Hymn 53
The Holy Scriptures.
Heb. 1:1,2; 2 Tim. 3:15,16; Psa. 147:19,20.
God, who in various methods told
His mind and will to saints of old,
Sent down his Son, with truth and grace,
To teach us in these latter days.
Our nation reads the written word,
That book of life, that sure record:
The bright inheritance of heav'n
Is by the sweet conveyance giv'n.
God's kindest thoughts are here expressed,
Able to make us wise and bless'd;
The doctrines are divinely true,
Fit for reproof and comfort too.
Ye British isles, who read his love
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Psalm 27 part 1
v.1-6
C. M.
The church is our delight and safety.
The Lord of glory is my light,
And my salvation too;
God is my strength, nor will I fear
What all my foes can do.
One privilege my heart desires;
O grant me an abode
Among the churches of thy saints,
The temples of my God!
There shall I offer my requests,
And see thy beauty still;
Shall hear thy messages of love,
And there inquire thy will.
When troubles rise, and storms appear,
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poem by Isaac Watts
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Psalm 89 part 1
The faithfulness of God.
My never-ceasing songs shall show
The mercies of the Lord;
And make succeeding ages know
How faithful is his word.
The sacred truths his lips pronounce
Shall firm as heav'n endure;
And if he speak a promise once,
Th' eternal grace is sure.
How long the race of David held
The promised Jewish throne!
But there's a nobler cov'nant sealed
To David's greater Son.
His seed for ever shall possess
A throne above the skies;
The meanest subject of his grace
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Psalm 127
The blessing of God on the business and comforts of life.
If God succeed not, all the cost
And pains to build the house are lost;
If God the city will not keep,
The watchful guards as well may sleep.
What if you rise before the sun,
And work and toil when day is done;
Careful and sparing eat your bread,
To shun that poverty you dread;
'Tis all in vain, till God hath blessed;
He can make rich, yet give us rest:
Children and friends are blessings too,
If God our Sovereign make them so.
Happy the man to whom he sends
Obedient children, faithful friends:
How sweet our daily comforts prove
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poem by Isaac Watts
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Psalm 41
v.1-8
L. M.
Charity to the poor; or, Pity to the afflicted.
Blest is the man whose bowels move,
And melt with pity to the poor;
Whose soul, by sympathizing love,
Feels what his fellow saints endure.
His heart contrives for their relief
More good than his own hands can do;
He, in the time of gen'ral grief,
Shall find the Lord has bowels too.
His soul shall live secure on earth,
With secret blessings on his head,
When drought, and pestilence, and dearth
Around him multiply their dead.
Or if he languish on his couch,
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Hymn 116
Love to God and our neighbor.
Matt. 22:37-40.
Thus saith the first, the great command,
"Let all thy inward powers unite
To love thy Maker and thy God
With utmost vigor and delight.
"Then shall thy neighbor next in place
Share thine affections and esteem,
And let thy kindness to thyself
Measure and rule thy love to him."
This is the sense that Moses spoke,
This did the prophets preach and prove;
For want of this the law is broke,
And the whole law's fulfilled by love.
But O! how base our passions are!
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Hymn 130
Love and hatred.
Phil. 2:2; Eph. 4:30,etc.
Now by the bowels of my God,
His sharp distress, his sore complaints,
By his last groans, his dying blood,
I charge my soul to love the saints.
Clamor, and wrath, and war, begone,
Envy and spite, for ever cease;
Let bitter words no more be known
Amongst the saints, the sons of peace.
The Spirit, like a peaceful dove,
Flies from the realms of noise and strife:
Why should we vex and grieve his love
Who seals our souls to heav'nly life?
Tender and kind be all our thoughts,
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Psalm 24
Dwelling with God.
The earth for ever is the Lord's,
With Adam's num'rous race;
He raised its arches o'er the floods,
And built it on the seas.
But who among the sons of men
May visit thine abode?
He that has hands from mischief clean,
Whose heart is right with God.
This is the man may rise and take
The blessings of his grace;
This is the lot of those that seek
The God of Jacob's face.
Now let our souls' immortal powers
To meet the Lord prepare,
Lift up their everlasting doors,
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Psalm 92 part 2
v.12ff
L. M.
The church is the garden of God.
Lord, 'tis a pleasant thing to stand
In gardens planted by thine hand;
Let me within thy courts be seen,
Like a young cedar, fresh and green.
There grow thy saints in faith and love,
Blest with thine influence from above;
Not Lebanon with all its trees
Yields such a comely sight as these.
The plants of grace shall ever live;
(Nature decays, but grace must thrive
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish strong and fair.
Laden with fruits of age, they show
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Hymn 155
Christ our passover.
Lo, the destroying angel flies
To Pharaoh's stubborn land;
The pride and flower of Egypt dies
By his vindictive hand.
He passed the tents of Jacob o'er,
Nor poured the wrath divine;
He saw the blood on every door,
And blessed the peaceful sign.
Thus the appointed Lamb must bleed,
To break the Egyptian yoke;
Thus Isr'el is from bondage freed,
And 'scapes the angel's stroke.
Lord, if my heart were sprinkled too
With blood so rich as thine,
Justice no longer would pursue
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