5 In spite of all my foes,
Thou dost my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
And joy exalts my head.
6 The bounties of thy love
Shall crown my following days,
Nor from thy house will I remove,
Nor cease to speak thy praise.
L. M. 6L.
God our Shepherd. Ps. 23.
1 THE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd's care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noonday walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2 When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary, wandering steps he leads;
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
3 Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty shall my pains beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With sudden greens and herbage crowned,
And streams shall murmur all around.
4 Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill;
For thou, O Lord, art with me still;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.
God our Shepherd. Ps. 23.
1 LO, my Shepherd's hand divine!
Want shall never more be mine;
In a pasture fair and large,
He shall feed his happy charge.
2 When I faint with summer's heat,
He shall lead my weary feet
To the streams that, still and slow,
Through the verdant meadow flow.
3 He my soul anew shall frame,
And, his mercy to proclaim,
When through devious paths I stray,
Teach my steps the better way.
4 Thou my plenteous board hast spread;
Thou with oil refreshed my head ;
Filled by thee, my cup o'erflows;
For thy love no limit knows:
5 Constant, to my latest end,
This my footsteps shall attend,
And shall bid thy hallowed dome
Yield me an eternal home.
1 MY Shepherd is the Lord on high;
His hand supplies me still;
In pastures green he makes me lie,
Beside the rippling rill :
He cheers my soul, relieves my woes,
His glory to display;
The paths of righteousness he shows,
And leads me in his way.
2 Though walking through death's dismal shade, No evil will I fear;
Thy rod, thy staff shall lend me aid,
For thou art ever near:
For me a table thou dost spread
In presence of my foes;
With oil thou dost anoint my head;
By thee my cup o'erflows.
3 Thy goodness and thy mercy sure
Shall bless me all my days;
And I, with lips sincere and pure,
Will celebrate thy praise:
Yes, in the temple of the Lord
Forever I will dwell;
To after time thy name record,
And of thy glory tell.
God all in all. Ps. 127.
1 IF God to build the house deny, The builders work in vain;
And towns, without his wakeful eye,
A useless watch maintain.
2 Before the morning beams arise,
Your painful work renew,
And, till the stars ascend the skies,
Your tiresome toil pursue;
3 Short be your sleep, and coarse your fare;
In vain - till God has blessed;
But if his smiles attend your care,
You shall have food and rest.
4 Nor children, relatives, nor friends,
Shall real blessings prove,
Nor all the earthly joys he sends,
If sent without his love.
Dependence upon Providence.
1 GREAT Lord of earth, and seas, and skies,
Thy wealth the needy world supplies;
And safe beneath thy guardian arm,
We live secured from every harm.
2 To thee perpetual thanks we owe
For all our comforts here below;
Our daily bread thy bounty gives,
And every rising want relieves.
3 To thee we cheerful homage bring; In grateful hymns thy praises sing; On thee we ever will depend
The rich, the sure, the faithful Friend.
4 And, should thy measures seem severe,
Calmly may we thy chastening bear;
Without complaint to thee submit,
The unerring Judge of what is fit.
Divine Providence, and the Folly of Self-Dependence.
1 GOD reigns; events in order flow,
Man's industry to guide,
But in a different channel go
To humble human pride.
2 The swift not always in the race
Shall win the crowning prize;
Not always wealth and honor grace
The labors of the wise.
3 Fond mortals do themselves beguile,
When on themselves they rest;
Blind is their wisdom, vain their toil,
By thee, O Lord, unblest.
4 'Tis ours the furrows to prepare,
And sow the precious grain;
"Tis thine to give the sun and air,
And to command the rain.
5 Evil and good before thee stand,
Their mission to perform;
The sun shines bright at thy command;
Thy hand directs the storm.
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