3. Delight in Ordinances of Worship; or, God present in his Churches. (C. M.)
Y soul, how lovely is the place To which thy God resorts!
"Tis heav'n to see his smiling face, Tho' in his earthly courts.
2 There the great Monarch of the skies His saving pow'r displays, And light breaks in upon our eyes, With kind and quick'ning rays.
3 With his rich gifts, the heav'nly Dove Descends and fills the place;
While Christ reveals his wond'rous love, And sheds abroad his grace.
4 There, mighty God, thy words declare The secrets of thy will;
And still we seek thy mercy there, And sing thy praises still.
5 My heart and flesh cry out for thee, While far from thine abode :
When shall I tread thy courts, and see My Saviour and my God?
6 The sparrow builds herself a nest, And suffers no remove :
O make me, like the sparrows, blest, To dwell but where I love.
7 To sit one day beneath thine eye, And hear thy gracious voice, Exceeds a whole eternity Employ'd in carnal joys.
8 Lord, at thy threshold I would wait, While Jesus is within;
Rather than fill a throne of state, Or live in tents of sin.
9 Could I command the spacious land, And the more boundless sea,
For one blest hour at thy right hand, I'd give them both away.
Longing for the House of God. (P. M.) ORD of the worlds above, How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of thy love, Thy earthly temples are! To thine abode
My heart aspires, With warm desires To see my God.
2 The sparrow for her young, With pleasure seeks a nest; And wand'ring swallows long To find their wonted rest: My spirit faints With equal zeal, To rise and dwell Among thy saints.
30 happy souls that pray, Where God appoints to hear! O happy men that pay
Their constant service there! They praise thee still;
And happy they
That love the way
To Zion's hill.
4 They go from strength to strength, Thro' this dark vale of tears, Till each arrives at length, Till each in heav'n appears: O glorious seat, When God our King Shall thither bring Our willing feet!
5 To spend one sacred day Where God and saints abide, Affords diviner joy
Than thousand days beside: Where God resorts,
I love it more
To keep the door,
Than shine in courts.
6 God is our sun and shield, Our light and our defence; With gifts his hands are fill'd, We draw our blessings thence: He shall bestow
On Jacob's race Peculiar grace, And glory too.
7 The Lord his people loves: His hand no good withholds From those his heart approves, From pure and pious souls; Thrice happy he,
O God of hosts! Whose spirit trusts Alone in thee.
An Invitation to Worship. (C. M.) ING to the Lord Jehovah's name, And in his strength rejoice; When his salvation is our theme, Exalted be our voice.
2 With thanks approach his awful sight, And psalms of honour sing; The Lord's a God of boundless might, The whole creation's King!
3 Let princes hear, let angels know, How mean their natures seem; Those gods on high, and gods below, When once compar'd with him.
4 Earth, with its caverns dark and deep, Lies in his spacious hand;
He fix'd the seas what bounds to keep, And where the hills must stand.
5 Come, and with humble souls adore; Come, kneel before his face; may the creatures of his pow'r Be children of his grace!
Praise for the Gospel. (C. M.) O our Almighty Maker God, New honours be addrest; His great salvation shines abroad, And makes the nations blest.
2 He spake the word to Abr'am first; His truth fulfils the grace;
The Gentiles make his name their trust, And learn his righteousness.
3 Let the whole earth his love proclaim, With all her diff'rent tongues;
And spread the honours of his name In melody and songs.
7. A holy God worshipped with Reverence. (C. M.)
XALT the Lord our God, And worship at his feet;
His nature is all holiness,
And mercy is his seat.
2 When Israel was his church, When Aaron was his priest, When Moses cry'd, when Samuel pray'd, He gave his people rest.
Oft he forgave their sins,
Nor would destroy their race;
And oft he made his vengeance known, When they abused his grace. Exalt the Lord our God, Whose grace is still the same; Still he's a God of holiness, And jealous for his name.
Psalm C. Paraphased.
EFORE Jehovah's awful throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy; Know that the Lord is God alone; He can create, and he destroy.
2 His sov'reign power, without our aid, Made us of clay, and form'd us men; And when, like wand'ring sheep, we stray'd, He brought us to his fold again.
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