THOU Bridegroom of the soul! behold
This part of thy beloved fold;
Thy virgins, who before thee met
Here to perceive thy presence wait.
2 Give us, O Lord, to feel thy peace,
And let the sanctifying grace
Which flows from thy humanity,
Make us well-pleasing unto thee.
3 O may we feel thy healing pow'r
And influence, ev'ry day and hour;
Thus all thy mercies which we prove,
Will us excite to praise and love.
F. For married People.
844.
LORD, who ordain'dst the married
When thou didst man at first create,
Thou who thy body's Saviour art,
To all of us thy grace impart.
2 The husbands sanctify and bless,
Thy mind upon their hearts impress,
Teach them thy Spirit to obey
In all they do, we humble pray.
3 Unto the wives that grace dispense,
To cleave to thee with confidence,
Grant they may love thee fervently,
And walk in true humility.
4 Wisdom and faithfulness afford,
To train our children, gracious Lord,
That in thy knowledge they may grow,
Themselves & thee their Saviour know.
5 Lord Jesus! may each married pair
In all their walk thy praise declare;
0
may their rule in all things be,
The union of thy church with thee.
845. T. 159.
THE love which Jesus Christ displays
Towards the church, his bride,
None can describe, it far outweighs
All other love beside:
Believing husbands are to prove,
By holy and unfeigned love
Towards their wives, that they indeed
Resemble Christ our Head.
2The church submits to Christ,her Lord;
"Thy will be done," we pray:
This teacheth wives, who love God's
With meekness to obey; [word
Adorned with humility
They aid their husbands willingly;
Are clothed with the beauteous dress
Of Jesus' righteousness.
WE humbly thee adore, O Lord,
For thy unbounded grace;
Astonish'd, in thy sacred word
Thy love divine we trace:
Thou hast the church in love redeem'd,
Thou gav'st thyself for us;
We know we are by thee esteem'd,
When we behold thy cross.
2 Grant unto ev'ry married pair,
By chaste unfeigned love,
By meekness, patience, faith and pray'r,
And all we do to prove,
That we, united unto thee,
Are truly one in heart;
Thus we shall live eternally
With thee, and never part.
TO marry, led by fleshly schemes,
And poison'd nature's foolish dreams,
Christians a curse esteem;
They wish to marry in the Lord,
Direct their marriage by his word,
And
in this state to live to him.
TO be a happy married pair,
848. T. 166.
Approv'd by Jesus in their course,
Comes not from nature e'er so fair,
But love to him must be the source;
Good sense and prudence, with a mind
To lead a virtuous life, is far
From answering God's purpose kind,
For which we all ordained are,
2 His Spirit teacheth us to know,
That we are sinners vile and base, And Jesus doth on us bestow Remission of our sins, thro' grace; Thus we in all things richly prove The Shepherd's care, and faithfulness, And, actuated by his love, [praise. In our whole walk show forth his
849. T. 341.
O MAY our married state,
In duties small and great,
In relations far and near,
In its trials numberless,
In all cases whatsoe❜er,
Serve Christ's holy name to bless.
2 May we, by Jesus' love
Constrained, clearly prove,
That we are his flock indeed,
Living branches in the Vine,
Heav'nly plants, a holy seed,
Lights who in Christ's image shine!
HEAD of thy blest congregation,
Look on ev'ry married pair,
Be our strength and our salvation,
Keep us from all needless care.
2 For our sake, most gracious Saviour,
Thou thy life and blood hast spent ;
May we now in our behavior
Thee and thy church represent.
3 No spoil'd creature had been able
E'er to guide his steps aright
In this state so venerable,
Or to act as in thy sight;
4 Hadst thou not life and salvation By thy suff'rings for us gain'd, And thereby sanctification
For the married state obtain'd. 5 Bless, O Lord, thy married people, In thy blood, O wash us clean; Help us, for we're weak and feeble, And preserve us from all sin.
HEAD of thy church! thy fatherly
We have deserv'd: but pardon now impart,
Give each of us a clean and docile heart;
LOOK on ev'ry married pair,
Jesus! with compassion,
Grant that each may richly share
In thy great salvation.
2 Be thou with us, then indeed
We shall lack no blessing,
But with thee, O Christ, proceed,
To meet joys unceasing.
3 O may we in all we do
Follow thy direction;
We commend ourselves anew
To thy kind protection.
4 Let our children, gracious Lord,
Share with us thy favor,
Grant they may be a reward
Of thy death for ever.
O LORD, who number'st all our days,
Who guardest us in all our ways,
In whom we live, and move, and are,
Who know'st our wants, and hearest
pray'r;
2 To this thy handmaid grant thy peace,
Who comes to offer thanks and praise
To thee, her faithful cov'nant-God,
For the support thou hast bestow'd.
3 Thy pow'rful aid thou, gracious Lord,
In travail didst to her afford;
Her sorrows now are turn'd to praise,
Her sighs and tears to grateful lays.
4 O Shepherd of thy chosen sheep!
Both child and mother bless and keep,
May they enjoy in their degree
The fruits of thy humanity.
5 Endow the parents with thy love,
And give them wisdom from above
To educate this child for thee,
O grant that we may weigh with due As thy redeemed property.
The duties of the holy married state, While we for thy instruction humbly wait.
6 Grant us, and all our children, grace,
So here on earth to run our race,
That we in heav'n may meet, and sing
Eternal praise to thee, our King.
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2 All your children are his own,
He hath bought them with his blood!
Unto him their souls are known,
Full of sin and void of good!
Yet he saith most graciously,
"Suffer them to come to me!"
3 'Tis by you they should be led
In the way that leads to bliss ;
Grace is not inherited
As a worldly fortune is,
'Tis free mercy, we must own,
And the gift of God alone.
4 In this vain and wretched world Children are expos'd and try'd; Many are to ruin hurl'd,
Few in Jesus Christ abide;
And no human prudence can
Save the soul of fallen man.
5 Here's a task, may parents think,
Far beyond the reach of art;
But let not your courage sink,
Grace and wisdom he'll impart;
Your sincere endeavors bless,
Hear your pray'rs, and grant success.
6 Hear, O Lord, a parent's pray'r,
Let my tears prevail 'fore thee!
How should I in heav'n appear,
If my child were not with me!
Therefore thou my steps direct,
Lest my duty I neglect.
7 In thy grace my children keep,
That when once, on that great day,
Thou shalt come to seek thy sheep,
I may gladly to thee say:
"Here am I, thro' mercy free,
And each child thou gavest me!"
OUR children, gracious Lord and God,
With fervor we to thee commend,
Thou hast redeem'd them by thy blood;
They are by thee to bliss ordain'd.
Kind Shepherd, take each little lamb
Into thy faithful arms of love;
Cause them to know thy saving name,
And thy redeeming grace to prove.
2 On us, their parents, grace bestow,
That we, with care and faithfulness,
May lead them thee, our Lord to know,
T'obey thy word, and seek thy face.
Teach us the duties of our state,
To love each other heartily,
Our children so to educate
That they may love and follow thee.
856. T. 83.
IN this world, so full of snares,
Take our children in thy keeping;
Hear the parents' sighs and pray'rs,
When for them before thee weeping;
Mercy for our children we,
Gracious Lord, implore of thee.
ON our God we will rely ;
Boldly unto him draw nigh;
And the Lord our Righteousness
Both with hearts and voices bless.
2 We can from experience trace,
That, in ev'ry trying case,
Jesus truly can impart
Joy and comfort to the heart.
3 May we fix the eye of faith
On our Lord's atoning death,
Till we shall in heav'nly bliss
See our Saviour as he is.
TIS true the lonely widow'd state
With various trials is replete,
But Christ, the widow's faithful Friend,
Will guide us safely to the end.
2 He saith to us repeatedly:
"Cast all your burden upon me,
For I in all things kindly care
For you, and in your troubles share.""
3 Therefore whate'er our trials be,
Or weaknesses, or poverty,
Sickness of body, soul's distress,
Or sorrows which we can't express;
4 Our comfort is, he knows and feels
Whate'er his needy children ails;
He sympathizeth with the weak,
Relieves the poor, and heals the sick.
5 He graciously regards our pray'rs,
And counteth all our sighs and tears;
Afflictions, whether small or great,
His comforts can alleviate.
6 Might we, like Anna persevere,
By day and night, in constant pray'r,
And thus for his appearing wait,
In joyful hope the Lord to meet,
GOD will the widows ne'er forsake,
To him we may our refuge take,
And on his care and faithfulness
Our whole dependence firmly place.
2 A widow, who her son belov'd
With tears bemoan'd, his pity mov'd;
His mother he did recommend,
When on the cross, to John, his friend.
3 Widows are objects of his care,
Since scripture plainly doth declare,
That to the church this charge he gave,
Widows to honor and relieve.
4 To Christ, O may we closely cleave,
And in communion with him live;
To love the Lord, be our first care,
The next, to serve his people here.
5 Till we, who here must often weep,
In heav'n eternal joys shall reap;
Till he shall say to us," Ye blest,
Enter into my joy and rest."
WE with joy confess, beloved Saviour, Thee, the widow's special Friend, We are objects of thy love and favor: Thou on us thy life didst spend; Thou with more than husband's love
His care and faithfulness
We prove in ev'ry case.
2 The feeble he makes strong,
With us he beareth long,
On him the weak can lean,
The youthful he keeps clean;
Each may in him confide
Whate'er may them betide.
867. T. 74.
O LORD, the widow's Friend,
To us thy Spirit send,
Be in our husbands' place,
Revive
us with thy grace,
Give us whate'er we need
Widows to be indeed.
868. T. 121. BEHOLD us widows here, Lord Jesus, hear our pray❜r: Fill our hearts with gladness, O wipe away each tear, Dispelling all our sadness; Make thy face to shine On us, we are thine.
Thy all-bounteous hand doth daily feed THOU art our comfort in all cases,
All our wants thou dost supply;
Thus our cruise is never dry.
2 Thou hast promis'd for our solation,
That we shall not come behind In the gifts, which to thy congregation Thou dispensest, of each kind; May we, to thy service dedicated, And for thee our Bridegroom decorated, For thy blest appearing wait; Then our bliss will be complete.
Jesus, to thee O may we cleave! For all thy mercies give thee praises, In happy union with thee live! Whene'er we call, thou, Lord, wilt
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