Sure I am, or should be, wiser;
I am Rich, 'tis he is
poor: Jesus gives me in his word,
Food and Med'cine, Shield and Sword.
13. The Excellency of the Scriptures. 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 fair tree of knowledge grows,
And yields a free repast;
Sublimer sweets than nature knows,
Invite the longing taste.
3 Here springs of consolation rise,
To cheer the fainting mind;
And thirsty souls receive supplies,
And sweet refreshment find.
4 When guilt and terror, pain and grief,
United rend the heart;
Here sinners meet divine relief,
And cool the raging smart.
5 Here the Redeemer's welcome voice
Spreads heav'nly peace around;
And life, and everlasting joys
Attend the blissful sound.
6 O may these heav'nly pages
My ever dear delight,
And still new beauties may I see, e
And still increasing light.
7 Divine Instructor! gracious Lord!
Be thou for ever near;
Teach me to love thy sacred word,
And view my Saviour there.
14. Unfruitfulness lamented.
1 LONG have we sat beneath the sound Of thy salvation, Lord;
But still how weak our faith is found,
And knowledge of thy word!
9 Oft we frequent thy holy place,
Yet hear almost in vain;
How small a portion of thy grace.
Do our false hearts retain!
3 How cold and feeble is our love
How negligent our fear!
How low our hope of joys above!
How few affections there!
4 Great God! thy sov'reign aid impart
To give thy word success:
Write thy salvation on our heart,
And make us learn thy grace.
5 Shew our forgetful feet the way
That leads to joys on high;
Where knowledge grows without decay
And love shall never die.
15. Before the Sermon.
GLORY to God, who gave the word,
And bid the preachers cry;
Who caus'd his will to be proclaim'd,
And brought salvation nigh.
Lord, ever give us of this bread,
And grant us ears to hear;
Hearts to receive the heav'nly seed,
And bring forth fruit with fear.
3 may thy word direct our path,
And guide our fault'ring feet;
Direct us in the living way,
And to thy mercy-seat!
4 Fountain of everlasting life,
Of bliss, and truth, and good;
Give us (that we may never thirst)
To drink of Jesus' blood.
5 Fill every hungry soul, who cries,
From thine exhaustless store;
And let no one go empty hence, But taste, and pray for more.
6 Let all thy children, Lord, be fed With the eternal Word;
Be wise, and stronger grow thereby,
Increasing in the Lord.
16. Before or after Sermon.
1 WITH heart and lips unfeign'd,
We praise thee for thy word;
We bless thee for the joyful news
Of our redeeming Lord.
2 Like as the kindly rain
Returns not back to heav'n,
But cheers, and fruitful makes the earth,
The end for which 'twas giv'n:
3 So let thy present voice
Accomplish thy design;
Distil on all our thirsty souls,
And consecrate us thine.
4 Water thy sacred seed,
And give it great increase;
Let neither fowls, nor rocks, nor thorns,
Hinder the fruits of peace.
5 Then tho' we weeping sow,
And tears our hours employ;
We know we shall return again,
And bring our sheaves with joy.
6 Our lives, now hid with Christ,
With him shall soon appear;
And we, array'd in all his light,
Shall meet him in the air.
17. Desiring the Divine Presence.
7E are a garden wall'd around,
Chosen and made peculiar ground;
A little spot inclos'd by grace,
Out of the world's wide wilderness,
2 Like trees of myrrh and spice we stand,
Planted by God the Father's hand;
And all his springs in Zion flow,
To make the young plantation grow.
3 Awake, O heav'nly Wind! and come,
Blow on this garden of perfume;
Spirit divine, descend and breathed
A gracious gale on plants beneath.
4 Make our best spices flow abroad,soid O
To entertain our Saviour-God;
And faith and love and joy appear,
And ev'ry grace be active here.
10 SUN of righteousness, arise,
With healing in thy wing:
To my diseas'd, my fainting soul,
Thy free salvation bring.
2 All clouds of pride and sin dispel
By thine all-piercing beam;
Lighten nine eyes with faith, my heart
With holy hope inflame.
3. My mind, by thy all-quick'ning pow'r,
From vile desires set free,
Unite my scatter'd thoughts, and fix
My love entire to thee.
4 Father, thy long-lost child receive;
Saviour, thy purchase own;
Blest Comforter, with peace and joy
Thy waiting creature crown.
19. Panting after God, 1 THOU hidden love of God, whose height, Whose depth unfathom'd no man knows;
I see from far thy beauteous light,
Inly I sigh for thy repose:
My heart is pain'd, nor can it be At rest, till it finds rest in thee. 2 Is there a thing beneath the sun,
That strives with thee my heart to share?
Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there:
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it has found repose in thee.
3 O hide this self from me, that I
No more, but Christ in me may live!
My vile affections crucify,
Let not one darling lust survive:
In all things may I nothing see,
Nothing desire, or seek, but thee.
4 Each moment draw from earth away
My heart, that lowly waits thy call;
Speak to my inmost soul, and say,
"I am thy love, thy God, thy all!"
To feel thy pow'r, to hear thy voice,
To taste thy love, be all my choice,
LIGHT of those whose dreary dwelling
Borders on the shades of death,
Come! and by thy love's revealing,
Dissipate the clouds beneath :
The new heav'n and earth's Creator,
In our deepest darkness rise!
Scatt'ring all the night of nature,
Pouring eye-sight on our eyes!
2. Still we wait for thine appearing,
Life and joy thy beams impart;
Chasing all our fears, and cheering.
Ev'ry poor benighted heart:
Come, and manifest the favour
God hath for our ransom'd race;
Come, thou universal Saviour,
Come, and bring thy gospel-grace.
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