Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 136

3 The debtor humbly sues, Who would, but cannot pay; And shall I lenity refuse, Who need it every day?

4 And shall not wrath relent, Touched by that humble strain, My brother crying, "I repent, Nor will offend again?"

5 How else, on soaring wing, Can hope bear high my prayer, Up to thy throne, my G.o.d, my King, To plead for pardon there?

824. 7s. M. Milman.

"And he arose and rebuked the winds and sea."

1 Lord! thou didst arise and say, To the troubled waters, "Peace,"

And the tempest died away, Down they sank, the foaming seas; And a calm and heaving sleep Spread o'er all the gla.s.sy deep, All the azure lake serene Like another heaven was seen!

2 Lord! thy gracious word repeat To the billows of the proud!

Quell the tyrant's martial heat, Quell the fierce and changing crowd!

Then the earth shall find repose, From oppressions, and from woes; And another heaven appear On our world of darkness here!

SEAMEN'S HYMNS.

825. L. M. C. Wesley.

"They that go down to the sea in ships."

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 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.

4 Thee to perfection who can tell?

Earth and her sons beneath thee lie, Lighter than dust within thy scale, And less than nothing in thine eye.

826. L. M. Watts.

The Seaman's Song.

1 Would you behold the works of G.o.d, His wonders in the world abroad?

With hardy mariners survey The unknown regions of the sea.

2 They leave their native sh.o.r.es behind, And seize the favor of the wind; Till G.o.d command, and tempests rise, That heave the ocean to the skies.

3 When land is far, and death is nigh, Bereaved of hope, to G.o.d they cry: His mercy hears their loud address, And sends salvation in distress.

4 He bids the winds their wrath a.s.suage, And stormy tempests cease to rage; The grateful band their fears give o'er And hail with joy their native sh.o.r.e.

5 O, may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord; Let them their purest offerings bring, And in the church his glory sing.

827. C. M. Mrs. Hemans.

"These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."

1 Oh G.o.d! thy name they well may praise, Who to the deep go down, And trace the wonders of thy ways, Where rocks and billows frown.

2 For many a fair majestic sight Hath met their wandering eyes, Beneath the streaming northern light Or blaze of Indian skies.

3 If glorious be that awful deep, No human power can bind, What then art thou, who bid'st it keep Within its bounds confined!

4 Let heaven and earth in praise unite, Eternal praise to thee, Whose word can rouse the tempest's might, Or still the raging sea!

828. L. M. 6l. Anonymous.

The Mariner's Hymn.

1 Lord of the sea!--thy potent sway Old ocean's wildest waves obey; The gale that whistles through the shrouds, The storm that drives the frighted clouds,-- If but thy whisper order peace, How soon their rude commotions cease!

2 Lord of the sea!--the seaman keep From all dangers of the deep!

When high the white-capped billows rise, When tempests roar along the skies, When foes or shoals awaken fear,-- O, in thy mercy be thou near.

3 Lord of the sea!--a sea is life Of care and sorrow, woe and strife!

With watchful pains we steer along, To keep the right path, shun the wrong: G.o.d grant, that, when we cease to roam, We gain an everlasting home!

829. 7s. M. Mrs. Sigourney.