S. M.
Communion of Saints. Ps. 133.
1 BLEST are the sons of
peace,
Whose hearts and hopes are one,
Whose kind designs to serve and please
Through all their actions run.
2 Blest is the pious house
Where zeal and friendship meet;
Their songs of praise, their mingled vows,
Make their communion sweet.
3 Thus, when on Aaron's head
They poured the rich perfume,
The oil through all his raiment spread,
And pleasure filled the room.
4 Thus, on the heavenly hills,
The saints are blest above,
Where joy like morning dew distils,
And all the air is love.
PRINCE'S N. E. VERS.
OF PSALMS.
S. M.
Brotherly Love. Ps. 133.
1 BEHOLD, how good it is,
And what a joy to see,
When brethren with each other dwell
In love and unity!
2 'Tis like the precious oil
They poured on Aaron's head,
Which down his hair and garment flowed,
And fragrant odors spread.
3 Or as refreshing dew
On Hermon's mount distils;
Or like the pearly drops that shine
On Zion's joyful hills.
4 For there the Lord commands,
And doth his blessing give –
The foretaste of that blessedness
Which shall forever live.
C. M.
Christian Sympathy.
1 HAIL, everlasting Prince of Peace!
Hail, Governor divine!
How gracious is thy sceptre's sway!
What gentle laws are thine!
2 His tender heart with love o'erflowed;
Love spoke in every breath;
Vigorous it reigned through all his life,
And triumphed in his death.
3 All these united charms he shows
Our frozen souls to move,
This proof of love to him demands
That we each other love.
4 O, be the sacred law fulfilled
In every act and thought,
Each angry passion far removed,
Each selfish view forgot!
5 Be thou, my heart, dilated wide.
By thy Redeemer's grace,
And in one grasp of fervent love
All earth and heaven embrace.
L. M.
The Fear of God.
1 GREAT Author of all nature's frame,
Holy and reverend is thy name;
Against thee who shall lift his hand?
Before thy terrors who can stand?
2 But blest are they, O gracious Lord,
Who fear thy name, and keep thy word;
Thy wisdom guides, thy power defends
Their life, till life its journey ends.
3 0 that my soul, with awful sense
Of thy transcendent excellence,
May close the day, the day begin,
Watchful against each darling sin.
4 Never, O never from my heart,
May this great principle depart,
But act, with unabating power,
Within me to my latest hour!
391
C. M.
Fortitude founded on godly Fear.
1 BLEST is the man who fears the Lord; His well-established mind,
In every varying scene of life,
Shall true composure find.
2 Oft through the deep and stormy sea
The heavenly footsteps lie;
But on a glorious world beyond
His faith can fix its eye.
3 Though dark his present prospects be,
And sorrows round him dwell,
Yet hope can whisper to his soul,
That all shall issue well.
4 Full in the presence of his God,
Through every scene he goes,
And, fearing him, no other fear
His steadfast bosom knows.
392
C. M.
Submission to afflictive Providences.
1 NAKED as from the earth we came,
And crept to life at first,
We to the earth return again,
And mingle with our dust.
2 The dear delights we here enjoy,
And fondly call our own,
Are but short favors, borrowed now
To be repaid anon.
3 'Tis God that lifts our comforts high,
Or sinks them in the grave;
He gives, and, -blessed be his name!
He takes but what he gave.
4 Peace, all our angry passions, then;
Let each rebellious sigh.
Be silent at his sovereign will,
And every murmur die.
5 If smiling mercy crown our lives,
Its praises shall be spread,
And we'll adore the justice, too,.
That strikes our comforts dead.
393
L. M.
Fortitude and Trust.
1 WAIT on the Lord, ye heirs of hope,
And let his word support your souls ;
Well can he bear your courage up,
And all your foes and fears control.
2 He waits his own well-chosen hour,
The intended mercy to display ;
His fatherly compassion moves,
While wisdom dictates the delay.
3 Blest are the humble souls, that wait
With sweet submission to his will;
Harmonious all their passions move,
And in the midst of storms are still;
4 Still, till their Father's well-known voice
Wakens their silence into songs;
Then earth grows vocal with his praise,
And heaven the grateful shout prolongs.
394
C. M.
Trust in God through all Changes.
1 FATHER divine, before thy view
All worlds, all creatures lie;
No distance can elude thy search,
No action 'scape thy eye.
2 From thee our vital breath we drew;
Our childhood was thy care;
And vigorous youth and feeble age
Thy kind protection share.
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