Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 160

3 So when affliction's waters glide From the enfranchised soul away, More peaceful, pure, and sanctified, The soul emerges into day.

4 And then, as with the olive bough The heavenly dove of old drew near, Some gentle words of truth will flow, In holy music on the ear.

5 O'er all the transient things of time, The oblivious foot of years hath trod; But all that's sacred and sublime Stands steadfast as the truth of G.o.d.

969. 7s. M. Bowring.

Pious Worship.

1 In thy courts let peace be found, Be thy temple full of love; There we tread on holy ground, All serene, around, above.

2 While the knee in prayer is bent, While with praise the heart o'erflows, Tranquillize the turbulent!

Give the weary one repose!

3 Be the place for worship meet, Meet the worship for the place; Contemplation's best retreat, Shrine of guilelessness and grace!

4 As an infant knows its home, Lord! may we thy temples know; Thither for instruction come-- Thence by thee instructed go.

970. L. M. Cunningham.

An Ancient Church.

1 Long be our fathers' temple ours, Far hence the time in which it falls; A thousand spirits watch its bowers, A cloud of angels guard its walls.

2 And be their shield by us possessed; Lord, rear around the blest abode, The b.u.t.tress of a holy breast, The rampart of a present G.o.d.

971. C. M. Anonymous.

The Widow's Prayer.

1 Though faint and sick, and worn away With poverty and woe, My widowed feet are doomed to stray 'Mid th.o.r.n.y paths below.

2 Be thou, O Lord, my Father still, My confidence and guide: I know that perfect is thy will, Whate'er that will decide.

3 I know the soul that trusts in thee Thou never wilt forsake; And though a bruised reed I be, That reed thou wilt not break.

4 Then keep me, Lord, where'er I go, Support me on my way, Though, worn with poverty and woe, My widowed footsteps stray.

5 To give my weakness strength, O G.o.d, Thy staff shall yet avail; And though thou chasten with thy rod, That staff shall never fail.

972. C. M. Anonymous.

The Orphan's Hymn.

1 Where shall the child of sorrow find A place for calm repose?

Thou, Father of the fatherless, Pity the orphan's woes!

2 What friend have I in heaven or earth, What friend to trust but thee?

My father's dead--my mother's dead; My G.o.d, remember me!

3 Thy gracious promise now fulfil, And bid my trouble cease; In thee the fatherless shall find Pure mercy, grace and peace.

4 I've not a secret care or pain, But he that secret knows; Thou, Father of the fatherless, Pity the orphan's woes!

973. 7s. M. Bowring.

"The rich and poor meet together."

1 Come the rich and come the poor, To the Christian temple door; Let their mingled prayers ascend To the universal Friend.

2 Here the rich and poor may claim Common ancestry and name; Claim a common heritage, In the gospel's promise page.

3 Of the same materials wrought; By the same instructor taught; Walking in life's common way; Tending to the same decay.

4 Rich and poor at last shall meet At the heavenly mercy seat; Where the name of rich and poor Never shall be uttered more.

974. L. M. Bowring.

Temptation.

1 Oh, what a struggle wakes within, When in the spirit's solitude, The tempting, treacherous thoughts of sin, In all their luring smiles intrude!

2 'Tis then, my Father! then I feel My nature's weakness, and, oppressed, Like a poor trembling child I steal To thee, for safety, and for rest.

3 Beneath thy shadow let me live!