work

The blessing of God on the business and comforts of life.

If God succeed not, all the cost
And pains to build the house are lost;
If God the city will not keep,
The watchful guards as well may sleep.

What if you rise before the sun,
And work and toil when day is done;
Careful and sparing eat your bread,
To shun that poverty you dread;

'Tis all in vain, till God hath blessed;
He can make rich, yet give us rest:
Children and friends are blessings too,
If God our Sovereign make them so.

Desire of knowledge; or, The teachings of the Spirit with the word.

ver. 64,68,18

Thy mercies fill the earth, O Lord;
How good thy works appear!
Open mine eyes to read thy word,
And see thy wonders there.

ver. 73,125

My heart was fashioned by thy hand;
My service is thy due:
O make thy servant understand
The duties he must do.

ver. 19

Since I'm a stranger here below,
Let not thy path be hid;
But mark the road my feet should go,
And be my constant guide

Imperfection of nature, and perfection of scripture.

ver. 96, paraphrased.

Let all the heathen writers join
To form one perfect book;
Great God! if once compared with thine,
How mean their writings look!

Not the most perfect rules they gave
Could show one sin forgiv'n,
Nor lead a step beyond the grave;
But thine conduct to heav'n.

I've seen an end to what we call
Perfection here below;
How short the powers of nature fall,
And can no further go!

Secret devotion and spiritual-mindedness.

ver. 147,55

To thee, before the dawning light
My gracious God, I pray;
I meditate thy name by night,
And keep thy law by day.

ver. 81

My spirit faints to see thy grace,
Thy promise bears me up;
And while salvation long delays,
Thy word supports my hope.

ver. 164

Seven times a day I lift my hands,
And pay my thanks to thee;
Thy righteous providence demands
Repeated praise from me.

ver. 62

v.22,23
C. M.
Christ the foundation of his church.

Behold the sure foundation-stone
Which God in Zion lays,
To build our heav'nly hopes upon,
And his eternal praise.

Chosen of God, to sinners dear,
And saints adore the name;
They trust their whole salvation here,
Nor shall they suffer shame.

The foolish builders, scribe and priest,
Reject it with disdain;
Yet on this Rock the church shall rest,
And envy rage in vain.

What though the gates of hell withstood,

v.22-27
S. M.
An hosanna for the Lord's day; or, A new song of salvation by Christ.

See what a living stone
The builders did refuse;
Yet God hath built his church thereon,
In spite of envious Jews.

The scribe and angry priest
Reject thine only Son;
Yet on this Rock shall Zion rest,
As the chief corner-stone.

The work, O Lord, is thine,
And wondrous in our eyes;
This day declares it all divine,
This day did Jesus rise.

This is the glorious day
That our Redeemer made;

The perfections of God.

Great is the Lord; his works of might
Demand our noblest songs:
Let his assembled saints unite
Their harmony of tongues.

Great is the mercy of the Lord;
He gives his children food;
And, ever mindful of his word,
He makes his promise good.

His Son, the great Redeemer, came
To seal his cov'nant sure;
Holy and reverend is his name,
His ways are just and pure.

They that would grow divinely wise
Must with his fear begin;

Deliverance from storms and shipwreck; or, The seaman's song.

Would you behold the works of God,
His wonders in the world abroad,
Go with the mariners, and trace
The unknown regions of the seas.

They leave their native shores behind,
And seize the favor of the wind;
Till God command, and tempests rise
That heave the ocean to the skies.

Now to the heav'ns they mount amain,
Now sink to dreadful deeps again;
What strange affrights young sailors feel,
And like a stagg'ring drunkard reel!

Correction for sin, and release by prayer.

From age to age exalt his name;
God and his grace are still the same;
He fills the hungry soul with food,
And feeds the poor with every good.

But if their hearts rebel and rise
Against the God that rules the skies;
If they reject his heav'nly word,
And slight the counsels of the Lord

He'll bring their spirits to the ground,
And no deliv'rer shall be found;
Laden with grief, they waste their breath
In darkness and the shades of death.

Israel led to Canaan, and Christians to heaven.

Give thanks to God; he reigns above;
Kind are his thoughts, his name is Love;
His mercy ages past have known,
And ages long to come shall own.

Let the redeemed of the Lord
The wonders of his grace record;
Isr'el, the nation whom he chose,
And rescued from their mighty foes.

[When God's almighty arm had broke
Their fetters and th' Egyptian yoke,
They traced the desert, wand'ring round
A wild and solitary ground.