But thy good word informs my soul
How I may climb to heav'n.
The fields provide me food, and show
The goodness of the Lord;
But fruits of life and glory grow
In thy most holy word.
Here are my choicest treasures hid,
Here my best comfort lies;
Here my desires are satisfied,
And hence my hopes arise.
Lord, make me understand thy law;
Show what my faults have been ;
And from thy gospel let me draw
Pardon for all my sin.
Here would I learn how Christ has died
To save my soul from hell;
Not all the books on earth beside
Such heav'nly wonders tell.
Then let me love my Bible morę,
And take a fresh delight
By day to read thy wonders o'er,
And meditate by night.
23. Praise to God for learning to Read
THE praises of my tongue
I offer to the Lord,
That I am taught, and learnt so young
To read his holy word.
That I am brought to know.
The danger I was in,
By nature and by practice too,
A wretched, slave to sin.
That I am led to see
I can do nothing well;
And whither shall a sinner flee
To save himself from hell?
Dear Lord, this book of thine
Informs me where to go,
For grace to pardon all my sin
And make me holy too.
Here I can read and learn
How Christ, the Son of God,
Did undertake our great concern
Our ransom cost his blood.
And now he reigns above,
He sends his Spirit down
To show the wonders of his love,
And make his gospel known.
O may that Spirit teach,
And make my heart receive
Those truths which all thy servants preach And all thy saints believe..
Then shall I praise the Lord,
In a more cheerful strain,
That I was taught to read his word,
And have not learn'd in vain.
24. Psalm xxv.
Thy mercies and thy love,
O Lord, recal to mind,
And graciously continue still,
As thou wert ever, kind.
Let all my youthful crimes
Be blotted out by thee;
And for thy wond'rous goodness' sake, mercy think on me.
His mercy, and his truth,
The righteous Lord displays,
In bringing youthful sinners home,
And teaching them his ways.
He those in justice guides
Who his direction seek ;
And in his sacred path shall lead
The humble and the meek.
Through all the ways of God
Both truth and mercy shine,
To such as with religious hearts
To his bless'd will incline.
25. Against Pride in Clothes.*
WHY should our garments, made to hide
Our parents' shame, provoke our pride?
The art of dress did ne'er begin,
Till Eve, our mother, learn'd to sin.
When first she put the cov'ring on,
Her robe of innocence was gone;
And yet her children vainly boast Fr
In the sad marks of glory lost.
How proud we are! how fond to shew
Our clothes, and call them rich and new!
When the poor sheep and silk-worm wore
That very clothing long before,
The tulip and the butterfly
Appear in gayer coats than I:
Let me be dress'd fine as I will,
Flies, worms, and flow'rs, exceed me still.
Then will I set my heart to find
Inward adornings of the mind;
Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
These are the robes of richest dress.
No more shall worms with me compare;
This is the raiment angels wear;
The Son of God when here below,
Put on this bless'd apparel too.
Giving way to the temptation, to dress above their circumstances, being often the inlet to more serious evils, this hymn was introduced, as a caution to female delinquents, in particular.
It never fades, it ne'er grows old;
Nor fears the rain, nor moth, nor mould:
It takes no spot, but still refines,
The more 'tis worn, the more it shines.
In this on earth would I appear,
Then go to heav'n and wear it there ;
God will approve it in his sight,
'Tis his own work, and his delight.
NOW, for awhile, aside I'll lay
My childish trifles and my play;
And call my thoughts, which rove abroad,
To view myself and view my God;
I'll look within, that I may see
What I now am, what I must be.
I am the creature of the Lord;
He made me by his powerful word;
This body, in each curious part,
Was wrought by his unfailing art;
From him my noble spirit came,
My soul, a spark of heav'nly flame,
That soul by which my body lives,
Which thinks, and hopes, and joys, and grieves,
And must in heav'n or hell remain,
When flesh is turn'd to dust again.
What business then should I attend,
Or what esteem my noblest end?
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