1 OH God! my sins are manifold, against my life they cry, And all my guilty deeds foregone, up to thy temple fly; Wilt thou release my trembling soul, that to despair is driven?

'Forgive!' a blessed voice replied, and thou shalt be forgiven!'

2 My foemen, Lord! are fierce and fell, they spurn me in their pride,

They render evil for my good, my patience they deride; Arise, oh King! and be the proud to righteous ruin driven! 'Forgive an awful answer came, 'as thou wouldst be forgiven!'

3 Seven times, oh Lord! I pardoned them, seven times they sinned again:

They practise still to work me wo, they triumph in my pain ; But let them dread my vengeance now, to just resentment driven !

'Forgive!' the voice of thunder spake, 'or never be forgiven!'

35.

C. M.

STERNHOLD, altered.

Humble Penitence.

1 OH Lord, turn not thy face away from them that lowly lie, Lamenting sore their sinful life with tears and bitter cry! Thy mercy-gates are open wide to them that mourn their sin; Oh shut them not against us, Lord, but let us enter in! 2 We need not to confess our fault, for surely thou canst tell What we have done, and what we are thou knowest very well:

Wherefore, to beg and to intreat, with tears we come to thee, As children that have done amiss fall at their father's knee. 3 And need we then, oh Lord! repeat the blessing which we

crave,

When thou dost know, before we speak, the thing that we would have?

mercy we seek:

Mercy! oh Lord, this is the total sum! For mercy, Lord! is all our prayer, -oh, let thy mercy come!

1 WHILE I keep silence, and conceal
My heavy guilt within my heart,
What torments doth my conscience feel!
What agonies of inward smart!

2 I spread my sins before the Lord,
And all my secret faults confess;
Thy gospel speaks a pardoning word,
Thy holy Spirit seals the grace.

3 For this shall every humble soul
Make swift addresses to thy seat:
When floods of huge temptation roll,
There shall they find a blest retreat.

4 How safe beneath thy wings I lie,
When days grow dark, and storms appear!
And when I walk, thy watchful eye
Shall guide me safe from every snare.

2 THERE was joy in Heaven!"
There was joy in Heaven!
When this goodly world to frame
The Lord of might and mercy came :
Shouts of joy were heard on high,
And the stars sang from the sky-
'Glory to God in Heaven!'

2 There was joy in Heaven!
There was joy in Heaven!
When the billows, heaving dark,
Sank around the stranded ark,
And the rainbow's watery span
Spake of mercy, hope to man,
And peace with God in Heaven!

3 There was joy in heaven!
There was joy in heaven!
When of love the midnight beam
Dawned on the towers of Bethlehem ;

And along the echoing hill

Angels sang-On earth good will,

And glory in the heaven.

4 There is joy in Heaven!
There is joy in Heaven!

When the sheep that went astray
Turns again to virtue's way;
When the soul, by grace subdued,

Sobs its prayer of gratitude

Then is there joy in Heaven!

DEVOUT ASPIRATIONS AND AFFECTIONS.

38. C. M.

MRS STEELE.

Watchfulness and Prayer.

1 ALAS, what hourly dangers rise!
What snares beset my way!
To heaven then let me lift my eyes,
And hourly watch and pray.

2 How oft my mournful thoughts complain,
And melt in flowing tears!
My weak resistance, ah how vain!
How strong my foes and fears!

3 O gracious God, in whom I live,
My feeble efforts aid,

Help me to watch, and pray, and strive,
Though trembling and afraid.

4 Increase my faith, increase my hope,
When foes and fears prevail;
And bear my fainting spirit up,
Or soon my strength will fail.

5 When strong temptations fright my heart,
Or lure my feet aside;

My God, thy powerful aid impart,
My guardian and my guide.

6 Still keep me in thy heavenly way,
And bid the tempter flee;

And never let me go astray
From happiness and thee.

39.

L. M.

EPISCOPAL COL.

The Soul panting for God.

1 As, panting in the sultry beam,

The hart desires the cooling stream,

So to thy presence, Lord, I flee,
So longs my soul, O God, for thee;
Athirst to taste thy living grace,
And see thy glory, face to face.

2 But rising griefs distress my soul,
And tears on tears successive roll;
For many an evil voice is near,
To chide my wo, and mock my fear;
And silent memory weeps alone

O'er hours of peace and gladness flown.

3 For I have walked the happy round
That circles Zion's holy ground,
And gladly swelled the choral lays
That hymned my great Creator's praise,
What time the hallowed arches rung
Responsive to the solemn song.

4 Ah, why, by passing clouds opprest,
Should vexing thoughts distract thy breast?
Turn, turn to him in every pain,

Whom suppliants never sought in vain
Thy strength, in joy's ecstatic day,

Thy hope, when joy has passed away.

40.

7s M.

MONTGOMERY.

The Image of God.

1 FATHER of eternal grace,
Glorify thyself in me;
Meekly beaming in my face,
May the world thine image see.

2 Happy only in thy love,
Poor, unfriended, or unknown,
Fix my thoughts on things above,
Stay my heart on thee alone.

3 Humble, holy, all resigned
To thy will,thy will be done!
Give me, Lord, the perfect mind
Of thy well beloved Son.

4 Counting gain and glory loss,
May I tread the path he trod,
Die with Jesus on the cross,
Rise with him to thee, my God.
29*

Secret Communion with God.

1 FATHER of Jesus Christ, my Lord,
I humbly seek thy face;

Encouraged by the Saviour's word
To ask thy pardoning grace.

2 Far from the paths of men, to thee
I solemnly retire;

See thou, who dost in secret see,
And grant my heart's desire.

3 Thy grace I languish to receive,
The spirit of love and power;
Blameless before thy face to live,
To live and sin no more.

4 Fain would I all thy goodness feel,
And know my sins forgiven!
And do on earth thy perfect will,
As angels do in heaven.

42. L. M.

COWPER.

Looking upward in Affliction.

1 God of my life, to thee I call,
Afflicted at thy feet I fall,

When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

2 Friend of the friendless, and the faint!
Where should I lodge my deep complaint,
Where but with thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor?

3 Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner's plea?
Does not the word still fixed remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain ?

4 That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

True Happiness only in God.

1 HAPPINESS! thou lovely name,

Where's thy seat? O tell me where !