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420. C. M. Dr. Watts.
Justice and Equity.

COME, let us search our ways, and try
Have they been just and right?

Is the great rule of equity

Our practice and delight?

2 What we would have our neighbour do,
Have we done still the same?
And ne'er delay'd to pay his due,
Nor injur'd his good name?

3 Do we relieve the poor opprest?
Nor give our tongues a loose,

To make their names our scorn and jest,
Nor treat them with abuse?

4 Have we not found our envy grow,
To hear another's praise?

Nor robb'd him of his honour due,
By sly malicious ways?

5 In all we sell, in all we buy,
Is justice our design?

Do we remember God is nigh,
And fear the wrath divine?
6 In vain we talk of Jesu's blood,
And boast his name in vain,
If we can slight the laws of God,
And prove unjust to men.

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CONSOLATION IN TROUBLE.

421. C. M. Dr. Watts.

Sins and Sorrows spread before God.

Job xxiii. 3, 4.

THAT I knew the secret place Where I might find my God! I'd spread my wants before his face, And pour my woes abroad.

2 I'd tell him how my sins arise,
What sorrows I sustain :

How joy decays, and comfort dies,
And leave my heart in pain.

3 I'd say "how flesh and sense rebel;
"What inward foes combine

"With the vain world, and pow'rs of hell, "To vex this soul of mine."

4 He knows what arguments I'd take,
To wrestle with my God: 3
I'd plead for his own mercies' sake,
And for my Saviour's blood.
5 My God will pity my complaints,
And heal my broken bones;
He takes the meaning of his saints,
The language of their groans.
6 Arise, my soul, from deep distress,
And banish every fear;

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He calls thee to his throne of grace,
To spread thy sorrows there.

422. S. M. Dr. Watts.
Safety in God. Psalm Ixi. 1-6.
THEN overwhelm'd with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless and far from all relief,
To heav'n I lift mine eyes.

WH

2 O lead me to the rock

That's high above my head;
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.

3 Within thy presence, Lord,
For ever I'll abide::

Thou art the tow'r of my defence,
The refuge where I hide.

4 Thou givest me the lot

Of those that fear thy name;
If endless life be their reward,
I shall possess the same.

423. C. M. Dr. Watts.
Prayer under Temptation.
Psalm lv. 1-3, 6-8, 22.

GOD, my refuge, hear my cries,

10 Behold my flowing tears!

For earth and hell my hurt devise
And triumph in my fears.

2O were I like a feather'd dove,
And innocence had wings,
I'd fly, and make a long remove
From all these restless things!
3 Let me to some wild desert go,
And find a peaceful home;
Where storms of malice never blow,
Temptations never come.

4 Vain hopes, and vain inventions all,
To 'scape the rage of hell!
The mighty God on whom I call,
Can save me here as well.

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424. C. M. Dr. Watts. Confidence in God under Trials. BY morning light I'll seek his face,

At noon repeat my cry;.

The night shall hear me ask his grace,
Nor will he long deny.

2 God shall preserve my soul from fear,
Or shield me when afraid;

Ten thousand angels must appear,
If he command their aid.

3 I cast my burdens on the Lord,
The Lord sustains them all;
My courage rests upon his word,
That saints shall never fall.

4 My highest hopes shall not be vain,
My lips shall spread his praise,
While cruel and deceitful men
Scarce live out half their days.

425. P. M. Mr. John Fawcett.

Faith and Hope amidst Discouragement. Psalm xlii. 5.

MY soul, what means this sadness? Wherefore art thou thus cast down? Let thy griefs be turn'd to gladness, Bid thy restless fears begone:

Look to Jesus,

And rejoice in his dear name.

2 What though Satan's strong temptations
Vex and tease thee, day by day?
And thy sinful inclinations
Often fill thee with dismay?

Thou shalt conquer,

Through the Lamb's redeeming blood.
3 Though ten thousand ills beset thee
From without and from within;
Jesus saith he'll ne'er forget thee,
But will save from hell and sin:
He is faithful

To perform his gracious word.
4 Though distresses now attend thee,
And thou tread'st the thorny road;

His right-hand shall still defend thee,
Soon he'll bring thee home to God!
Therefore praise him,

Praise the great Redeemer's name. 50 that I could now adore him

Like the heav'nly hosts above,
Who for ever bow before him;
And unceasing sing his love!
Happy songsters!

When shall I your chorus join?
426. C. M. Dr. Doddridge.

Divine Mercy in Afflictions. Isa. xxvii. 8

GREAT Ruler of all nature's fraine,

We own thy pow'r divine:

We hear thy breath in every storin,
For all the winds are thine.

2 Wide as they sweep their sounding way,
They work thy sov'reign will;
And aw'd by thy majestic voice,
Confusion shall be still.

3 Thy mercy tempers ev'ry blast
To them that seek thy face;
And mingles with the tempest's roar,
The whispers of thy grace.

4 Those gentle whispers let me hear,
Till all the tumult cease;
And gales of paradise shall lull
My weary soul to peace.

427. C. M. Mr. Needham.

Grace of Christ sufficient. 2 Cor. xii. 9.

1 KIND are the words that Jesus speaks,

To cheer the drooping saint:

My grace sufficient is for you,

Though nature's pow'rs may faint.
2 My grace its glories shall display,
And make your griefs remove;
Your weakness shall the triumphs tell
Of boundless pow'r and love.

3 What though my griefs are not remov❜d,
Yet why should I despair?

While my kind Saviour's arms support,
I can the burden bear.

4 Jesus, my Saviour, and my Lord!
'Tis good to trust thy name;

Thy power, thy faithfulness, and love,
Will ever be the same.

5 Weak as I am, yet, through thy grace,
I all things can perform;
And, smiling, triumph in thy name,
Amid the raging storm.

428. C. M. Dr. Watts,

Submission to afflictive Providences. Job i. 21.
AKED as from the earth we came,
And crept to life at first,

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NA

We to the earth return again,

And mingle with our dust."

2 The dear delights we here enjoy,
And fondly call our own,

Are but short favours borrow'd now,
To be repaid anon.

3 'Tis God that lifts our conforts high,
Or sinks them in the grave;

He gives, and (blessed be his name!)
He takes but what he gave.

4 Peace, all our angry passions then!
Let each rebellious sigh

Be silent at his sov'reign will,
And ev'ry murmur die.

5 If smiling mercy crown our lives,
Its praises shall be spread;
And we'll adore the justice too
That strikes our comforts dead.

429. L. M. Dr. Watts.

Sanctified Afflictions; or, Delight in the
Word of God. Psalm cxix. 67, 69.

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FAT

ATHER, I bless thy gentle hand;
How kind was thy chastising rod,
That forc'd my conscience to a stand,
And brought my wand'ring soul to God
2 Foolish and vain I went astray,

Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord,
I left my guide, and lost my way;
But now I love and keep thy word.
Ver. 71.

3 'Tis good for me to wear the yoke,
For pride is apt to rise and swell:
Tis good to bear my Father's stroke,
That I might learn his statutes well.