2 If thou the furnace dost employ,
Thou sittest as refiner near,
To purge away the base alloy,
Till thine own image bright appear.
3 Though oft thy way is in the sea,

Thy footsteps in the wingéd storm; Though crested billows threaten me, Love slumbers in their frowning form! 4 Submissive would I kiss the rod,

Needful each stroke, I humbly own: Help me to trust thee, O my God!

If now thy wisdom be unknown.

047 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." C. M.

I CANNOT call affliction sweet,
And yet 't was good to bear:
Affliction brought me to thy feet,
And I found comfort there.
2 My weaned soul was all resigned
To thy most gracious will;
Oh, had I kept that better mind,
Or been afflicted still!

3 Where are the vows which then I vowed, The joys which then I knew?

Those vanished like the morning cloud, These, like the early dew.

4 Lord, grant me grace for every day, Whate'er my state may be,

Through life, in death, with truth to say, My God is all to me!

1 LONG unafflicted, undismayed,
In pleasure's path secure I strayed;
Thou mad'st me feel thy chastening rod
And straight I turned unto my God.

2 What though it pierced my fainting hear
I blessed thy hand that caused the smar
It taught my tears awhile to flow,
But saved me from eternal woe.

3 Oh! hadst thou left me unchastised,
Thy precepts I had still despised;
And still the snare in secret laid
Had my unwary feet betrayed.
4 I love thee, therefore, O my God!
And long to reach thy dear abode;
Where, in thy presence fully blest,
Thy chosen saints forever rest.

WHAT though no flowers the fig-tree

clothe,

Though vines their fruit deny, The labor of the olive fail,

And fields no meat supply;

Though from the fold, with sad surprise,
My flock cut off I see;
Though famine pine in empty stalls,
Where herds were wont to be;
Yet in the Lord will I be glad,

And glory in his love:

In him I'll joy, who will the God
Of my salvation prove.

God is the treasure of my soul,
The source of lasting joy;

A joy which want shall not impair,
Nor death itself destroy.

1 To God I made my sorrows known;
From God I sought relief;

In long complaints before his throne
I poured out all my grief.

2 On every side I cast mine eye,
And found my helpers gone;
While friends and strangers passed me by,
Neglected or unknown.

3 Then did I raise a louder cry,
And called thy mercy near:
"Thou art my Portion when I die, -
Be thou my Refuge here!"

4 Lord! I am brought exceeding low;
Now let thine ear attend,

And make my foes, who vex me, know I've an almighty Friend.

pure;

Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,

953

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure.

“His compassions fail not.” Ss, 7s & 4.

1 EVERY human tie may perish;

Friend to friend unfaithful prove; Mothers cease their own to cherish; Heaven and earth at last remove: But no changes

Can avert the Father's love.

2 In the furnace God may prove thee,
Thence to bring thee forth more
bright,

But can never cease to love thee;
Thou art precious in his sight:
God is with thee,

God, thine everlasting Light.

956

“I will praise Thee with my whole heart.” L. M.
Psalm 138.

1 WITH all my powers of heart and tongue,
I'll praise my Maker in my song;
Angels shall hear the notes I raise,
Approve the song, and join the praise.

2 To God I cried when troubles rose;
He heard me, and subdued my foes:
He did my rising fears control,
And strength diffused through all my soul.
3 Amid a thousand snares, I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.
4 I'll sing thy truth and mercy, Lord,
I'll sing the wonders of thy word;
Not all thy works and names below
So much thy power and glory show.

957

"The precious Sons of Zion.” 1 BLESSED are the sons of God!

They are bought with Jesus' blood;
They are ransomed from the grave;
Life eternal they shall have:
With them numbered may we be,
Here, and in eternity!

2 God did love them in his Son
Long before the world begun;
All their sins are washed away;
They shall stand in God's great day:
With them numbered may we be,
Here, and in eternity!

3 They are harmless, meek, and mild, Holy, humble, undefiled;

They are by the Spirit sealed,
They with love and peace are filled
With them numbered may we be,
Here, and in eternity!

4 They are lights upon the earth,
Children of a heavenly birth;
One with God, with Jesus one,
Glory is in them begun:

With them numbered may we be,
Here, and in eternity!

7s. 2 If he is mine, then from his love He every trouble sends;

1 Он, happy is the man who hears
Instruction's warning voice;
And who celestial wisdom makes
His early, only choice.

2 For she hath treasures greater far
Than east and west unfold;
And her rewards more precious are
Than all their stores of gold.

3 She guides the young with innocence
In pleasure's paths to tread;
A crown of glory. she bestows
Upon the hoary head.

4 According as her labors rise,
So her rewards increase;

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.

All things are working for my good,
And bliss his rod attends.

3 If he is mine, I need not fear
The rage of earth and hell;
He will support my feeble power,
Their utmost force repel.

4 If he is mine, let friends forsake,
Let wealth and honors flee:
Sure, he who giveth me himself,
Is more than these to me.

5 If he is mine, I'll boldly pass

Through death's dark, lonely vale; He is my comfort and my stay,

When heart and flesh shall fail.

6 Oh, tell me, Lord, that thou art mine;
What can I wish beside?

My soul shall at the fountain live,
When all the streams are dried.

“Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well S. M

960 with him.' Isaiah 3: 10.

1 WHAT cheering words are these?
Their sweetness who can tell?
In time, and to eternal days,
"T is with the righteous well.'

2 In every state secure,

Kept as Jehovah's eye,

'Tis well with them while life endures, And well when called to die;

3 Well when they see his face,
Or sink amid the flood;
Well in affliction's thorny maze,
Or on the mount with God.

4 'Tis well when joys arise;

"T is well when sorrows flow;

'T is well when darkness vails the skies, And strong temptations grow,

5 'Tis well when Jesus calls:
"From earth and sin arise,

To join the hosts of ransomed souls,
Made to salvation wise!"

961

“While I live will I praise the Lord.”
Psalm 146.

L. M. 1 GOD of my life! through all my days My grateful powers shall sound thy

praise;

The song shall wake with opening light, And warble to the silent night.

When anxious care would break my rest,
And grief would tear my throbbing breast,
Thy tuneful praises raised on high,
Shall check the murmur and the sigh.

3 When death o'er nature shall prevail,
And all my powers of language fail,
Joy through my swimming eyes shall
break,

And mean the thanks I cannot speak.

1 But, oh! when that last conflict 's o'er,
And I am chained to flesh no more,
With what glad accents shall I rise
To join the music of the skies!

963

“The secret place of the Most High.”
Psalm 91.

1 THERE is a safe and secret place
Beneath the wings divine,
Reserved for all the heirs of grace:
Oh, be that refuge mine!

2 The least and feeblest there may bide, Uninjured and unawed;

While thousands fall on every side,
He rests secure in God.

3 He feeds in pastures large and fair,
Of love and truth divine;

O child of God, O glory's heir!
How rich a lot is thine!

4 A hand almighty to defend,
An ear for every call,

An honored life, a peaceful end,
And heaven to crown it all!

C. M.

1 HEAR What God, the Lord, hath spoken:
O my people, faint and few,
Comfortless, afflicted, broken,
Fair abodes I build for you;
Scenes of heartfelt tribulation

Shall no more perplex your ways;
You shall name your walls "Salvation,"
And your gates shall all be “Praise.
2 Ye no more your suns descending,
Waning moons no more shall see;
But your griefs forever ending,
Find eternal noon in me.
God shall rise, and, shining o'er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He, the Lord, shall be your Glory,
God your everlasting Light.

1 JESUS, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee;
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,

All I've sought, or hoped, or known; Yet how rich is my condition!

God and heaven are still my own.

2 Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Saviour, too;
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue:
And while thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate, and friends may scorn me;
Show thy face, and all is bright.

1 KNow, my soul, thy full salvation;
Rise o'er sin and fear and care;
Joy to find in every station
Something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee;
Think what Father's smiles are thine;
Think that Jesus died to win thee:

Child of heaven, canst thou repine? 2 Haste thee on from grace to glory,

Armed by faith, and winged by prayer; Heaven's eternal day before thee

God's own hand shall guide thee there. Soon shall close thine earthly mission, Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days; Hope shall change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and prayer to praise. ·

969 "My meditation of Him shall be sweet." C. M

1 WHEN languor and disease invade
This trembling house of clay,
"T is sweet to look beyond my pain,
And long to fly away;

2 Sweet to look inward, and attend
The whispers of his love;
Sweet to look upward to the place
Where Jesus pleads above;

3 Sweet on his faithfulness to rest,
Whose love can never end;
Sweet on his covenant of grace
For all things to depend;

4 Sweet, in the confidence of faith,
To trust his firm decrees;
Sweet to lie passive in his hands,
And know no will but his.

5 If such the sweetness of the streams,

What must the fountain be

Where saints and angels draw their bliss
Direct, O Lord, from thee?

970 “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” C. M. 1 COME, humble souls, ye mourners,

come,

And wipe away your tears : Adieu to all your sad complaints, Your sorrows and your fears.

2 Come, shout aloud the Father's grace, The Saviour's dying love:

Soon shall you join the glorious theme
In loftier strains above.

3 God, the eternal, mighty God,
To dearer names descends:
Calls you his treasure, and his joy,
His children, and his friends.

4 My Father, God! and may these lips
Pronounce a name so dear?

Not thus could heaven's sweet harmony Delight my listening ear.

5 Forever let my grateful heart His boundless grace adore,

Which gives ten thousand blessings now, And bids me hope for more.