2. One day within thy sacred gate
Affords more real joy to me,
Than thousands in the tents of state;
The meanest place is bliss with thee.
3. God is a sun! our brightest day
From his reviving presence flows.
God is a shield, through all the way,
To guard us from surrounding foes.
4. O Lord of hosts, thou God of grace!
How blest, divinely blest is he,
Who trusts thy love, and seeks thy face,
And fixes all his hopes on thee!
HYMN 363. P. M.
1. LORD of the worlds above,
How pleasant and how fair,
The dwellings of thy love,
Thine earthly temples are!
To thine abode
My heart aspires,
With warm desires
To see my God.
2. O happy souls that pray
Where God appoints to hear!
O happy men that pay
Their constant service there!
They praise thee still;
And happy they,
Who love the way
To Zion's hill.
3. They go from strength to strength,
Through this dark vale of tears;
'Till each arrives at length,
"Till each in heav'n appears:
O glorious seat,
When God our King
Shall thither bring
Our willing feet!
HYMN 364. P. M.
GREAT Father of mankind!
We bless that wondrous grace,
Which could for Gentiles find
Within thy courts a place.
How kind the care
Our God displays,
For us to raise
A house of pray'r!
2. To thee ourselves we join,
And love thy sacred name;
more our own, but thine,
We triumph in thy claim.
Our Father-king,
Thy cov'nant-grace
Our souls embrace,
Thy titles sing.
3. May all the nations throng
To worship in thy house;
And thou attend the song,
And smile upon their vows,
Indulgent still,
'Till earth conspire
To join the choir
HYMN 365. c. M.
1. THE Lord in Zion plac'd his name,
His ark was settled there;
To Zion the whole nation came
To worship thrice a year.
2. But we have no such lengths to go, Nor wander far abroad;
Where'er thy saints assemble now,
There is a house for God.
3. Here, mighty God! accept our vows;
Here let thy praise be spread.
Bless the provisions of thy house,
And fill thy poor with bread.
4. Here let the son of David reign,
Let God's anointed shine;
Justice and truth his court maintain,
With love and pow'r divine.
HYMN 366. L. M.
LORD! 'tis a pleasant thing, to stand
In gardens planted by thy hand.
Let me within thy courts be seen,
Like a young cedar, fresh and green.
2. There grow thy saints in faith and love,
Blest with thine influ'nce from above:
Not Lebanon, with all its trees,
Yields such a comely sight as these.
3. The plants of grace shall ever live;
Nature decays, but grace must thrive;
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Shall make them flourish strong and fair.
4. Laden with fruits of age, they show,
The Lord is holy, just, and true.
None, that attend his courts shall find
A God unfaithful or unkind.
HYMN 867. c. M.
1. WHERE WITH shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
Oh! how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone;
2. Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?
Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?
3. O no, my soul! 'twere fruitless all;
Such offerings are vain:
No fatlings from the field or stall
His favour can obtain.
4. To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;
To God with humble rev'rence bow,
And to his glory live.
5. Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere,
He never will despise;
And cheerful duty he'll prefer
To costly sacrifice.
HYMN 368. s. M.
1. WITH joy we lift our eyes
To those bright realms above, That glorious temple in the skies, Where dwells eternal love.
2. Thee we adore, O Lord!
And filial duty pay.
Thy service, unconstrain'd and free,
Conducts to endless day.
3. While in thy house we kneel
With trust and holy fear;
Thy mercy and thy truth reveal,
And lend a gracious ear.
4. O teach our hearts to pray,
And tune our lips to sing!
Nor from thy presence cast away
The sacrifice we bring.
HYMN 369. L. M.
1. AWAY from ev'ry mortal care,
Away from earth, our soul's retreat ;
We leave this worthless world afar,
And wait and worship near thy seat.
2. Lord, in the temple of thy grace,
We bow before thee and adore;
We view the glories of thy face,
And learn the wonders of thy pow'r.
3. Whilst here our various wants we mourn,
United pray'rs ascend on high;
And faith expects a sure return
Of blessings in variety.
4. Father! my soul would here abide;
Or, if my feet must hence depart;
Still keep me, Father, near thy side,
Still keep thy dwelling in my heart.
HYMN 370. c. M.
1. EARLY, my God, without delay,
I haste to seek thy face;
My thirsty spirit faints away,
Without thy cheering grace.
2. So pilgrims on the scorching sand,
Beneath a burning sky,
Long for a cooling stream at hand,
And they must drink or die.
3. I've seen thy glory and thy pow'r
Through all thy temple shine:
My God, repeat that heav'nly hour,
That vision so divine.
4. Not all the blessings of a feast
Can please my soul so well,
As when thy richer grace I taste,
And in thy presence dwell.
5. Not life itself, with all her joys,
Can my best passions move,
Or raise so high my cheerful voice,
As thy forgiving love.
HYMN 371. P. M.
1. PRAISE to God, the great Creator
Bounteous source of all our joy!
He whose hand upholds all nature,
He whose nod can all destroy.
Saints, with pious zeal attending,
Now the grateful tribute raise;
Solemn songs to heav'n ascending,
Join the universal praise.
2. Round his awful footstool kneeling,
Lowly bend with contrite souls;
Here, his milder grace revealing,
Here his wrath no thunder rolls.
Lo, the sacred page before us
Bears the cov'nant of his love;
Full of mercy to restore us,
Mercy beaming from above.
3. Ev'ry secret fault confessing,
Deed unrighteous, thought of sin,
Seize, O seize the proffer'd blessing,
Grace from God and peace within.
Heart and voice with rapture swelling,
Still the song of glory raise;
On the theme immortal dwelling,
Join the universal praise.
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