1 SWEET is the solemn voice that calls The Christian to the house of prayer; I love to stand within its walls,

For thou, O Lord, art present there. 2 I love to tread the hallowed courts,

Where two or three for worship meet; For thither Christ himself resorts,

And makes the little band complete.

3 'Tis sweet to raise the common song, To join in holy praise and love; And imitate the blessed throng

That mingle hearts and songs above.

4 Within these walls may peace abound, May all our hearts in one agree;

4

Where brethren meet, where Christ is found,

May peace and concord ever be.

C. M.

1 TO come before thee, Lord, with praise, How good it is, and right:

The song of grateful hearts to raise,
An ever new delight!

2 With thankfulness we trace in this,
O Lord, the coming joy

Of heaven, with all its holy bliss,
And sanctified employ.

3 The bounding spring of souls at peace,
The voice and gush of love;
The rapture never more to cease,
Of home, with thee above.

4 O happy life! O joyous song! O blessedness supreme!

The eternal concord sweet and strong, Christ all its source and theme.

5

(See Music at the end, No. 5.)

1 HOLY, holy, holy Lord! By thy Spirit and thy word, Now to us thy peace accord.

Hear us, Lord, and bless.

2 Lo, we bow before thy throne,
Frail and poor, yet still thine own;
Make thy loving presence known.
Hear us, Lord, and bless.

3 Strength and help, O Lord, we crave,
In thy service to be brave;
From the world's delusion save.

Hear us, Lord, and bless.

4 Fill us with a godly fear;

Let us know thee ever near;

While glad hope of heaven shall cheer.
Hear us, Lord, and bless.

my

soul,

the

mercy-seat,

7

Where Jesus answers prayer;
Then humbly fall before his feet,
For none can perish there.

2 Thy promise is my only plea;
With this I venture nigh:
Thou callest burdened souls to thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

3 Be thou my shield and hiding-place,
That, sheltered near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him thou hast died.

4 O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead thy gracious name.

C. M.

1 ONCE more we leave the busy road
Of worldly toil and care,

To worship our Redeemer God,
In his own house of prayer.

2 As strangers in a land of woe,
We pass our mortal days;

Yet now and then rejoicings know,
In God's own house of praise.

3 Ye mourning Christians, join the song,
Your harps once more employ ;
Remember, as ye pass along,
This is the house of joy.

4 Dear Saviour, in thy temple shine,
Then shall our souls be blest;

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And know and prove the truth divine,
Thine is a house of rest.

L. M.

1 WHO that has felt the heart's deep need, The woe of sin, the pain of grief,

But loves, in prayer, with Christ to plead
For his upholding and relief.

2 O precious Christ our Lord! thy soul
Knew, and remembers all life's fears;
How waves of sorrow o'er it roll,
And hearts record their thoughts in tears.

3 How full of comfort to draw nigh

The mercy-seat, thy special throne ; And, certain of thy sympathy,

Our burthens and our weakness own.

4 Who, like thee, Lord, can soothe and cheer? Who, like our Saviour, help and heal? Lord, while we thus to thee draw near, Thy presence and thy love reveal.

1 LET us pray! the Lord is willing,
Ever waiting, prayer to hear;
Ready, his kind words fulfilling,
Loving hearts to bless and cheer.

2 Let us pray! our God with blessing
Satisfies the praying soul;
Bends to hear the heart's confessing,
Moulding it to his control.

3 Let us pray! though foes surrounding,
Vex and trouble and dismay;

Precious grace, through Christ abounding,
Still shall guard and guide our way.

4 Let us pray! our life is praying;
Prayer with time, alone, may cease:
Then in heaven, God's will obeying,
Life is praise, and perfect peace.

1 BEHOLD us, Lord, the few, the weak, Feeble and poor, to thee we come ; The blessing of thy help to seek,

Thy guidance on our pathway home.

2 To thee our various wants are known; Life's burthen, with its toil and grief; O shine the rugged way upon,

And cheer our souls with love's relief.