3 Here may the sick and wandering soul, To truth still blind, to sin a slave, Find better than Bethesda’s pool, Or than Siloam’s healing wave; And may we learn, while here, apart From the world’s passion and its strife, That thy true shrine’s a loving heart, And thy best praise a holy life!
984 C. M. Joy unspeakable. 1 Pet. 1:8.
Sweet is the prayer whose holy stream In earnest pleading flows; Devotion dwells upon the theme, And warm and warmer glows.
2 Faith grasps the blessing she desires, Hope points the upward gaze; And love, untrembling love inspires The eloquence of praise.
3 But sweeter far the still, small voice, Heard by the human ear, When God hath made the heart rejoice, And dried the bitter tear.
4 Nor accents flow, nor words ascend; All utterance faileth there; But listening spirits comprehend, And God accepts the prayer.
985 C. M. Communion with God in retirement.
Far from the world, O Lord, I flee, From strife and tumult far; From scenes where Satan wages still His most successful war.
2 The calm retreat, the silent shade, With prayer and praise agree; And seem by thy sweet bounty made For those who follow thee.
3 There, if thy Spirit touch the soul, And grace her mean abode, O, with what peace, and joy, and love, She then communes with God!
4 There, like the nightingale she pours Her solitary lays; Nor asks a witness of her song, Nor thirsts for human praise.
5 Author and Guardian of my life! Sweet Source of light divine, And all harmonious names in one— My Saviour!—thou art mine!
6 What thanks I owe thee, and what love— A boundless, endless store— Shall echo through the realms above, When time shall be no more.
986 C. M. Secret prayer. Matt. 6:6.
Father divine, thy piercing eye Sees through the darkest night, In deep retirement thou art nigh, With heart-discerning sight.
2 There may that piercing eye survey, My duteous homage paid, With every morning’s dawning ray And every evening’s shade.
3 O let thy own celestial fire The incense still inflame; While my warm vows to thee aspire, Through my Redeemer’s name.
4 So shall the visits of thy love My soul in secret bless; So shalt thou deign in worlds above, Thy suppliant to confess.
987 C. M. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. 1 Pet. 3:15
O could I find, from day to day, A nearness to my God, Then would my hours glide sweet away While leaning on his word.
2 Lord, I desire with thee to live Anew from day to day, In joys the world can never give, Nor ever take away.
3 Blest Jesus, come and rule my heart, And make me wholly thine, That I may never more depart, Nor grieve thy love divine.
4 Thus, till my last, expiring breath, Thy goodness I’ll adore; And when my frame dissolves in death, My soul shall love thee more.
988 S. M. I am still with thee. Psalm 139:18.
Still with thee, O my God, I would desire to be; By day, by night, at home, abroad, I would be still with thee;—
2 With thee, when dawn comes in, And calls me back to care; Each day returning to begin With thee, my God, in prayer;—
3 With thee, amid the crowd That throngs the busy mart, To hear thy voice, ’mid clamor loud, Speak softly to my heart;—
4 With thee, when day is done, And evening calms the mind: The setting as the rising sun, With thee my heart would find.
5 With thee, when darkness brings The signal of repose, Calm in the shadow of thy wings, Mine eyelids I would close.
6 With thee, in thee, by faith Abiding I would be; By day, by night, in life, in death, I would be still with thee.
989 7s. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Coll. 3:3.
Let my life be hid in thee, Life of life, and Light of light! Love’s illimitable Sea! Depth of peace, of power the Hight.
2 Let my life be hid in thee, When my foes are gathering round; Covered with thy panoply, Safe within thy holy ground.
3 Let my life be hid in thee, From vexation and annoy; Calm in thy tranquillity, All my mourning turned to joy.
4 Let my life be hid in thee; When my strength and health shall fail, Let thine immortality In my dying hour prevail.
990 7s, double. That I may win Christ. Phil. 3:8.
Jesus, Saviour all divine, Hast thou made me truly thine? Hast thou bought me by thy blood? Reconciled my heart to God? Hearken to my tender prayer, Let me thine own image bear; Let me love thee more and more, Till I reach heaven’s blissful shore.
2 Thou canst fit me by thy grace For the heavenly dwelling-place; All thy promises are sure, Ever shall thy love endure; Then what more could I desire, How to greater bliss aspire? All I need, in thee I see, Thou art all in all to me.