2 Open now the crystal fountains
Whence the living waters flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar
Lead me all the journey through.
Strong Deliverer!
Be thou still my strength and shield.
3 Feed me with the heavenly manna
In this barren wilderness;
Be my sword, and shield and banner;
Be the Lord my righteousness.
Strong Deliverer!
Be thou still my strength and shield.
4 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Bear me through the swelling current,
Land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises
I will ever give to thee.
For Guidance to the Promised Land.
1 THUS far on life's perplexing path,
Thus far thou, Lord, our steps hast led,
Snatched from the world's pursuing wrath,
Unharmed though floods o'erhung our head:
Like ransomed Israel on the shore,
Here then we pause, look back, adore.
2 Strangers and pilgrims here below,
Like all our fathers in their day,
We to the land of promise go,
Lord, by thine own appointed way:
Still guide, illumine, cheer our flight,
In cloud by day, in fire by night.
3 Protect us through the wilderness,
From every peril, plague, and foe;
With bread from heaven thy people bless,
And living streams where'er we go;
Nor let our rebel hearts repine,
Or follow any voice but thine.
4 Thy holy law to us proclaim,
But not from Sinai's top alone;
Hid in the rock-cleft be thy name,
Thy power, and all thy goodness, shown;
And may we never bow the knee,
Or worship any God but thee.
5 When we have numbered all our years,
And stand, at length, on Jordan's brink,
Though the flesh fail with mortal fears,
O let not then the spirit sink;
But, strong in faith, and hope, and love,
Plunge through the stream, to rise above!
WHEN darkness long has veiled my mind,
And smiling day once more appears,
Then, my Creator! then I find
The folly of my doubts and fears.
2 Straight I upbraid my wandering heart,
And blush that I should ever be
Thus prone to act so base a part,
Or harbor one hard thought of thee.
3 O! let me then at length be taught,
What I am still so slow to learn,
That God is love, and changes not,
Nor knows the shadow of a turn
4 Sweet truth, and easy to repeat! But when my faith is sharply tried, I find myself a learner yet,
Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide.
5 But, O my God! one look from thee
Subdues the disobedient will,
Drives doubt and discontent away,
And thy rebellious child is still.
6 Thou art as ready to forgive
As I am ready to repine;
Thou, therefore, all the praise receive;
Be shame and self-abhorrence mine.
Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom.
1 ALMIGHTY God! in humble prayer
To thee our souls we lift;
Do thou our waiting minds prepare
For thy most needful gift.
2 We ask not golden streams of wealth
Along our path to flow;
We ask not undecaying health,
Nor length of years below.
3 We ask not honors, which an hour
May bring and take away;
We ask not pleasure, pomp, and
Lest we should go astray.
4 We ask for wisdom; Lord, impart
The knowledge how to live;
A wise and understanding heart
To all before thee give.
5 The young remember thee in youth,
Before the evil days!
The old be guided by thy truth
In wisdom's pleasant ways!
1 THUS Agur breathed his warm desire—
'My God, two favors I require;
In neither my request deny,
Vouchsafe them both before I die :-
2Far from my heart and tents exclude
Those enemies to all that's good, -
Folly, whose pleasures end in death,
And Falsehood's pestilential breath.
3 'Be neither wealth nor want my lot;
Below the dome, above the cot,
Let me my life unanxious lead,
And know not luxury nor need.'
4 Those wishes, Lord, we make our own; O, shed in moderation down
Thy bounties, till this mortal breath,
Expiring, tunes thy praise in death!
5 But, shouldst thou large possessions give, May we with thankfulness receive
Th' abundance still our God adore,
And bless the needy from our store!
6 Or, should we feel the pains of want,-
Submission, resignation, grant;
Till thou shalt send the wished supply,
Or call us to the bliss on high.
The aged Christian's Prayer. Ps. 71.
1 GOD of my childhood and my youth,
The guide of all my days!
I have declared thy heavenly truth,
And told thy wondrous ways.
2 Wilt thou forsake my hoary hairs,
And leave my fainting heart?
Who shall sustain my sinking years
If God my strength depart?
3 Let me thy power and truth proclaim
To the surviving age,
And leave a savor of thy name
When I shall quit the stage.
4 The land of silence and of death
Attends my next remove;
O inay these poor remains of breath
Teach the wide world thy love!
5 By long experience have I known
Thy sovereign power to save;
At thy command I venture down
Securely to the grave.
6 When I lie buried deep in dust,
My flesh shall be thy care;
These withering limbs with thee I trust,
To raise them strong and fair.
1 0 THOU, from whom all goodness flows, 1 lift my soul to thee;
In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,
Good Lord, remember me.
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