There, like streams that feed the garden,
Pleasures without end shall flow;
For the Lord, your faith rewarding,
All his bounty shall bestow;
Still in undisturbed possession
Peace and righteousness shall reign;
Never shall you feel oppression,

Hear the voice of war again.

'Ye no more your suns descending,
Waning moons no more shall see ;
But, your griefs for ever ending,

Find eternal noon in me :
God shall rise, and shining o'er ye,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He, the Lord, shall be your glory,
God your everlasting light.'

XI. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHT-
EOUSNESS. Jer. xxiii. 6.
My God, how perfect are thy ways!
But mine polluted are ;
Sin twines itself about my praise,
And slides into my prayer.

When I would speak what thou hast done
To save me from my sin,

I cannot make thy mercies known,
But self-applause creeps in.

Divine desire, that holy flame
Thy grace creates in me;
Alas! impatience is its name,
When it returns to thee.

This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts, How does it overflow,

While self upon the surface floats,

Still bubbling from below!

Let others in the gaudy dress

Of fancied merit shine; The Lord shall be my righteousness, The Lord for ever mine.

XII. EPHRAIM REPENTING.
Jer. xxxi. 18-20.

My God, till I received thy stroke,
How like a beast was I!
So unaccustomed to the yoke,
So backward to comply.

XIII. THE COVENANT.
Ezek. xxxvi. 25-28.

THE Lord proclaims his

abroad!

grace "Behold, I change your hearts of stone; Each shall renounce his idol-god,

And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone.

"My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds
To wash your filthiness away;
Ye shall abhor your former deeds,
And learn my statutes to obey.

"My truth the great design ensures,
I give myself away to you;
You shall be mine, I will be yours,
Your God unalterably true.

"Yet not unsought, or unimplored,
The plenteous grace shall I confer;
No-your whole hearts shall seek the
Lord,

I'll put a praying spirit there.

"From the first breath of life divine,
Down to the last expiring hour,
The gracious work shall all be mine,
Begun and ended in my power."

XIV. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.

Ezek. xlviii. 35.

"As birds their infant brood protect, And spread their wings to shelter them, (Thus saith the Lord to his elect,) So will I guard Jerusalem.'

And what then is Jerusalem,

This darling object of his care? Where is its worth in God's esteem? Who built it? who inhabits there?

Jehovah founded it in blood,

The blood of his incarnate Son; There dwell the saints, once foes to God,

The sinners whom he calls his own.

There, though besieged on every side, Yet much beloved, and guarded well, From age to age they have defied

The utmost force of earth and hell.

Let earth repent, and hell despair,

This city has a sure defence; Her name is called "The Lord is there," And who has power to drive him thence?

XV. PRAISE FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPENED.-Zech. xiii. I.

THERE is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,

Washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I'll sing thy power to save; When this poor lisping, stammer tongue

Lies silent in the grave.

Lord, I believe thou hast prepared (Unworthy though I be)

For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me!

'Tis strung and tuned for endless yea
And formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father's ears
No other name but thine.

XVI. THE SOWER. Matt. xiii. 3YE sons of earth, prepare the plough, Break up your fallow-ground; The sower is gone forth to sow,

And scatter blessings round.

The seed that finds a stony soil

Shoots forth a hasty blade; But ill repays the sower's toil,

Soon withered, scorched, and dead

The thorny ground is sure to balk
All hopes of harvest there;
We find a tall and sickly stalk,

But not the fruitful ear.

The beaten path and highway side
Receive the trust in vain;
The watchful birds the spoil divide,
And pick up all the grain.

But where the Lord of grace and powe
Has blessed the happy field,
How plenteous is the golden store
The deep-wrought furrows yield!

Father of mercies, we have need
Of thy preparing grace;
Let the same hand that gives the seed
Provide a fruitful place!

XVII. THE HOUSE OF PRAYER.
Mark xi. 17.

THY mansion is the Christian's heart, O Lord, thy dwelling-place secure! Bid the unruly throng depart,

And leave the consecrated door.

evoted as it is to thee,

A thievish swarm frequents the place; ey steal away my joys from me, And rob my Saviour of his praise.

here, too, a sharp designing trade Sin, Satan, and the World maintain; or cease to press me, and persuade To part with ease, and purchase pain. know them, and I hate their din; Am weary of the bustling crowd; But while their voice is heard within, I cannot serve thee as I would.

Oh for the joy thy presence gives, What peace shall reign when thou art here!

Thy presence makes this den of thieves

Á calm delightful house of prayer.

And if thou make thy temple shine,
Yet, self-abased, will I adore;
The gold and silver are not mine;

I give thee what was thine before.

XVIII. LOVEST THOU ME?
John xxi. 16.

HARK, my soul! it is the Lord;
'Tis thy Saviour, hear his word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,
Say, poor sinner, lovest thou me?

I delivered thee when bound,
And when bleeding, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wandering, set thee right;
Turned thy darkness into light.

"Can a woman's tender care
Cease towards the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.

"Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.

"Thou shalt see my glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of my throne shalt be;-
Say, poor sinner, lovest thou me?"

XIX CONTENTMENT. Phil. iv. II.
FIERCE passions discompose the mind,
As tempests vex the sea;
But calm content and peace we find,
When, Lord, we turn to thee.

In vain by reason and by rule
We try to bend the will;
For none but in the Saviour's school
Can learn the heavenly skill.
Since at his feet my soul has sate,
His gracious words to hear,
Contented with my present state,
I cast on him my care.

"Art thou a sinner, soul?" he said,

"Then how canst thou complain? How light thy troubles here, if weighed With everlasting pain!

"If thou of murmuring wouldst be cured, Compare thy griefs with mine; Think what my love for thee endured, And thou wilt not repine.

""Tis I appoint thy daily lot,

And I do all things well;

Thou soon shalt leave this wretched

spot,

And rise with me to dwell.

"In life my grace shall strength supply, Proportioned to thy day;

At death thou still shalt find me nigh,
To wipe thy tears away."

Thus I, who once my wretched days
In vain repinings spent,

Taught in my Saviour's school of grace,
Have learned to be content.

XX. OLD TESTAMENT GOSPEL.
Heb. iv. 2.

ISRAEL in ancient days
Not only had a view
Of Sinai in a blaze,

But learned the Gospel too;
The types and figures were a glass,
In which they saw a Saviour's face.

The paschal sacrifice

And blood-besprinkled door,
Seen with enlightened eyes,

And once applied with power, Would teach the need of other blood, To reconcile an angry God.

The Lamb, the Dove, set forth

His perfect innocence,
Whose blood of matchless worth
Should be the soul's defence;
For he who can for sin atone
Must have no failings of his own.

The scape-goat on his head
The people's trespass bore,
And to the desert led,

Was to be seen no more :
In him our Surety seemed to say,
"Behold, I bear your sins away.'

Dipt in his fellow's blood,

The living bird went free; The type, well understood, Expressed the sinner's plea ; Described a guilty soul enlarged, And by a Saviour's death discharged.

Jesus, I love to trace,

Throughout the sacred page,
The footsteps of thy grace,
The same in every age!
Oh grant that I may faithful be
To clearer light vouchsafed to me!

66

XXI. SARDIS. Rev. iii. 1—6.

WRITE to Sardis," saith the Lord,
66 And write what he declares,
He whose Spirit, and whose word,
Upholds the seven stars :--
All thy works and ways I search,

Find thy zeal and love decayed ;
Thou art called a living church,

But thou art cold and dead.

"Watch, remember, seek, and strive, Exert thy former pains; Let thy timely care revive,

And strengthen what remains; Cleanse thine heart, thy works amend,

Former times to mind recall, Lest my sudden stroke descend, And smite thee once for all.

"Yet I number now in thee
A few that are upright;
These my Father's face shall see,
And walk with me in white.
When in judgment I appear,

They for mine shall be confessed;
Let my faithful servants hear,-
And woe be to the rest!"

XXII. PRAYER FOR A BLESSIN ON THE YOUNG.

BESTOW, dear Lord, upon our youth,
The gift of saving grace;

And let the seed of sacred truth
Fall in a fruitful place.

Grace is a plant, where'er it grows,
Of pure and heavenly root;
But fairest in the youngest shows,

And yields the sweetest fruit.

Ye careless ones, oh hear betimes
The voice of sovereign love!
Your youth is stained with many crimes
But Mercy reigns above.

True, you are young, but there's a ston
Within the youngest breast;
Or half the crimes which you have don
Would rob you of your rest.

For you the public prayer is made
Oh join the public prayer!
For you the secret tear is shed;
Oh shed yourselves a tear !

We pray that you may early prove

The Spirit's power to teach; You cannot be too young to love That Jesus whom we preach.

;

XXIII. PLEADING FOR AND
WITH YOUTH.

SIN has undone our wretched race;
But Jesus has restored,
And brought the sinner face to face
With his forgiving Lord.

This we repeat from year to year,
And press upon our youth;
Lord, give them an attentive ear,
Lord, save them by thy truth!

XXIV. PRAYER FOR CHILDREN.
GRACIOUS Lord, our children see,
By thy mercy we are free;
But shall these, alas! remain
Subjects still of Satan's reign?
Israel's young ones, when of old
Pharaoh threatened to withhold,
Then thy messenger said, "No;
Let the children also go !"

When the angel of the Lord,
Drawing forth his dreadful sword,
Slew with an avenging hand,
All the first-born of the land;
Then thy people's doors he passed,
Where the bloody sign was placed -
Hear us, now, upon our knees
Plead the blood of Christ for these!

Lord, we tremble, for we know
How the fierce malicious foe,
Wheeling round his watchful flight,
Keeps them ever in his sight:
Spread thy pinions, King of kings!
Hide them safe beneath thy wings;
Lest the ravenous bird of prey
Stoop, and bear the brood away.

XXV. JEHOVAH JESUS. My song shall bless the Lord of all, My praise shall climb to his abode; Thee, Saviour, by that name I call,

The great Supreme, the Mighty God.

Without beginning or decline,

Object of faith and not of sense; Eternal ages saw him shine,

He shines eternal ages hence.

As much, when in the manger laid,
Almighty ruler of the sky,
As when the six days' work he made
Filled all the morning stars with joy.
Of all the crowns Jehovah bears,

Salvation is his dearest claim;
That gracious sound well pleased he hears,
And owns Emmanuel for his name.

A cheerful confidence I feel,

My well-placed hopes with joy I see; My bosom glows with heavenly zeal, To worship him who died for me.

As man, he pities my complaint,
His power and truth are all divine;
He will not fail, he cannot faint;
Salvation's sure, and must be mine.

XXVI. ON OPENING A PLACE FOR SOCIAL PRAYER.

JESUS! where'er thy people meet,
There they behold thy mercy-seat;
Where'er they seek thee, thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.

For thou, within no walls confined,
Inhabitest the humble mind;
Such ever bring thee where they come,
And going, take thee to their home.

Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few!
Thy former mercies here renew;
Here to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving name.

Here may we prove the power of prayer.
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.

Behold, at thy commanding word
We stretch the curtain and the cord;
Come thou, and fill this wider space,
And bless us with a large increase.