"To gentle offices of love
His feet are never slow;
He views, through mercy's melting eye,
A brother in a foe.
"Peace from the bosom of his God,
My peace to him I give;
And, when he kneels before the throne,
His trembling soul shall live.
8 "To him protection shall be shown,
And mercy from above
Descend on those who thus fulfil
The perfect law of love."
1 BLEST are the humble souls that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are given,
And crowns of joy laid up in heaven.
2 Blest are the meek, who stand afar From rage and passion, noise and war; God will secure their happy state,
And plead their cause against the great.
3 Blest are the souls that thirst for grace, Hunger and long for righteousness; They shall be well supplied and fed With living streams and living bread.
4 Blest are the men whose bowels move And melt with sympathy and love; From Christ the Lord shall they obtain Like sympathy and love again.
5 Blest are the pure, whose hearts are clean
From the defiling powers of sin;
With endless pleasure they shall see
A God of spotless purity.
6 Blest are the men of peaceful life,
Who quench the coals of growing strife
;
They shall be called the heirs of bliss,
The sons of God, the God of peace.
7 Blest are the sufferers who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesus' sake;
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord;
Glory and joy are their reward.
1 O YE, who seek Jehovah's face,
Bow at his throne, and feel his grace,-
Who ask in prayer, and own in praise,
That bounteous love which gilds your days, -
Catch from above the hallowed flame,
And dignify the Christian name!
2 Where'er distress and pain appear,
Let pity's ready hand be there;
With cheering wine, and fragrant oil,
Bid languor glow, and anguish smile;
Though woe her lowliest form may wear,
Yet God has stamped his image there.
3 When he, the sovereign Judge, draws nigh, And holds the unerring beam on high,
Then shall sweet charity prevail,
And angels mark the sinking scale;
Jesus shall call his followers home,
"Ye blessed of my Father, come!"
Christian Zeal tempered by Charity.
1 GREAT God! whose all-pervading eye
Sees every passion in my soul!
When sunk too low, or raised too high,
Teach me those passions to control.
2 Temper the fervors of my frame;
Be charity their constant spring;
And, O, let no unhallowed flame
Pollute the offerings which I bring.
3 Let love with piety unite
To mend the bias of my will;
While hope and heaven-eyed faith excite,
And wisdom regulates, my zeal, ·
4 That wisdom which to meekness turns,
Wisdom descending from above;
And let my zeal, whene'er it burns,
Be kindled by the fire of love.
1 THINK gently of the erring one!
O, do not thou forget,
However darkly stained by sin,
He is thy brother yet!
Heir of the same inheritance,
Child of the selfsame God,
He hath but stumbled in the path
Thou hast in weakness trod.
2 Speak gently to the erring ones!
Thou yet mayst lead them back,
With holy words, and tones of love,
From misery's thorny track.
Forget not thou hast often sinned,
And sinful yet may be;
Deal gently with the erring heart,
As God hath dealt with thee.
1 How blest the sacred tie that binds,
In union sweet, according minds!
How swift the heavenly course they run,
Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes, are one!
2 To each the soul of each how dear!
What jealous love! what holy fear!
How doth the generous flame within
Refine from earth and cleanse from sin!
3 Their streaming eyes together flow
For human guilt and mortal woe;
Their ardent prayers together rise,
Like mingling flames in sacrifice.
4 Together both they seek the place
Where God reveals his awful face;
How high, how strong, their raptures swell,
There's none but kindred souls can tell.
5 Nor shall the glowing flame expire,
When nature droops her sickening fire;
Then shall they meet in realms above,
A heaven of joy, because of love.
The Vanity of Forms without true Piety.
1 THE uplifted eye and bended knee.
Are but vain homage, Lord, to thee
In vain our lips thy praise prolong,
The heart a stranger to the song.
2 Can rites, and forms, and flaming zeal,
The breaches of thy precepts heal?
Or fasts and penance reconcile
Thy justice, and obtain thy smile?
3 The pure, the humble, contrite mind,
Sincere, and to thy will resigned,
To thee a nobler offering yields,
Than Sheba's groves or Sharon's fields.
4 Love God and man, this great command Doth on eternal pillars stand:
This did thine ancient prophets teach,
And this thy Well-beloved preach.
1 VAIN are the hopes that rebels place
Upon their birth and blood,
Descended from a pious race
(Their fathers now with God).
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