2 To serve the present age,

My calling to fulfill;

Oh may it all my powers engage
To do my Master's will.

3 Arm me with jealous care
As in thy sight to live;
And oh! thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give.

4 Help me to watch and pray,
And on thyself rely;

Assured if I my trust betray,
I shall for ever die.

434

1

Α

Prayer for spiritual Strength.

LAS, what hourly dangers rise, What snares beset my way! To heaven oh 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 Lord, increase my faith and hope,
When foes and fears prevail;
And bear my fainting spirit up,
Or soon my strength will fail.

4 Oh keep me in thy heavenly way,
And bid the tempter flee;

And let me never-never stray
From happiness and thee.

435

1

"Watch and pray." Matt. xxvi. 41.

Y soul, be on thy guard;

ΜΥ

Ten thousand foes arise,

And hosts of sins are pressing hard,
To draw thee from the skies.

2 Oh watch, and fight, and pray;
The battle ne'er give o'er;
Renew it boldly every day,
And help divine implore.

3 Ne'er think the victory won,
Nor once at ease sit down;

C. Wesley.

C. M.

Mrs. Steele.

S. M.

Thy arduous work will not be done,
Till thou receive thy crown.

4 Fight on, my soul, till death

Shall bring thee to thy God;

He'll take thee, at thy parting breath,
Up to his bless'd abode.

436

The Christian Race.

WAKE, my soul-stretch every nerve,
And press with vigor on:

A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.

2 A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.

3 'Tis God's all-animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
"Tis his own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye.

4 Bless'd Saviour, introduced by thee,
Have we our race begun;

And, crowned with victory, at thy feet
We'll lay our laurels down.

437

1

BE

Danger of Self-confidence.

EWARE of Peter's word,
Nor confidently say,

"I never will deny the Lord,"
But "grant I never may."

2 Man's wisdom is to seek

His strength in God alone;
And e'en an angel would be weak,
Who trusted in his own.

3 Retreat beneath his wings,

And in his grace confide;
This more exalts the King of kings
Than all your works beside.

4 In Jesus is our store;

Grace issues from his throne;

Whoever says, "I want no more,"
Confesses he has none.

Heath.

C. M.

Doddridge.

S. M.

Cowper.

438

1

GUIDI

The Pilgrim's Guide. Ps. xlviii. 14.
UIDE me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand:
Bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more.
2 Open, Lord, the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing waters flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through:
Strong Deliverer,

Be thou still my strength and shield.
3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me through the swelling torrent,
Land me safe on Canaan's side:
Songs of praises

I will ever give to thee.

439

1

WE

Christ our Defender.

E seek a rest beyond the skies,
In everlasting day;

Through floods and flames the passage lies.
But Jesus guards the way.

2 The swelling flood and raging flame

Hear and obey his word;

Then let us triumph in his name,

Our Saviour is the Lord.

440

Walking by Faith.

IS by the faith of joys to come

'TIS

8.7.4.

Oliver.

C. M.

Newton.

L. M.

We walk through deserts dark as night;

Till we arrive at heaven, our home,

Faith is our guide, and faith our light.

2 The want of sight she well supplies;
She makes the pearly gates appear;
Far into distant worlds she pries,
And brings eternal glories near.
3 Cheerful we tread the desert through,
While faith inspires a heavenly ray,
Though lions roar, and tempests blow,
And rocks and dangers fill the way.

4 So Abra'm, by divine command,

Left his own house to walk with God; His faith beheld the promised land,

Watts.

And fired his zeal along the road.

441 The Pilgrimage of the Saints,

L

ORD, what a wretched land is this,
That yields us no supply;

No cheering fruits, no wholesome trees,
Nor streams of living joy!

2 Yet the dear path to thine abode
Lies through this horrid land:

Lord, we would keep the heavenly road,
And run at thy command.

3 Our souls shall tread the desert through
With undiverted feet;

And faith and flaming zeal subdue
The terrors that we meet.

4 A thousand savage beasts of prey
Around the forest roam:
But Judah's lion guards the way,
And guides the strangers home.

5 By glimm'ring hopes and gloomy fears
We trace the sacred road;

Through dismal deeps and dangerous snares
We make our way to God.

6 Long nights and darkness dwell below,
With scarce a twinkling ray;

But the bright world to which we go
Is everlasting day.

442

1

OUR

Heaven anticipated.

UR journey is a thorny maze, But we march upward still; Forget these troubles of the ways, And reach at Zion's hill.

2 See the kind angels at the gates,
Inviting us to come!

There Jesus, the forerunner, waits
To welcome trav'llers home.

3 There on a green and flowery mount
Our weary souls shall sit,

C. M.

Vatts.

C. M.

And, with transporting joys, recount
The labors of our feet.

4 No vain discourse shall fill our tongue,
Nor trifles vex our ear;
Infinite grace shall fill our song,
And God rejoice to hear.

5 Eternal glories to the King

Who brought us safely through,

Our tongues shall never cease to sing,
And endless praise renew.

443

1

Believers encouraged.

YOUR harps, ye trembling saints,

Down from the willows take: Loud to the praise of love divine Bid every string awake.

2 Though in a foreign land,

We are not far from home; And nearer to our house above We every moment come.

3 His grace will, to the end,

Stronger and brighter shine;
Nor present things, nor things to come
Shall quench the spark divine.

4 When we in darkness walk,

Nor feel the heavenly flameThen is the time to trust our God, And rest upon his name.

5 Soon shall our doubts and fears
Subside at his control;

His loving kindness shall break through
The midnight of the soul.

6 Bless'd is the man, O God,

That stays himself on thee!

Who waits for thy salvation, Lord,
Shall thy salvation see.

444

The Example of Christ and his Saints.

1 GIVE me the wings of faith, to rise

Within the veil, and see

The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.

Watts.

S. M.

Toplady.

C. M.