2 'Tis yours to sing th' eternal date Of love divine, and how it moves To helpless man; with triumph great, Sing loud, for God the song approves. 3 Hail Bethle'em! Hail the ruddy morn, Whose rays beheld the infant God! Messiah, of a virgin born,

A God! a man to die in blood.

4 For us salvation wide displays
Her amb'ent and refreshing wing;
Thy love, dear Saviour, we will praise,
And all its peerless glories sing.

5 We'll sing the garden and the tree,
Red with the blood that cries for peace;
Heav'n echoes back, as pleas'd in thee,
To shew its glories and its grace.

6 We'll sing a note that high prevails,
Above the angels free from sin;
Who cannot taste the love that heals,
Or sweets of conscience thus made clean.
7 Thy love, O Jesus, is the theme,
The song of saints shall ever tell;
And through eternity proclaim
The vict❜ry over sin and hell.

HYMN 181. C. M.

Longing for nearness to God.

OH, could I find from day to day,

A nearness to my God;

Then should my hours glide sweet away And lean upon his word.

2 Lord, I desire with thee to live,

Anew from day to day;

In joys the world can never give,
Nor ever take away.

30 Jesus, come and rule my heart,
And make me wholly thine;
That I may never more depart,
Nor grieve thy love divine.

4 Thus, till my last expiring breath,
Thy goodness I'll adore;

And when my flesh dissolves in death,
My soul shall love thee more.

3 Through boundless grace, I then shall spend An everlasting day,

In the embraces of that friend,

Who took my guilt away.

6 His worthy name shall have the praise,
To whom all praise is due;
While angels and archangels gaze

On scenes for ever new.

HYMN 182. L. M.

The Struggle between Faith and Unbelief.
Mark ix. 24.

JESUS, believing we rejoice,

And triumph in thy pard'ning voice:
But when our unbelief prevails,
Our hope departs, our comfort fails.
2 Thy promise does our hearts revive,
And keep our fainting hopes alive;
But guilt, and fears, and sorrows rise,
When unbelief o'erclouds our eyes.

3 Oh, let not sin and Satan boast,
While we lie mourning in the dust;
Nor see that faith to ruin brought,

Which thine own gracious pow'r hath wrought.

4 Do thou the dying spark inflame;
Reveal the glories of thy name;
And put all anxious doubts to flight,
As shades dispers'd by op'ning light.

HYMN 183. C. M.

Christ the Head of the Church. Eph. iv. 15, 16,

JESUS, we sing thy matchless grace,

That calls base worms thine own;
Gives them among thy saints a place,
To make thy glories known.
3 Alli'd to thee, our vital head,
We act and grow and thrive;
From thee divided, each is dead,
When most he seems alive.

3 Thy saints on earth, and those above,
All join in sweet accord;
One body all in mutual love,

And thou, their common Lord.

4 Oh, may our faith each hour receive,
The Spirit from above;

Thus death and hell shall ne'er receive
Nor break the bond of love.

5 Thou, the whole body will present
Before thy Father's face;

Nor shall a wrinkle or a spot,
Its beauteous form disgrace.

HYMN 184. L. M.

Retirement and Meditation. Psalm iv. 4

ETURN, my roving heart, return,

Rnd chase these shadowy forme no more;

Seek out some solitude to mourn,
And thy forsaken God implore.

2 Wisdom and pleasure dwell at home;
Retir'd and silent seek them there;
This is the way to overcome,

The way to break the tempter's snare.
3 And thou, my God, whose piercing eye
Distinct surveys each deep recess,
In these abstracted hours draw nigh,
And with thy presence fill the place.
4 Through the recesses of my heart,
My search let heav'nly wisdom guide,
And still its radiant beams impart,
Till all be search'd and purify'd.
5 Then with the visits of thy love,
Vouchsafe my inmost soul to cheer;
Till ev'ry grace shall join to prove,
That God hath fix'd his dwelling there.

HYMN 185. C. M.

Submission under bereaving Providences.
Ps. xlvi. 10.

P blasts our joys in death,

EACE, 'tis the Lord Jehovah's hand,

Changes the visage once so dear,
And gathers back our breath.
2 'Tis He, the Potentate supreme
Of all the worlds above,

Whose steady counsels wisely rule,
Nor from their purpose move.

3 'Tis He, whose justice might demand
Our souls a sacrifice;

Yet scatters, with unwearied hand,
A thousand rich supplies.

4 Our cov'nant-God and Father, he,
In Christ, our bleeding Lord;

Whose grace can heal the bursting heart,
With one reviving word.

5 Silent we own Jehovah's name ;
We kiss his scourging hand;
And yield our comforts, and our life,
To his supreme command.

HYMN 186. C. M.

Belshazzar, or the Sinner trembling.
Dan. v. 5, 6.

OOR sinners! little do they think
With whom they have to do!
They stand securely on the brink
Of everlasting woe.

2 Chaldea's king, profanely bold,
The Lord of hosts defy'd;

But vengeance soon his boasts control'd,
And humbled all his pride.

3 He saw a hand upon the wall,
And trembled on his throne,

Which wrote his sudden, dreadful fall,
In characters unknown.

4 See him, o'erwhelm'd with deep distress! His eyes with anguish roll;

His looks and loosen'd joints express
The terrors of his soul.

5 His pomp and music, guests and wine,
No more delight afford:

O sinner, ere this case be thine,
Begin to seek the Lord.

6 The law, like this hand-writing, stands, And speaks the wrath of God;

But Jesus answers its demands,

And cancels it with blood.