78.

1. Ho

Protection on Land and Sea.

OW are Thy servants blest, O Lord!

How sure is their defence !

Eternal wisdom is their guide,

Their help Omnipotence.

2. In foreign realms and lands remote,
Supported by Thy care,

Through burning climes they pass unhurt,
And breathe in tainted air.

3. When by the dreadful tempest borne
High on the broken wave,

They know Thou art not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save.

4. The storm is laid, the winds retire,
Obedient to Thy will!

The sea that roars at Thy command,
At Thy command is still.

5. In midst of dangers, fears, and deaths,
Thy goodness we adore:

We praise Thee for Thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.

6. Our life, while Thou preservest life,
Thy sacrifice shall be ;

And death, when death shall be our lot,
Shall join our souls to Thee.

79.

I.

I

God is Good.

C.M.

F. Addison.

C.M.

SEE the wrong that round me lies,

I feel the guilt within ;

I hear, with groan and travail-cries,
The world confess its sin :

2. Yet, in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,

To one fixed stake my spirit clings :
I know that God is good.

3. Not mine to look where cherubim
And seraphs may not see,

But nothing can be good in Him
Which evil is in me.

4. The wrong that pains my soul below
I dare not throne above:

I know not of His hate-I know
His goodness and His love!

5. And Thou, O Lord! by whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My human heart on Thee!

80.

I.

J. G. Whittier.

God our Home.

LORD, in whom are all my springs,
Joyful to Thee I come;

My grateful heart exultant sings

To know Thou art its home.

2. The shelter of Thy glorious arms
How strong and safe and sweet;
From sense and sin, from all alarms,
I fly to this retreat.

3. Here is my sure and tranquil rest
In every troubled hour:

C.M.

81.

Weary I lean upon Thy breast
And feel its soothing power.

4. In that dear place of purest love
What wings encircle me;

Naught in the world can ever move
My trusting heart from Thee.

5. My Lord! if now I find in Thee
So blest and sweet a home,
What shall the heavenly mansion be
When to its door I come?

Austin Phelps.

8.6.8.6.8.8.

I.

Rest in God.

I LOOK to Thee in every need,

And never look in vain ;

I feel Thy touch, Eternal Love,
And all is well again;

The thought of Thee is mightier far
Than sin and pain and sorrow are.

2. Discouraged in the work of life,
Disheartened by its load,
Shamed by its failures or its fears,
I sink beside the road,—

But let me only think of Thee,

And then new heart springs up in me.

3. Thy calmness bends serene above,
My restlessness to still;

Around me flows Thy quickening life,
To nerve my faltering will;

Thy presence fills my solitude;
Thy providence turns all to good.

82.

I.

4. Embosomed deep in Thy dear love,
Held in Thy law, I stand;

Thy hand in all things I behold,
And all things in Thy hand;
Thou leadest me by unsought ways,
And turn'st my mourning into praise.

Love, and Love alone.

S. Longfellow.

8.7. D.

OD and Father, great and holy!

GOD

Fearing nought we come to Thee;
Fearing nought, though weak and lowly,
For Thy love has made us free.

By the blue sky bending o'er us,

By the green earth's flowery zone,
Teach us, Lord, the angel-chorus,
"Thou art Love, and Love alone."

2. Though the world in flames should perish,
Suns and stars in ruin fall,

Love of Thee our heart should cherish,
Thou to us be all in all.

And though heavens Thy name are praising,
Seraphs hymn no sweeter tone,

Than the strain our hearts are raising,

"Thou art Love, and Love alone."

83.

I.

Frederick W. Farrar.

8.4.8.4.

God is Love.

I VEXED me with a troubled thought,

That God might be

A God whose mercy must be bought

With misery.

84.

2. But there's no wrath to be appeased
In heaven above;

No wrath with bitter anguish pleased,
For God is Love.

3. No pleasure from our suffering
The Lord could steal,

Or anguish of the meanest thing
He made to feel.

4. But on Himself the grief He took,
The pain and loss

And shame of sin, and its rebuke
Upon the Cross.

5. For love rejoiceth not in pain
Of good or bad,

But beareth all, and still is fain
To make us glad.

6. Love circles us with mercies sweet,
And guides our way,

And sheds its light around our feet
By night and day.

7. O love of Jesus! love of heaven!
O holy Dove,

Teach all the ransomed and forgiven

That God is Love.

I.

Walter C. Smith.

8.8.8.4.

LE

God is Love.

ET every voice for praise awake;
Let every heart the joy partake;
And with this truth sweet music make,
Our God is Love!