3. Closer and closer let us cleave,
To his beloved embrace;
Expect his fulness to receive,
And grace to answer grace.

4. Thus we anticipate the day,

Which shall our flesh restore,
When death shall all be done away,
And bodies part no more.

468

C. M. For a Public Fast.

STEELF.

SEE, gracious God, before thy throne,
Thy mourning people bend!

'Tis on Thy sovereign grace alone,
Our humble hopes depend.

2. Tremendous judgments from thy hand,
Thy dreadful power display;

Yet mercy spares this guilty land,
And still we live to pray.

3. Great God! and why is Britain spared,
Ungrateful as we are?

O make thy awful warnings heard,
While mercy cries, Forbear.'

་

4. From sin and folly turn us, Lord,
By thy resistless grace;

Then shall our hearts obey thy word,
And humbly seek Thy face.

5. Then, should insulting foes invade,
We shall not sink in fear;
Secure of never-failing aid,
If God, our God, is near.

468

SECOND PART.

C. M. The same.

ATTEND, and mark the solemn fast,
Which to the Lord is dear;
Disdain the false unhallowed mask,
Which vain dissemblers wear.

2. Do I delight in sorrow's dress?
Saith He who reigns above;
The hanging head, and rueful look,
Will they attract my love?

3. Let such as feel oppression's load.
Thy tender pity share ;

And let the helpless, homeless poor,
Be thy peculiar care.

4. Go, bid the hungry orphan be
With thy abundance blest;
Invite the wanderer to thy gate,
And spread the couch of rest.

5. Let him who pines with piercing cold,
By thee be warmed and clad;
Be thine the generous task to make
The downcast mourner glad.

6. Then, bright as morning, shall come forth, In peace and joy thy days;

And glory from the Lord above,
Shall shine on all thy ways.

469 s. M. Frailty and Shortness of Life. WATTS.
LORD, what a feeble piece
Is this our mortal frame!

Our life, how poor a trifle 'tis,
That scarce deserves the name.

2. Alas, the brittle clay,

3.

4.

5.

That built our body first;

And every month, and every day,
'Tis mouldering back to dust.
Our moments fly apace,
Nor will our minutes stay:
Just like a flood our hasty days,
Are sweeping us away.

Well, if our days must fly,

We'll keep their end in sight,

We'll spend them all in wisdom's way,
And let them speed their flight.

They'll waft us sooner o’er

This life's tempestuous sea;

Soon shall we reach the peaceful shore
Of blest eternity.

470

C. M. The same.

WATTS.

LET others boast how strong they be,
Nor death, nor danger fear;

But we'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

2. Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay,

A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3. Our life contains a thousand springs,
And dies if one be gone;

Strange that a harp of thousand strings,
Should keep in tune so long.

4. But 'tis our God supports our frame,
The God that built us first;
Salvation to the Almighty Name,
That reared us from the dust.

471 L. M. Man fading; the Word of God enduring.

C. WESLEY.

THE morning flowers display their sweets,
And gay their silken leaves unfold;

As careless of the noontide heats,
As fearless of the evening cold.
2. Nipt by the wind's unkindly blast,
Parched by the sun's directer ray,
The momentary glories waste,
The short-lived beauties die away.

3. So blooms the human face divine,
When youth its pride of beauty shows;
Fairer than spring the colours shine,
And sweeter than the virgin rose.

4. Or worn by slowly rolling years,
Or broke by sickness in a day,
The fading glory disappears,
The short-lived beauties die away.

5. Let sickness blast, let death devour,
If heaven shall recompense our pains ;

Perish the grass, and fade the flower,
If firm the word of God remains!

472

2.

3.

4.

S. M. Life compared to a Voyage.

WE'RE bound for yonder land,
Where Jesus reigns supreme;

We leave the shore at His command,
Forsaking all for him.

No cause have we to fear:
The God who rules the sea,
In every danger will be near,
And our Protector be.

The Lord himself will keep
His people safe from harm;

Will hold the helm, and guide the ship,
With his almighty arm.

Then, let the tempests roar,

The billows heave and swell,

We trust to reach the peaceful shore,
Where all the ransomed dwell.

5. And when we gain the land,
How happy shall we be !

How shall we bless the mighty hand,
That led us through the sea.

473 C. M. "Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way?" (Psalm 119, 9.)

WATTS.

HOW shall the young secure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?

Thy word the choicest rules imparts,
To keep the conscience clean.