He who taught their hearts to pray,
Will not let them cry in vain.
4 Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer can force a passage through
Iron bars and brazen gates.
HYMN 136. C. M. Bangor. [b]
Public Fast. Joel i. 14.
EE, gracious Lord, before thy throne,
Thy mourning people bend!
"Tis on thy sovereign grace alone,
Our humble hopes depend.
e 2 Tremendous judgments, from thy hand,
Thy dreadful powers display;
Yet mercy spares this guilty land,
And still we live to pray.
p 3 How changed, alas! are truths divine,
For error, guilt, and shame!
What impious numbers, bold in sin,
Disgrace the Christian name.
-4 O turn us, turn us, mighty Lord,
By thy resistless grace;
Then shall our hearts obey thy word,
And humbly seek thy face.
o 5 Then, should insulting foes invade,
We shall not sink in fear;
o Secure of never-failing aid,
When God, our God, is near.
HYMN 137. C. M. Wantage. [b]
Public Fast. Gen. xviii. 23-32.
W Before Jehovah stood;
THEN Abrah'm, full of sacred awe,
And with a humble fervent prayer,
For guilty Sodom sued :
2 With what success, what wondrous grace
Was his petition crowned!
The Lord would spare, if in that place
Ten righteous men were found.
3 And could a single holy soul
So rich a boon obtain?
Great God, and shall a nation pray,
And plead with thee in vain?
o 4 Still we are thine-we bear thy name; Here yet is thine abode ;
o Long has thy presence blessed our land— Forsake us not, O God!
HYMN 138. L. M. Worship. [b]
Public Fast. Ezek. ix. 4-6.
RIGHTEOUS God, thou Judge supreme,
We tremble at thy dreadful name!
And all our crying guilt we own,
In dust and tears before thy throne.
e 2 So manifold our crimes have been,
Such crimson tincture dyes our sin,
That, could we all its horrors know,
Our streaming eyes with blood might flow.
o 3 Estranged from reverential awe,
We trample on thy sacred law:
p And though such wonders grace has done,
Anew we crucify thy Son.
e 4 Justly might this polluted land
Prove all the vengeance of thy hand;
a And bathed in heaven, thy sword might come,
To drink our blood and seal our doom.
e 5 Yet hast thou not a remnant here,
Whose souls are filled with pious fear?
O bring thy wonted mercy nigh,
While prostrate at thy feet they lie.
p 6 Behold their tears, attend their moan,
Nor turn away their secret groan:
With these we join our humble prayer;
Our nation shield, our country spare. DODDRIDGE.
HYMN 139. L. M. Psalm 97th. [b]
Fust. God's Controversy. Mic. vi. 1–3.
LISTEN, ye hills; ye mountains, hear;
Jehovah vindicates his laws;
Trembling in silence at his bar,
Thou earth, attend thy Maker's cause.
d 2 Israel, appear; present thy plea;'
And charge th' Almighty to his face;
Say, if his rules oppressive be;
Say, if defective be his grace.
e 3 Eternal Judge, the action cease;
Our lips are sealed in conscious shame;
b 'Tis ours in sackcloth to confess,
-And thine, the sentence to proclaim.
4 Ten thousand witnesses arise;
Thy mercies and our crimes appear
More than the stars that deck the skies,
And all our dreadful guilt declare.
e 5 How shall we come before thy face,
And in thine awful presence bow?
What offerings can secure thy grace,
Or calm the terrors of thy brow?
e 6 Thousands of rams in vain might bleed;
Rivers of oil might blaze in vain;
Or the first-born's devoted head
With horrid gore thine altar stain.
-7 But thy own Lamb, all-gracious God,
Whom impious sinners dared to slay:
o Has sovereign virtue in his blood
To purge the nation's guilt away.
-8 With humble faith to that we fly,
With that may we be sprinkled o'er;
Trembling no more in dust we lie,
And dread thy hand and bar no more. DODDRIDGE.
Thanksgiving:Seasons crowned with Goodness.Ps.lxv.11.
TERNAL Source of every joy!
1E Well may thy praise our lips employ;
While in thy temple we appear,
To hail thee Sovereign of the year.
2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
The sun is taught by thee to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.
3 The flowery spring, at thy command,
Perfumes the air, and paints the land;
The summer rays with vigor shine,
To raise the corn, and cheer the vine.
4 Thy hand, in autumn, richly pours
Through all our coasts redundant stores;
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more the face of horror wear.
5 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise;
And be the grateful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade.
6 Here in thy house let incense rise,
And circling sabbaths bless our eyes;
Till to those lofty heights we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.
HYMN 141. L. M. Green's. [*] Dedication of a House for Worship. Ps. lxxxvii. 5. ND will the great, eternal God
On earth establish his abode ?
And will he, from his radiant throne,
Avow our temple for his own?
o 2 We bring the tribute of our praise ;
And sing that condescending grace,
Which to our notes will lend an ear,
And call us sinful mortals near.
-3 Our Father's watchful care we bless,
Which guards our synagogues in peace!
That no tumultuous foes invade,
To fill our worshippers with dread.
e 4 These walls we to thy honour raise;
Long may they echo to thy praise;
And thou, descending, fill the place,
With choicest tokens of thy grace.
-5 Here let the great Redeemer reign,
With all the glories of his train;
o While power divine his Word attends,
To conquer foes, and cheer his friends.
g 6 And in the great decisive day,
When God the nations shall survey,
May it before the world appear,
That crowds were born to glory here. DODDRIDGE.
HYMN 142. HI. M. Allerton. [*]
Dedication of a House for Worship.
N sweet exalted strains,
The King of glory praise;
O'er heaven and earth he reigns,
Through everlasting days
g He, with a nod, the world controls,
Sustains, or sinks, the distant poles.
e 2 To earth he bends his throne-
His throne of grace divine;
Wide is his bounty known,
And wide his glories shine;
o Fair Salem, still his chosen rest,
Is with his smiles and presence blest.
3 Great King of glory, come,
And with thy favour crown
This temple as thy dome-
This people as thy own:
Beneath this roof, Ó deign to show,
How God can dwell with men below.
4 Here may thine ears attend
Thy people's humble cries;
And grateful praise ascend,
All fragrant, to the skies:
o Here may thy word melodious sound,
And spread celestial joys around.
5 Here may th' attentive throng
Imbibe thy truth and love;
And converts join the song
Of seraphim above:
o And willing crowds surround thy board,
With sacred joy, and sweet accord.
6 Here may our unborn sons
And daughters sound thy praise;
And shine like polished stones,
Through long succeeding days :
g Here, Lord, display thy saving power,
While temples stand, and men adore.
HYMN 143. L. M. Old Hundred. [*] Ordination: Joshua the High Priest. Zech. iii. 6, 7,
1 GREAT Lord of angels, we adore
The grace that builds thy courts below;
And through ten thousand sons of light,
Stoops to regard what mortals do.
e 2 Amidst the wastes of time and death,
-Successive pastors thou dost raise,
Thy charge to keep, thy house to guide,
And form a people for thy praise.
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