5 O Lord of hosts, thou God of grace! How blest, divinely blest, is he,

Who trusts thy love and seeks thy face, And fixes all his hopes on thee.

The Pleasure of Public Worship. Ps. 84.
1 How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.

2 Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne of majesty ;
Thy brightest glories shine above,
And all their work is praise and love.

3 Blest are the souls that find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentler rays,
And seek thy face, and learn thy praise.

4 Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion's gate;

God is their strength; and through the road They lean upon their helper, God.

5 Cheerful they walk with growing strength, Till all shall meet in heaven at length; Till all before thy face appear,

And join in nobler worship there.

35

Longing for the House of God. Ps. 84.
1 LORD of the worlds above,
How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of thy love,
Thine 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 wandering 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, Through this dark vale of tears, Till each arrives at length,

Till each in heaven appears:

O glorious seat,
When God our King
Shall thither bring
Our willing feet!

5 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!

God present in his Churches. Ps. 84.

1 My soul, how lovely is the place
To which thy God resorts!
"Tis heaven to see his smiling face,
Though in his earthly courts.

2 There the great Monarch of the skies
His saving power displays;
And light breaks in upon our eyes,
With kind and quickening rays.

3 There, mighty God, thy words declare
The secrets of thy will;
And still we seek thy mercy there,
And sing thy praises still.

4 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?

5 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.

Going to Church. Ps. 122.

1 How did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,
"In Zion let us all appear,

And keep the solemn day!"

2 I love her gates, I love the road;

The church, adorned with grace,
Stands like a palace, built for God,
To show his milder face.

3 Up to her courts, with joys unknown,
The holy tribes repair;

The Son of David holds his throne,
And sits in judgment there.

4 Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest:

With holy gifts, and heavenly grace,
Be her attendants blest.

5 My soul shall pray for Zion still,
While life or breath remains;
There my best friends, my kindred dwell,
There God my Saviour reigns.

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12.

L. M.

SALISBURY COL.

The House of God.

1 Lo, God is here! let us adore,
And humbly bow before his face:
Let all within us feel his power,
Let all within us seek his grace.

2 Lo, God is here! him day and night
United choirs of angels sing:
To him, enthroned above all height,
Heaven's host their noblest homage bring.

3 Being of beings! may our praise
Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill:
Still may we stand before thy face,
Still hear and do thy sovereign will.

13. 7s. M.

J. TAYLOR.

Engagedness in Devotion.

1 LORD, before thy presence come,
Bow we down with holy fear;
Call our erring footsteps home,
Let us feel that thou art near.

2 Wandering thoughts and languid powers
Come not where devotion kneels;
Let the soul expand her stores,
Glowing with the joy she feels.

3 At the portals of thine house,
We resign our earth-born cares:
Nobler thoughts our souls engross,
Songs of praise and fervent prayers.