OD of my life, look gently down,
Behold the pains I feel;
But I am dumb before thy throne,
Nor dare dispute thy will.
2 Diseases are thy servants, Lord,
They come at thy command;
I'll not attempt a murmuring word
Against thy chastening hand.
3 Yet I may plead, with humble cries,
Remove thy sharp rebukes :
My strength consumes, my spirit dies,
Through thy repeated strokes.
4 Crushed as a moth beneath thy hand,
We moulder to the dust;
Our feeble powers can ne'er withstand,
And all our beauty's lost.
5 I'm but a stranger here below,
As all my fathers were;
May I be well prepared to go,
When I the summons hear!
6 And if my life be spared awhile
Before my last remove,
Thy praise shall be my business still,
And I'll declare thy love.
WAITED patient for the Lord,
He bowed to hear my cry;
He saw me resting on his word,
And brought salvation nigh.
2 He raised me from a horrid pit,
Where mourning long lay,
And from my bonds released my feet,
Deep bonds of miry clay.
3 Firm on a rock he made me stand,
And taught my cheerful tongue
To praise the wonders of his hand,
In a new thankful song.
4 I'll spread his works of grace abroad,
The saints with joy shall hear,
And sinners learn to make my God
Their only hope and fear.
5 How many are thy thoughts of love!
Thy mercies, Lord, how great!
We have not words nor hours enough
Their numbers to repeat.
6 When I'm afflicted, poor and low,
And light and peace depart,
My God beholds my heavy woe,
And bears me on his heart.
HUS saith the Lord, "Your work is vain,
Give your burnt offerings o'er;
In dying goats and bullocks slain,
My soul delights no more."
2 Then spake the Saviour, "Lo, I'm here,
My God, to do thy will;
Whate'er thy sacred books declare
Thy servant shall fulfil.
3 "Thy law is ever in my sight,
I keep it near my heart;
Mine ears are opened with delight
To what thy lips impart.”
4 And see, the blest Redeemer comes,
The eternal Son appears,
And at the appointed time assumes
The body God prepares.
5 Much he revealed his Father's grace,
And much his truth he showed,
And preached the way of righteousness
Where great assemblies stood.
6 His Father's honour touched his heart,
He pitied sinners' cries,
And to fulfil a Saviour's part,
Was made a sacrifice.
7 No blood of beasts on altars shed
Could wash the conscience clean;
But the rich sacrifice he paid,
Atones for all our sin.
8 Then was the great salvation spread,
And Satan's kingdom shook;
Thus by the woman's promised seed
The serpent's head was broke.
THE wonders, Lord, thy love has wrought, Exceed our praise, surmount our thought;
Should I attempt the long detail,
My speech would faint, my numbers fail. 2 No blood of beasts on altars spilt, Can cleanse the souls of men from guilt: But thou hast set before our eyes An all-sufficient sacrifice. 3 Lo! thine eternal Son appears, To thy designs he bows his ears; Assumes a body well prepared, And well performs a work so hard. 4 "Behold, I come," the Saviour cries, With love and duty in his eyes, "I come, to bear the heavy load Of sins, and do thy will, my God. 5 ""Tis written in thy great decree, 'Tis in thy book foretold of me, I must fulfil the Saviour's part, And lo! thy law is in my heart. 6 "I'll magnify thy holy law, And rebels to obedience draw,
When on my cross I'm lifted high,
Or to my crown above the sky.
The Spirit shall descend and show What thou hast done, and what I do;
The wondering world shall learn thy grace, And all creation tune thy praise."
OLEST is the man whose heart can move,
And melt with pity to the poor,
Whose soul by sympathizing love,
Feels what his fellow-saints endure.
2 His heart contrives for their relief
More good than his own hands can do:
He, in the time of general grief,
Shall find the Lord has mercy too.
3 His soul shall live secure on earth,
With secret blessings on his head,
When drought, and pestilence, and dearth,
Around him multiply their dead.
4 Or if he languish on his couch,
God will pronounce his sins forgiven,
Will save him with a healing touch,
Or take his willing soul to heaven.
WITH earnest longings of the mind,
My God, to thee I look;
So pants the hunted hart to find
And taste the cooling brook.
2 When shall I see thy courts of grace,
And meet my God again?
So long an absence from thy face
My heart endures with pain.
3 Temptations vex my weary soul,
And tears are my repast;
The foe insults without control,—
"And where's your God at last?"
4 'Tis with a mournful pleasure now
I think on ancient days:
Then to thy house did numbers go,
And all our work was praise.
5 But why, my soul, sink down so far
Beneath this heavy load?
My spirit, why indulge despair,
And sin against my God?
6 Hope in the Lord, whose mighty hand
Can all thy woes remove;
For I shall yet before him stand,
And sing restoring love.
Y spirit sinks within me, Lord,
But I will call thy name to mind,
And times of past distress record,
When I have found my God was kind.
2 Huge troubles with tumultuous noise
Swell like a sea, and round me spread:
Thy water-spouts drown all my joys,
And rising waves roll o'er my head.
3 Yet will the Lord command his love,
When I address his throne by day;
Nor in the night his grace remove:
The night shall hear me sing and pray.
4 I'll cast myself before his feet,
And say, "My God, my heavenly Rock!
Why doth thy love so long forget
The soul that groans beneath thy stroke?"
5 I'll chide my heart that sinks so low;
Why should my soul indulge her grief?
Hope in the Lord, and praise him too;
He is my rest, my sure relief
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