Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion Part 96

570. 7s. M. C. Wesley.

At Sea.

1 Lord! whom winds and seas obey, Guide us through the watery way; In the hollow of Thy hand, Hide and bring us safe to land.

2 Father, let our faithful mind Rest, on Thee alone reclined: Every anxious thought repress, Keep our souls in perfect peace.

3 Keep the friends whom now we leave; Bid them to each other cleave; Bid them walk on life's rough sea, Bid them come, by faith, to Thee.

4 Save, till all these tempests end, All who on Thy love depend; Waft our happy spirits o'er; Land us on the heavenly sh.o.r.e.

571. 7s. M. Mrs. Sigourney.

Prayer for the Sailor.

1 When the parting bosom bleeds, When their native sh.o.r.e recedes, When the wild and faithless main Takes them to her trust again, Father! view the sailor's woe-- Guide them wheresoe'er they go.

2 When the lonely watch they keep, Silent on the mighty deep, While the boisterous surges hoa.r.s.e Bear them daily on their course, Eye that never slumbers! shed Holy influence on their head.

3 When the Sabbath's peaceful ray O'er the ocean's breast doth play, Though no throngs a.s.semble there, No sweet church-bell warns to prayer, Spirit! let thy presence be Sabbath to the unresting sea.

4 When the raging billows dark Thunder round the storm-tossed bark, Thou who on the whelming wave Didst the loved disciples save, Thou canst hear them when they pray,-- Jesus, Saviour, be their stay!

572. L. M. C. Wesley.

The Sailor's Hymn.

1 Lord of the wide-extended main!

Whose power the winds and seas controls, Whose hand doth earth and heaven sustain, Whose Spirit leads believing souls;

2 Throughout the deep Thy footsteps shine; We own Thy way is in the sea, O'erawed by majesty divine, And lost in Thine immensity!

3 Thy wisdom here we learn to adore, Thine everlasting truth we prove, The wondrous heights of boundless power, The unfathomable depths of love.

4 Infinite G.o.d, Thy greatness spanned These heavens, and meted out the skies; Lo! in the hollow of Thy hand The measured waters sink and rise.

5 And here Thine unknown paths we trace, Which dark to human eyes appear: While through the mighty waves we pa.s.s Faith only sees that G.o.d is here.

573. C. M. H. K. White.

In a Storm.

1 The Lord our G.o.d is full of might, The winds obey His will; He speaks, and in His heavenly height The rolling sun stands still.

2 Rebel, ye waves! and o'er the land With threatening aspect roar; The Lord uplifts His awful hand, And chains you to the sh.o.r.e.

3 Howl, winds of night! your force combine; Without His high behest, Ye shall not in the mountain pine Disturb the sparrow's nest.

4 Ye nations bend, in reverence bend; Ye monarchs, wait His nod, And bid the choral song ascend To celebrate our G.o.d!

574. L. M. E. H. Chapin.

For a Charitable Occasion.

1 When long the soul had slept in chains And man to man was stern and cold; When love and worship were but strains That swept the gifted chords of old-- By shady mount and peaceful lake, A meek and lowly stranger came, The weary drank the words he spake, The poor and suffering blessed his name.

2 He went where frenzy held its rule, Where sickness breathed its spell of pain; By famed Bethesda's mystic pool, And by the darkened gate of Nain.

He soothed the mourner's troubled breast, He raised the contrite sinner's head, And on the loved ones' lowly rest The light of better life he shed.

3 Father, the spirit Jesus knew We humbly ask of Thee to-night, That we may be disciples too Of him whose way was love and light.

Bright be the places where we tread Amid earth's suffering and its poor, Until that day when tears are shed, And broken sighs are heard, no more.

575. C. M. W. Croswell.

He Went About Doing Good.

1 Lord, lead the way the Saviour went, By lane and cell obscure, And let our treasures still be spent, Like his, upon the poor.

2 Like him, through scenes of deep distress, Who bore the world's sad weight, We, in their gloomy loneliness, Would seek the desolate.

3 For Thou hast placed us side by side In this wide world of ill; And that Thy followers may be tried, The poor are with us still.

576. 7 & 6s. M. E. H. Chapin.

Triumph of Temperance.