308.

I.

God our Refuge.

To Thine eternal arms, O God,

Take us, Thine erring children, in ;

From dangerous paths too boldly trod,

L.M.

From wandering thoughts and dreams of sin. 2. Those arms were round our childish ways, A guard through helpless years to be ; O leave not our maturer days,

We still are helpless without Thee!

3. We trusted hope and pride and strength;

Our strength proved false, our pride was vain, Our dreams have faded all at length— We come to Thee, O Lord, again. 4. A guide to trembling steps yet be! Give us of Thine eternal powers! So shall our paths all lead to Thee, And life smile on like childhood's hours.

T. W. Higginson.

309.

Self-Scrutiny.

I. SHOW me myself, O holy Lord;
Help me to look within ;

I will not turn me from the sight
Of all my sin.

2. Not mine, the purity of heart
That shall at last see God;

Not mine, the following in the steps
The Saviour trod :

3. Not mine, the life I thought to live
When first I took His name ;-

Mine, but the right to weep and grieve
Over my shame!

8.6.8.4.

4. Yet, Lord! I thank Thee for the sight
Thou hast vouchsafed to me;

And humbled to the dust I shrink
Closer to Thee:

5. And if Thy love will not disown
So frail a heart as mine,

Chasten and cleanse it as Thou wilt,

310.

1. WHY

But keep it Thine!

In God's sight.

8.6.10.4.

should we vex our foolish minds
So much, from day to day,

With what an idle world concerning us
May think or say?

2. Do we not know there sits a Judge,
Before whose searching eyes

Our inmost hidden being cleft in twain
And open lies?

3. O my omniscient Lord and God!

Enough, enough for me,

That Thou the evil in me and the good
Dost wholly see.

4. Let others please to think of me
Or say whate'er they will;

Such as I am before Thy judgment-seat,
So am I still.

5. Praise they my good beyond desert,
And all my bad ignore ;-

That am I which in Thy pure sight I am,
No less, no more!

6. Decry they all my good, and blame
My evil in excess ;—

That am I which in Thy pure sight I am,
No more, no less.

311.

I.

312.

I.

The Confidence of the Penitent.

1. OPPRESSED with sin and woe,

A burdened heart I bear;
Opposed by many a mighty foe,
Yet will I not despair.

2. With this polluted heart
I dare to come to Thee.

Holy and mighty as Thou art-
For Thou wilt pardon me.

3. I feel that I am weak

And prone to every sin;

E. Caswall.

But Thou who giv'st to those who seek,
Wilt give me strength within.

4. I need not fear my foes;

I need not yield to care;

I need not sink beneath my woes,
For Thou wilt answer prayer.

5. In my Redeemer's name,

I give myself to Thee;

And, all unworthy as I am,
My God will welcome me.

Lord have Mercy.

S.M.

Anne Bronte.

LORD! have mercy when we pray
Strength to seek a better way;

Q

75.

313.

When our wakening thoughts begin
First to loathe their cherished sin;
When our weary spirits fail,
And our aching brows are pale;
When our tears bedew Thy word;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord!

2. Lord! have mercy when we lie
On the restless bed, and sigh,
Sigh for death, yet fear it still
From the thought of former ill;
When the dim advancing gloom
Tells us that our hour is come;
When is loosed the silver cord;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord!

3. Lord! have mercy when we know
First how vain this world below;
When its darker thoughts oppress,
Doubts perplex and fears distress;
When the earliest gleam is given
Of Thy bright but distant heaven :
Then Thy fostering grace afford;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord!

1

The Need of Pity.

1. SHOW pity, Lord,

For we are frail and faint;
We fade away,

O list to our complaint!

We fade away

Like flowers in the sun;

We just begin,

And then our work is done.

H. H. Milman.

4.6.4.6. D.

314.

2. Show pity, Lord,

Our souls are sore distressed;

As troubled seas,

Our natures have no rest;

As troubled seas

That surging beat the shore,

We throb and heave,

Ever and evermore.

3. Show pity, Lord,

Our grief is in our sin;
We would be cleansed;

O make us pure within!

We would be cleansed,

For this we cry to Thee,

Thy word of love

Can make the conscience free.

4. Show pity, Lord,

Inspire our hearts with love;

That holy love

Which draws the soul above;

That holy love

Which makes us one with Thee,
And with Thy saints,

Through all eternity.

D. Thomas.

Blessed are they that Mourn.

I. SPEAK to our hearts, O Father, say

What we have been to Thee;

How we have wandered far away,
And hardly turned to see.

C.M.