2. Our sires adored and worshipped Thee,

Yet feared beneath Thy rod;
And if with clearer eyes we see
Thy judgments with Thy grace agree,

We bless Thee, O our God.
3. They saw Thee in the cloud and flame ;

We see Thee in the sun.
Thanks for the years, that aye proclaim
Thy justice and Thy love the same,

And joy and duty one.
4. Dear Father, kind when most severe,

Most loving when most just :
To lead us through each changing year,
In pastures wide, by waters clear,
Thy guiding hand we trust.

Caroline A. Mason.

446.

A Birthday Prayer.

4. 10. 10.4.

I.

AR
RT Thou the Life ?

To Thee, then, do I owe each beat and breath, And wait Thy ordering of my hour of death

In peace or strife.

2.

Art Thou the Light ?
To Thee, then, in the sunshine or the cloud,
Or in my chamber lone or in the crowd,

I lift my sight.

3. Art Thou the Truth?

To Thee, then, loved and craved and sought of yore, I consecrate my manhood, o'er and o'er,

As erst my youth.

4. Art Thou the Strong ?

To Thee, then, though the air be thick with night, I trust the seeming unprotected Right,

And leave the Wrong. 5. Art Thou the Wise ?

To Thee, then, would I bring each useless care,
And bid my soul unsay each idle prayer,

And hush its cries.

6. Art Thou the Good ?

To Thee, then, with a thirsting heart I turn,
And at Thy fountain stand and hold my urn,

As I have stood.

7. Forgive the call !

I cannot shut Thee from my sense or soul,
I cannot lose me in the boundless whole,
For Thou art All.

Francis E. Abbot.

C.M.

447

God of My Life.
1. GOD of my life and all my powers,

My everlasting Friend !
Shall life, so favoured in its dawn,

Be fruitless in its end ?
2. To Thee, O Lord, my tender years

A trembling duty paid,
With glimpses of the mighty God

Delighted and afraid.
3. From parent's eye, and paths of men,

Thy touch I ran to meet ;
It swelled the hymn, and sealed the prayer ;

'Twas calm, and strange, and sweet !

4. Oft when beneath the work of sin

Trembling and dark I stood,
And felt the edge of eager thought,

And felt the kindling blood ;
5. Thy dew came down, my heart was Thine ;

I knew nor doubt nor strife;
Cool now, and peaceful as the grave,

And strong to second life.
6. Still will I hope for voice and strength

To glorify Thy name ;
Though I must die to all that's mine,
And suffer all my shame.

Charles Wesley.

448.

The Limitations of Life.

C.M.

I.

I AM not sent a pilgrim here,

My heart with earth to fill;
But I am here God's grace to learn,

And serve God's sovereign will.

2. He leads me on through smiles and tears,

Grief follows gladness still ;
But let me welcome both alike,

Since both work out His will.

3. I know not how this hindered life

May life's vast ends fulfil;
He knows, -and that life is not lost

That answers best His will.

4. No service in itself is small,

None great, though earth it fill ;

But that is small that seeks its own,

And great that seeks God's will:
5. Then hold my hand, most gracious Lord,

Guide all my goings still ;
And let this be my life's one aim,

To do or bear Thy will.

L.M.

449.

The Rule of God.
1. TAKE Thine own way with me, Good Lord,

Thou canst not otherwise than bless;
I launch me forth upon a sea

Of boundless love and tenderness.

2. I will not fear Thee, O my God!

The days to come can only bring
Their perfect sequences of love,

Thy larger, deeper comforting.
3. Beneath the splendour of Thy choice,

Thy perfeet choice for me, I rest;
Outside it now I dare not live,

Within it I must needs be blest.

4. Oh ! it is life indeed to live

Within this kingdom strangely sweet ;
And yet we fear to enter in,

And linger with unwilling feet.

5. We fear this wondrous rule of Thine,

Because we have not reached Thy heart ;
Not venturing our all on Thee,
We may not know how good Thou art.

Jean S. Pigoti.

L.M.

450. The Guide in the Wilderness.
1. WHEN Israel, of the Lord beloved,

Out from the land of bondage came,
Her father's God before her moved,

An awful Guide in smoke and flame.
2. By day along the astonished lands

The cloudy pillar glided slow ;
By night Arabia's crimsoned sands

Returned the fiery column's glow.
3. Thus present still, though now unseen,

When brightly shines the prosperous day,
Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen,

To temper the deceitful ray ?
4. And O! when gathers on our path

In shade and storm the frequent night,
Be Thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light.

Sir Walter Scott.

451.

75.

Prayer for Guidance.
1. HEAVENLY Father, to whose eye

Future things unfolded lie !
Through the desert, where I stray,

Let Thy counsels guide my way.
2. Lead me not, for flesh is frail,

Where fierce trials would assail :
Leave me not, in darkened hour,

To withstand the tempter's power.
3. Lord ! uphold me day by day;

Shed a light upon my way :
Guide me through perplexing snares :
Care for me in all my cares.