
Jasper nok od band with OSL.M. Navarok bo wonofolyod ad H., 1879.
shall proclaim, Behold God's dwelling is with men ! Behold God's dwelling is with men.
With jasper, gold, and gems aflame,
The Holy City shall descend;
And mighty voices shall proclaim,
Behold God's dwelling is with men!
Wide swing the everlasting gates,
Those pearly portals bright and fair;
At every one an angel waits,
To welcome weary wanderers there.
Stilles Lamm und Friedefurste.
L. M. 124
L. M.
Thou Lamb of God, thou Prince of Peace,
For thee my thirsty soul doth pine;
My longing heart implores thy grace;
O make me in thy likeness shine!
With fraudless, even, humble mind,
Thy will in all things may I see;
In love be every wish resigned,
And hallowed my whole heart to Thee.
When pain o'er my weak flesh prevails,
With Lamb-like patience arm my breast;
When grief my wounded soul assails,
In lowly meekness may I rest.
Close by thy side still may I keep,
Howe'er life's various currents flow;
With steadfast eye mark every step,
And follow thee where'er thou go.
Thou, Lord, the dreadful fight hast won,
Alone thou hast the winepress trod:
In me thy strengthening grace be shown;
Oh, may I conquer through thy blood!
No griefs nor anguish, pains nor sighs.
No sin, no death, no curse, no tears,
Invade that city from the skies,
Through all the glad eternal years.
There pleasures wait, and joys unknown,
For saints who earth in tears have trod;
And crystal waters from the throne
Make glad the City of our God!
There countless forms immortal, fair,
Reflect the image of their Lord,
And songs of praise on all the air
Exalt the King by all adored.
O blest are they whose raiment bright
Is washed from every stain of sin;
They shall to life's fair tree have right,
And through the gates shall enter in.
So, when on Sion thou shalt stand,
And all heaven's host adore their King,
Shall I be found at thy right hand,
And free from pain thy glories sing.
John Wesley, 1789, from C. F. Richter, 1676-1701
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