674 L. M. Psalm 100.
Before Jehovah’s awful throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy; Know that the Lord is God alone, He can create and he destroy.
2 His sovereign power, without our aid, Made us of clay, and formed us men; And when like wandering sheep we strayed, He brought us to his fold again.
3 We are his people—we his care— Our souls, and all our mortal frame: What lasting honors shall we rear, Almighty Maker, to thy name?
4 We’ll crowd thy gates with thankful songs, High as the heavens our voices raise; And earth, with her ten thousand tongues, Shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.
5 Wide as the world is thy command! Vast as eternity thy love! Firm as a rock thy truth shall stand, When rolling years shall cease to move!
675 L. M. God exalted. Psalm 57:5.
Be thou exalted, O my God! Above the heavens where angels dwell; Thy power on earth be known abroad, And land to land thy wonders tell.
2 My heart is fixed; my song shall raise Immortal honors to thy name: Awake, my tongue, to sound his praise, My tongue, the glory of my frame.
3 High o’er the earth his mercy reigns, And reaches to the utmost sky; His truth to endless years remains, When lower worlds dissolve and die.
676 L. M. Every place a temple.
O Thou, to whom, in ancient time, The lyre of Hebrew bards was strung; Whom kings adored in songs sublime, And prophets praised with glowing tongue:
2 Not now on Zion’s hight alone Thy favored worshipers may dwell; Nor where, at sultry noon, thy Son Sat weary, by the patriarch’s well.
3 From every place below the skies, The grateful song, the fervent prayer— The incense of the heart—may rise To heaven, and find acceptance there.
4 To thee shall age, with snowy hair, And strength, and beauty, bend the knee; And childhood lisp, with reverent air, Its praises and its prayers to thee!
5 O thou to whom, in ancient time, The lyre of prophet-bards was strung, To thee, at last, in every clime, Shall temples rise, and praise be sung!
677 L. M. Coming together in the name of Jesus. Matt. 18:20.
Great God! the followers of thy Son, We bow before thy mercy-seat, To worship thee, the holy One, And pour our wishes at thy feet.
2 O, grant thy blessing here to-day; O, give thy people joy and peace; The tokens of thy love display, And favor that shall never cease.
3 We seek the truth which Jesus brought, His path of light we long to tread; Here be his holy doctrines taught, And here their purest influence shed.
4 May faith, and hope, and love abound; Our sins and errors be forgiven; And we, from day to day, be found The sons of God and heirs of heaven.
678 L. M. 6 lines. Seeking refuge.
Forth from the dark and stormy sky, Lord, to thine altar’s shade we fly; Forth from the world, its hope and fear, Father, we seek thy shelter here: Weary and weak, thy grace we pray; Turn not, O Lord, thy guests away.
2 Long have we roamed in want and pain; Long have we sought thy rest to gain; Wildered in doubt, in darkness lost, Long have our souls been tempest-tost; Low at thy feet our sins we lay; Turn not, O Lord, thy guests away.
679 L. M. The hour of worship.
Blest hour, when mortal man retires To hold communion with his God, To send to heaven his warm desires, And listen to the sacred word.
2 Blest hour, when earthly cares resign Their empire o’er his anxious breast, While, all around, the calm divine, Proclaims the holy day of rest.
3 Blest hour, when God himself draws nigh, Well pleased his people’s voice to hear, To hush the penitential sigh, And wipe away the mourner’s tear.
4 Blest hour! for, where the Lord resorts, Foretastes of future bliss are given, And mortals find his earthly courts The house of God, the gate of heaven.
680 L. M. How amiable are thy tabernacles. Psalm 84:1.
Great God, attend while Zion sings The joy that from thy presence springs; To spend one day with thee on earth, Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
2 Might I enjoy the meanest place Within thy house, O God of grace, Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power, Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.
3 God is our sun, he makes our day; God is our shield, he guards our way From all th’ assaults of hell and sin, From foes without and foes within.
4 All needful grace will God bestow, And crown that grace with glory too: He gives us all things, and withholds No real good from upright souls.
5 O God, our King, whose sovereign sway, The glorious hosts of heaven obey, And devils at thy presence flee; Blest is the man that trusts in thee.