SECTION IV.

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.

212. The Blessedness of the Church. 8—7—4.

To him who led his people through the wilderness : for his mercy endureth for ever.-Ps. cxxxvi. 16.

1 RESCU'D from the hand of strangers,
Israel through the desert goes:
Many are his toils and dangers,
Many, too, are Israel's foes:
But Jehovah

All his wants and dangers knows.

[2 Israel's heart is found deceitful,
Prone to murmur and complain :
Israel, too, is oft forgetful

Of the hand that broke his chain :
But Jehovah

Turns him to himself again.

3 Through a trackless desert going,
Israel proves the Saviour's love,
Lo! a cloud before him showing
When and whither he should move.
Israel's journeys

Are directed from above,]

1

4 Though the desert be unfruitful :
Yet is favor'd Israel fed;
His supplies are never doubtful :
God provides his daily bread.
And his table

Through the wilderness is spread.

5 Where no pleasant streams are flowing,
In a parch'd and thirsty land:
Lo the rock its Maker knowing,
Pours a stream at his command:
And his people

Wond'ring own his mighty hand.

6 When the foe, of numbers boasting,
Leads his armies to the fight;
Israel, in the promise trusting,
Buts his num'rous hosts to flight:
And goes forward

In the Lord Jehovah's might.

213. Consolation for the Church. 11s.

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted.— The Lord on high is mightier than the mighty waves of the sea.-ISA. liv. 11. Ps. xciii. 4.

O ZION, afflicted with wave upon wave, Whom no man can comfort, whom no man can save;

With darkness surrounded, by terrors dismay'd

In toiling and watching thy strength i decay'd.

2

3

Loud roaring and swelling, the billows o'erwhelm,

But skilful's the Pilot, who sits at the helm ;

His wisdom conducts thee, his power will defend,

In safety and quiet thy warfare shall end.

O fearful, O faithless-in mercy he cries, My promise, my truth-are they light in thine eyes

?

Still, still I am with thee, my promise shall stand,

Through tempest and tossing I'll bring thee to land.

[4 Forget thee I will not, I cannot; thy

5

name,

Engrav'd on my heart, doth for ever remain ;

The palms of my hands whilst I look on, I see

The wounds I receiv'd when I suffer'd for thee.]

Then trust me, and fear not; thy life is

secure;

My wisdom is perfect, supreme is my

power;

In love I correct thee, thy soul to refine, And make thee at length in my likeness to shine.

[6 The doubting, the fearful, the weak are my care,

The helpless, the hopeless-I hear their

sad prayer;

From all their afflictions my glory shall spring,

The deeper their sorrows, the louder they'll sing.]

214. The Depressed state of the Church lamented. L.M.

PSALM CXXXVII.

1 O ZION, when I think on thee,
I wish for pinions like the dove;
And mourn to think that I should be
So distant from the place I love.

2 A captive here, and far from home,
For Zion's sacred courts I sigh:
Thither the ransom'd nations come,
And see the Saviour eye to eye.

3 While here, I walk on hostile ground;
The few that I can call my friends
Are, like myself, with fetters bound,
And weariness our steps attends.

4 But yet we shall behold the day
When Zion's children shall return:
Our sorrows then shall flee away,
And we shall never, never mourn.

5 The hope that such a day will come, Makes e'en the captive's portion sweet: Tho' now we'er distant far from home, In Zion soon we all shall meet.

215. The Excellency of the Church. 8—8—6.

For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo the people shall dwell alone. -NUMB. Xxiii. 9.

1 THE Sons of Israel stand alone,
Jehovah claims them for his own;
His cause and their's the same;
He sav'd them from the tyrant's hand;
Allots to them a pleasant land,

And calls them by his name.

2 O! Israel, who is like to thee?
A people sav'd, and call'd to be
Peculiar to the Lord!

Thy shield! he guards the from the foe;
Thy sword! he fights thy battle too;
Himself thy great reward!

3 Fear not, though many should oppose,
For God is stronger than thy foes,
And makes thy cause his own:
The promis'd land before thee lies,
Go, and possess the glorious prize,
Reserv'd for thee alone.

4 In glory there the King appears,
He wipes away his people's tears,