Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 75

3 O, may I thirst for thee, my G.o.d, With ardent, strong desire; And still, through all this desert road, To taste thy grace aspire.

4 Then shall my prayer to thee ascend, A grateful sacrifice; My mourning voice thou wilt attend, And grant me full supplies.

454. 7s. M. Newton.

Self-Distrust.

1 'T is a point I long to know,-- Oft it causes anxious thought,-- Do I love the Lord, or no?

Am I his, or am I not?

2 If I love, why am I thus?

Why this dull and lifeless frame?

Hardly, sure, can they be worse, Who have never heard his name.

3 If I pray, or hear, or read, Sin is mixed with all I do; You that love the Lord indeed, Tell me, is it thus with you?

4 Yet I mourn my stubborn will, Find my sin a grief and thrall; Should I grieve for what I feel, If I did not love at all?

5 Father, let me love thee more, If I love at all, I pray; If I have not loved before, Help me to begin to-day.

455. L. M. Doddridge.

Choosing the Better Part.

1 Beset with snares on every hand, In life's uncertain path I stand: Father divine! diffuse thy light, To guide my doubtful footsteps right.

2 Engage this roving, treacherous heart, Wisely to choose the better part; To scorn the trifles of a day, For joys that none can take away.

3 Then let the wildest storms arise, Let tempests mingle earth with skies, No fatal shipwreck shall I fear, But all my treasures with me bear.

4 If thou, my Saviour, still be nigh, Cheerful I live, and joyful die; Secure, when mortal comforts flee, To find ten thousand worlds in thee.

456. C. M. Watts.

Sincerity and Hypocrisy.

1 G.o.d is a spirit just and wise, He sees our inmost mind; In vain to heaven we raise our cries, And leave our souls behind.

2 Nothing but truth before his throne With honor can appear; The painted hypocrites are known Through the disguise they wear.

3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies, Their bending knees the ground; But G.o.d abhors the sacrifice Where not the heart is found.

4 Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, And make my soul sincere; Then shall I stand before thy face, And find acceptance there.

457. C. P. M. Wesley's Coll.

True Wisdom.

1 Be it my only wisdom here, To serve the Lord with filial fear, With loving grat.i.tude; Superior sense may I display, By shunning every evil way, And walking in the good.

2 O may I still from sin depart!

A wise and understanding heart, Father, to me be given!

And let me through thy Spirit know To glorify my G.o.d below, And find my way to heaven.

458. L. M. 6l. Merrick.

For the Understanding and Influence of G.o.d's Word.

1 While here as wandering sheep we stray, Teach us, O teach us, Lord, thy way!

Dispose our hearts, with willing awe, To love thy word, to keep thy law; That, by thy guiding precepts led, Our feet the paths of truth may tread.

2 Great Source of light to all below!

Teach us thy holy will to know: Teach us to read thy word aright, And make it our supreme delight; That, purged from vain desires, our mind In thee its only good may find.

3 Maker, instructer, judge of all, O hear us when on thee we call!

To us, all-bounteous Lord, dispense Thy grace, and guiding influence!

Preserve us in thy holy ways, And teach our hearts to speak thy praise!

459. C. M. Montgomery.

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom.

1 Almighty G.o.d! in humble prayer To thee our souls we lift; Do thou our waiting minds prepare For thy most needful gift.

2 We ask not golden streams of wealth Along our path to flow; We ask not undecaying health, Nor length of years below.