Devotional Hymns.

1.

"It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

JER. 10:23.

Our Father! through the coming year
We know not what shall be;
But we would leave without a fear
Its ordering all to Thee.

It may be we shall toil in vain

For what the world holds fair;
And all the good we thought to gain,
Deceive and prove but care.

It may be it shall darkly blend
Our love with anxious fears,
And snatch away the valued friend,
The tried of many years.

It may be it shall bring us days
And nights of lingering pain;
And bid us take a farewell gaze
Of these loved haunts of men.

But calmly, Lord, on Thee we rest
No fears our trust shall move;
Thou knowest what for each is best,
And Thou art Perfect Love.

GASKELL.

2.

"Thou wilt show me the path of life." PSALM 16:11.

Thy way, not mine, O Lord!

However dark it be;

Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.

Smooth let it be, or rough,

It will be still the best;

Winding or straight, it matters not,
It leads me to Thy rest.

I dare not choose my lot,
I would not if I might;
Choose Thou for me, O God!
So shall I walk aright.

The kingdom that I seek
Is Thine; so let the way
That leads to it be Thine,
Else I must surely stray.

Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill,
As best to Thee may seem;
Choose Thou my good and ill.

Choose Thou for me my friends,
My sickness or my health;
Choose Thou my cares for me,
My poverty or wealth.

Not mine, not mine the choice
In things or great or small;
Be Thou my guide, my strength,
My wisdom and my all.

H. BONAR

3.

"If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

JOHN 14: 14.

My prayer to the promise shall cling-
I will not give heed to a doubt;
For I ask for the one needful thing
Which I can not be happy without

A spirit of lowly repose

In the love of the Lamb that was slain
A heart to be touched with His woes,
And a care not to grieve Him again;

The peace that my Saviour has bought,
The cheerfulness nothing can dim,
The love that can bring every thought
Into perfect obedience to Him;

The wisdom His mercy to own

In the way he directs me to takeTo glory in Jesus alone,

And to love and do good for His sake

All this Thou hast offered to me

In the promise whereon I will rest;
For faith, O my Saviour! in Thee,
Is the substance of all my request.

Thy word has commanded my prayer,
Thy Spirit has taught me to pray;
And all my unholy despair

Is ready to vanish away.

Thou wilt not be weary of me,
Thy promise my faith shall sustain;
And soon, very soon shall I see
I have not been asking in vain.

ANNA L. WARING

4.

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." HEB. 12:11.

O Thou whose gently chastening hand
In mercy deals the blow !
Make but Thy servant understand
Wherefore Thou layest me low!

I ask Thee not the rod to spare
While thus Thy love I see;
But oh! let every suffering bear
Some message, Lord, from Thee!

Perhaps an erring wish I knew
To read my future fate,

And Thou wouldst say: "Thy days are few,
And vain thy best estate."

Perhaps Thy glory seemed my choice,
While I secured my own,

And thus my kind Reprover's voice
Tells me He works alone!

Oh! silence Thou this murmuring will,

Nor bid Thy rough wind stay,

Till with a furnace hotter still

My dross is purged away!