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النشر الإلكتروني

3 Safely conduct us, by thy grace,
Through life's perplexing road,
And place us, when that journey's o'er,
At thy right hand, O God.

317

8, 7, 4s M.

RIPPON'S COL.

A Blessing requested.

1 COME, thou soul-transforming Spirit,
Bless the sower and the seed;
Let each heart thy grace inherit;
Raise the weak, the hungry feed;
From the gospel

Now supply thy people's need.

2 O, may all enjoy the blessing

Which thy word's designed to give;
Let us all, thy love possessing,
Joyfully the truth receive;
And forever

To thy praise and glory live.

318

L. M.

COWPER.

"My Soul thirsteth for God."

1 DEAR fountain of delight unknown,
No longer sink below the brim:
But overflow, and pour me down
A living and life-giving stream.

2 I want that grace that springs from thee,
That quickens all things where it flows,
And makes a wretched thorn, like me,
Bloom as the myrtle, or the rose.

319

C. M.

Prayer for Prudence and Wisdom.

SMART.

1 FATHER of light, conduct my feet
Through life's dark, dangerous road;
Let each advancing step still bring
Me nearer to my God.

2 Let heaven-eyed prudence be my guide;
And when I go astray,
Recall my feet from folly's path,
To wisdom's better way.

3 Teach me, in every various scene,
To keep my end in sight;
And, while I tread life's mazy track,
Let wisdom guide me right.

4 That heavenly wisdom from above
Abundantly impart ;

And let it guard, and guide, and warm,
And penetrate my heart,-

5 Till it shall lead me to thyself,
Fountain of bliss and love,

And all my darkness be dispersed
In endless light above.

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presides,

Whose voice created, and whose wisdom guides, On darkling man in pure effulgence shine,

And cheer the clouded mind with light divine.

2 'Tis thine alone to calm the pious breast With silent confidence and holy rest;

From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend, Path, motive, guide, original, and end.

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1 COME, blessed Spirit, Source of light,
Whose power and grace are unconfined,
Dispel the gloomy shades of night,
The thicker darkness of the mind.

2 To mine illumined eyes display

The glorious truth thy word reveals;
Cause me to run the heavenly way;
The book unfold, unloose the seals.
3 Thine inward teachings make me know,
The mysteries of redeeming love,
The emptiness of things below,

The excellence of things above.

4 While through this dubious maze I stray,
Spread, like the sun, thy beams abroad,
To show the dangers of the way,
And guide my feeble steps to God.

322

L. M.

MERRICK.

Desire of Instruction. Ps. 119.

1 TEACH me, O teach me, Lord, thy way;

So, to my life's remotest day,

By thy unerring precepts led,
My willing feet its paths shall tread.

2 Informed by thee, with sacred awe,
My heart shall meditate thy law;
And, with celestial wisdom filled,
To thee its full obedience yield.

3 Give me to know thy words aright,
Thy words, my soul's supreme delight,
That, purged from thirst of gold, my mind
In them its better wealth may find.

4 O, turn from vanity mine eye;

To me thy quickening strength supply;
And with thy promised mercy cheer
A heart devoted to thy fear.

323

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Seeking the Knowledge of God.

1 SHINE forth, eternal Source of light,
And make thy glories known;
Fill our enlarged, adoring sight
With lustre all thy own.

2 Vain are the charms, and faint the rays,
The brightest creatures boast;

And all their grandeur, and their praise,
Is in thy presence lost.

3 To know the Author of our frame
Is our sublimest skill;

True science is to read thy name,
True life, to obey thy will.

4 For this I long, for this I pray,
And following on pursue,
Till visions of eternal day
Fix and complete the view.

324

L. M.

HENRY MOORE.

Wisdom and Virtue sought from God.

1 SUPREME and universal light!
Fountain of reason! Judge of right!
Parent of good! whose blessings flow
On all above and all below; -

2 Assist us, Lord, to act, to be,
What nature and thy laws decree;
Worthy that intellectual flame,
Which from thy breathing spirit came.
3 May our expanded souls disclaim
The narrow view, the selfish aim,
But with a Christian zeal embrace
Whate'er is friendly to our race.

4 O Father, grace and virtue grant;
No more we wish, no more we want;
To know, to serve thee, and to love,
Is peace below, is bliss above.

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325

L. M.

For Steadiness of Principle.

HENRY MOORE.

1 AMIDST a world of hopes and fears,
A wild of cares, and toils, and tears,
Where foes alarm, and dangers threat,
And pleasures kill, and glories cheat,
2 Shed down, O Lord, a heavenly ray,
To guide me in the doubtful way;
And o'er me hold thy shield of power,
To guard me in the dangerous hour.

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