3 Among my enemies, my name
Was a mere proverb grown;
While to my neighbors I became
Forgotten and unknown.
4 Slander and fear on every side
Seized and beset me round;
I to the throne of grace applied,
And speedy rescue found.
5 How great deliverance thou hast wrought Before the sons of men!
The lying lips to silence brought,
And made their boasting vain!
6 Thy children from the strife of tongues
Shall thy pavilion hide;
Guard them from infamy and wrongs,
And crush the sons of pride.
7 Within thy secret presence, Lord,
Let me for ever dwell;
No fenced city, walled and barred,
Secures à saint so well.
Confession and Forgiveness.
H blessed souls are they,
Whose sins are covered o'er;
Divinely bless'd, to whom the Lord
Imputes their guilt no more.
2 They mourn their follies past,
And keep their hearts with care;
Their lips and lives, without deceit,
Shall prove their faith sincere.
While I concealed my guilt,
I felt the festering wound;
Till I confessed my sins to thee,
And ready pardon found.
Let sinners learn to pray;
Let saints keep near the throne:
Our help, in times of deep distress,
Is found in God alone.
Free Pardon and sincere Obedience.
HAPPY the man to whom his God
No more imputes his sin;
But, washed in the Redeemer's blood,
Hath made his garments clean.
2 Happy, beyond expression, he
Whose debts are thus discharged;
And from the guilty bondage free,
He feels his soul enlarged.
3 His spirit hates deceit and lies,
His words are all sincere ;
He guards his heart, he guards his eyes,
To keep his conscience clear.
4 While I my inward guilt suppressed,
No quiet could I find;
Thy wrath lay burning in my breast,
And racked my tortured mind.
5 Then I confessed my troubled thoughts,
My secret sins revealed;
Thy pardoning grace forgave my faults,
Thy grace my pardon sealed.
6 This shall invite thy saints to pray:
When like a raging flood
Temptations rise, our strength and stay
Is a forgiving God.
Repentance, Justification, and Sanctification.
1 BLESS'D is the man, for ever bless'd,
Whose guilt is pardoned by his God;
Whose sins with sorrow are confessed,
And covered with his Saviour's blood.
2 Bless'd is the man to whom the Lord
Imputes not his iniquities;
He pleads no merit of reward,
And not on works, but grace relies.
3 From guile his heart and lips are free;
His humble joy, his holy fear,
With deep repentance well agree,
And join to prove his faith sincere.
4 How glorious is that righteousness
That hides and cancels all his sins! While a bright evidence of grace Through his whole life appears and shines.
SECOND PART.
Confession and Pardon.
WHILE I keep silence, and conceal
My heavy guilt within my heart,
What torments does my conscience feel,
What agonies of inward smart!
I spread my sins before the Lord,
And all my secret faults confess;
Thy gospel speaks a pardoning word,
Thy Holy Spirit seals the grace.
3 For this shall every humble soul
Make swift addresses to thy seat;
When floods of huge temptations roll,
There will they find a bless'd retreat.
4 How safe beneath thy wings I lie,
When days grow dark, and storms appear; And when I walk, thy watchful eye Shall guide me safe from every snare.
Works of Creation and Providence.
1 REJOICE, ye righteous, in the Lord;
This work belongs to you;
Sing of his name, his ways, his word,
How holy, just, and true!
2 His mercy and his righteousness
Let heaven and earth proclaim;
His works of nature and of grace
Reveal his wondrous name.
3 His wisdom and almighty word
The heavenly arches spread;
And by the Spirit of the Lord
Their shining hosts were made.
4 He bade the liquid waters flow
To their appointed deep;
The flowing seas their limits know,
And their own station keep.
5 Ye tenants of the spacious earth,
With fear before him stand;
He spake, and nature took its birth,
And rests on his command.
6 He scorns the angry nations' rage
And breaks their vain designs;
His counsel stands through every age,
And in full glory shines.
Creatures vain, and God all-sufficient.
LESS'D is the nation where the Lord
Has fixed his gracious throne;
Where he reveals his heavenly word,
And calls the tribes his own.
2 His eye, with infinite survey,
Does the whole world behold ;
He formed us all of equal clay,
And knows our feeble mould.
3 Kings are not rescued by the force
Of armies from the grave;
Nor speed nor courage of a horse
Can the bold rider save.
4 Vain is the strength of beasts or men,
To hope for safety thence;
But holy souls from God obtain
A strong and sure defence.
5 God is their fear, and God their trust,
When plagues or famine spread;
His watchful eye secures the just,
Among ten thousand dead.
6 Lord, let our hearts in thee rejoice,
And bless us from thy throne;
For we have made thy word our choice,
And trust thy grace alone.
Works of Creation and Providence.
E holy souls, in God rejoice,
Your Maker's praise becomes your voice; Great is your theme, your songs be new; Sing of his name, his word, his ways, His works of nature and of grace, How wise and holy, just and true!
2 Justice and truth he ever loves,
And the whole earth his goodness proves;
His word the heavenly arches spread;
How wide they shine from north to south!
And by the spirit of his mouth
Were all the starry armies made."
3 He gathers the wide flowing seas;
Those watery treasures know their place,
In the vast store-house of the deep:
He spake and gave all nature birth;
And fires and seas and heaven and earth
His everlasting orders keep.
4 Let mortals tremble, and adore
A God of such resistless power,
Nor dare indulge their feeble rage:
Vain are your thoughts, and weak your hands, But his eternal counsel stands,
And rules the world from age to age.
Creatures vain, and God all-sufficient.
1 OH happy nation, where the Lord
Reveals the treasures of his word,
And builds his church, his earthly throne;
His eye the heathen world surveys,
He formed their hearts, he knows their ways;
But God, their Maker, is unknown.
2 Let kings rely upon their host,
And of his strength the champion boast;
In vain they boast, in vain rely:
In vain we trust the brutal force,
Or speed, or courage of a horse,
To guard his rider, or to fly.
3 The eye of thy compassion, Lord,
Doth more secure defence afford,
When death or dangers threatening stand:
Thy watchful eye preserves the just,
Who make thy name their fear and trust,
When wars or famine waste the land.
4 In sickness or the bloody field,
Thou our physician, thou our shield,
Send us salvation from thy throne:
We wait to see thy goodness shine;
Let us rejoice in help divine,
For all our hope is God alone.
|