Awake from guilty nature's sleep, And Christ shall give you light; Cast all your sins into the deep, And wash the Ethiop white. With me, by faith, ye then shall know, Shall feel your sins forgiven; Anticipate your heaven below, And own that love is heaven.
SOLOMON'S PRAYER FOR WISDOM.
ALMIGHTY God, in humble prayer,
To Thee our souls we lift,
Do Thou our waiting minds prepare
For thy most needful gift.
We ask not golden streams of wealth
Along our path to flow;
We ask not undecaying health,
Nor length of years below.
We ask not honours, which an hour
May bring and take away;
We ask not pleasure, pomp, and power,
Lest we should go astray.
We ask for wisdom: -Lord, impart
The knowledge how to live;
A wise and understanding heart
To all before Thee give.
For we, like children, born in sin,
Know not, till Thou hast taught,
How to go out, or how come in.
By word, or deed, or thought.
The young remember Thee in youth,
Before the evil days!
The old be guided by thy truth
In wisdom's pleasant ways!
FOR FAITH IN GOD,
[c. WESLEY.]
GIVE me the faith which can remove
And sink the mountain to a plain;
Give me the child-like praying love,
Which longs to build thy house again.
Thy love, let it my heart o'erpower,
And all my simple soul devour!
I would the precious time redeem,
And longer live for this alone;
To spend, and to be spent, for them
Who have not yet my Saviour known;
Fully on these my mission prove,
And only breathe, to breathe thy love.
My talents, gifts, and graces, Lord,
Into thy blessed hands receive;
And let me live to preach thy word,
And let me to thy glory live;
My every sacred moment spend,
In publishing the sinner's Friend!
Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart,
With boundless charity divine!
So shall I all my strength exert,
And love them with a zeal like thine;
And lead them to thy open side,
The sheep for whom their Shepherd died.
FOR PROVIDENCE AND GRACE.
O THOU, my light, my life, my joy,
My glory, and my all!
Unsent by Thee, no good can come,
No evil can befall.
Such are thy schemes of providence
And methods of thy grace,
That I may safely trust in Thee,
Through all the wilderness.
"Tis thine outstretch'd and powerful arm
Upholds me in the way;
And thy rich bounty well supplies
The wants of every day.
For such compassions, O my God!
Ten thousand thanks are due;
For such compassions, I esteem
Ten thousand thanks too few.
FOR THE REDEEMER'S RETURN TO HIS CHURCH. [BISHOP HEBER.]
O SAVIOUR! is thy promise fled?
Nor longer may thy grace endure,
To heal the sick, and raise the dead,
And preach thy gospel to the poor?
Com, Jesus! come, return again;
With brighter beams thy servants bless,
Who long to hail thy perfect reign,
And share thy kingdom's happiness.
A feeble race, by passion driven,
In darkness and in doubt we roam,
And lift our anxious eyes to heaven,
Our hope, our harbour, and our home.
Come, Jesus, come! and as, of yore,
Thy Prophet went to clear the way,
A harbinger thy feet before,
A dawning to thy brighter day;-
So, ere again we see thy face,
Our stony hearts for truth prepare;
Sow in our souls the seed of grace,
Then come, and reap thy harvest there.
My God, I humbly call Thee mine,
And will not quit my claim, Till all I have is lost in thine, And all renew'd I am.
I hold Thee with a trembling hand,
But will not let Thee go,
Till steadfastly by faith I stand,
And all thy goodness know.
Jesus thine all-victorious love
Shed in my heart abroad;
Then shall my feet no longer rove,
Rooted and fix'd in God.
O that in me the sacred fire
Might now begin to glow!
Burn up the dross of base desire,
And make the mountains flow!
O that it now from heaven might fall,
And all my sins consume!
Come, Holy Ghost! for Thee I call;
Spirit of burning, come!
Refining fire, go through my heart,
Illuminate my soul;
Scatter thy light through every part,
And sanctify the whole!
No longer, then, my heart shall mourn,
While, purified by grace,
I only for his glory burn,
And always see his face.
FOR SUBMISSION TO THE DIVINE WILL
[MRS. J. COTTEBILL]
O THOU! who hast at thy command,
The hearts of all men in thy hand!
Our wayward, erring hearts inciine
To have no other will but thine.
Our wishes, our desires, control;
Mould every purpose of the soul;
O'er all may we victorious be,
That stands between ourselves and Thee.
Twice bless'd will all our blessings be,
When we can look through them to Thee;
When each glad heart its tribute pays
Of love, and gratitude, and praise.
Still make us, when temptation's near,
As our worst foe, ourselves to fear:
And, each vain-glorious thought to quell,
Teach us how Peter vow'd and fell.
Yet may we, feeble, weak, and frail,
Against our mightiest foes prevail;
Thy word, our safety from alarm,
Our strength, thine everlasting arm.
And while we to thy glory live,
May we to Thee all glory give,
Until the joyful summons come,
That calls thy willing servants home.
FOR GRACE TO FOLLOW CHRIST.
JESUS, Thou Man of sorrows, born
To suffering here below,
To toil through poverty and scorn,
Through weakness, and through woe:-
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