2 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts, In this dark vale of tears;

Life, light, and joy, it still imparts,
And quells our rising fears.

3 This lamp, through all the tedious night
Of life, shall guide our way,
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.

HYMN 20.

C. M.

St. Ann's. Canterbury.

Steele

1 FATHER of mercies, in thy word,
What endless glory shines!
For ever be thy name ador'd

For these celestial lines.

2 Here, the Redeemer's welcome voice Spreads heavenly peace around, And life, and everlasting joys

Attend the blissful sound.

3 Oh, may these heavenly pages
My ever dear delight;

And still new beauties may I
And still increasing light!

be

see,

4 Divine instructer, gracious Lord, Be thou for ever near,

Teach me to love thy sacred word,

And view my Saviour there.

1 LADEN with guilt and full of fears,

I fly to thee, my Lord,

And not a glimpse of hope appears,
But in thy written word.

2 The volume of my Father's grace
Does all my grief assuage;
Here I behold my Saviour's face
Almost in every page.

3 This is the field where hidden lies
The pearl of price unknown;
That merchant is divinely wise,
Who makes the pearl his own.
4 This is the Judge that ends the strife
Where wit and reason fail;
My guide to everlasting life,
Through all this gloomy vale.
HYMN 22. L. M.

Watts.

Angel's Hymn. Kent. Old Hundred.

The power of the Gospel.

1 JESUS, thy witness speaks within;
The mercy which thy words reveal,
Refines the heart from sense and sin,
And stamps its own celestial seal.
2 'Tis God's renewing, gracious hand,
That moulds and forms the earth anew;
Transgressors can no more withstand,
But bow and own his doctrine true.
3 The guilty wretch, that trusts thy blood,
Finds peace and pardon at the cross:
The soul, that was averse to God,
Believes and loves his Maker's laws.

4 Let proud opposers cease their strife, And own, O Lord, the work is thine; The voice, that calls the dead to life, Must be almighty and divine.

HYMN 23. L. M.

Beddome.

Italy. Bicester. Truro.

1 GOD, in the gospel of his Son, Makes his eternal counsels known; "Tis here his richest mercy shines, And truth is drawn in fairest lines. 2 Here sinners of an humble frame May taste his grace and learn his name; "Tis writ in characters of blood, Severely just, immensely good. 3 Here Jesus, in ten thousand ways, His soul-attracting charms displays, Recounts his poverty and pains, And tells his love in melting strains. 4 Wisdom its dictates here imparts, To form our minds, to cheer our hearts; Its influence makes the sinner live, It bids the drooping saint revive. 5 Our raging passions it controls, And comfort yields to contrite souls; It brings a better world in view, And guides us all our journey through. 6 May this bless'd volume ever lie Close to my heart, and near my eye, 'Till life's last hour my soul engage, And be my chosen heritage!

HYMN 24. C. M.

Abridge. Barby.

Cowper.

The glory of the word.

1 THE Spirit breathes upon the word,
And brings the truth to sight:
Precepts and promises afford
A sanctifying light.

2 A glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic like the sun;

It gives a light to every age,
It gives-but borrows none.
3 The hand that gave it still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
His truths upon the nation rise,
They rise, but never set.

4 Let everlasting thanks be thine,
For such a bright display,

As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.

ALARMING.

HYMN 25.

S. M.

Newton.

Wirksworth. Orange.

Few saved. Luke xiii. 23.

1 DESTRUCTION'S dangerous road What multitudes pursue!

While that which leads the soul to God, Is known or sought by few.

27

2 Believers find the way
Through Christ the living gate;
But those who hate this holy way
Complain it is too strait.

3 If self must be denied,

And sin no more caress'd,
They rather choose the way that's wide,
And strive to think it best.

4 Encompass'd by a throng,
On numbers they depend;
They say, so many can't be wrong,
And miss a happy end.

5 But hear the Saviour's word,
"Strive for the heav'nly gate,
Many will call upon the Lord,
And find their cries too late."
6 Obey the gospel call,

And enter while you may;
The flock of Christ is always small,
And none are safe but they.

7 Lord, open sinners' eyes,
Their awful state to see;

And make them, ere the storm arise,
To thee for safety flee.

HYMN 26.

C. M..

Dobell.

Windsor. Buckingham. Lebanon.

Matt. vii. 13, 14.

1 SINNERS, behold that downward road Which leads to endless wo;