"If thou of murmuring wouldst be cured,
Compare thy griefs with mine;
Think what my love for thee endured,
And thou wilt not repine

""Tis I appoint thy daily lot,

And I do all things well;

Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot, And rise with me to dwell.

"In life my grace shall strength supply, Proportion'd to thy day;

At death thou still shalt find me nigh,

To wipe thy tears away."

Thus I, who once my

wretched days

In vain repinings spent,

Taught in my Saviour's school of grace,

Have learnt to be content.

XX. OLD TESTAMENT GOSPEL. Heb. iv. 2.

ISRAEL, in ancient days,

Not only had a view

Of Sinai in a blaze,

But learn'd the Gospel too;

The types and figures were a glass,
In which they saw a Saviour's face.

The paschal sacrifice,

And blood-besprinkled door,*

Exod. xii. 13.

Seen with enlighten'd eyes,

And once applied with power,
Would teach the need of other blood,
To reconcile an angry God.

The Lamb, the Dove, set forth
His perfect innocence,*

Whose blood of matchless worth
Should be the soul's defence;

For he who can for sin atone,
Must have no failings of his own.

The scape-goat on his head +
The people's trespass bore,
And to the desert led,

Was to be seen no more:
In him our Surety seem'd to say,
66 Behold, I bear your sins away."
Dipt in his fellow's blood,
The living bird went free;
The type, well understood,
Express'd the sinner's plea ;

Described a guilty soul enlarged,

And by a Saviour's death discharged.

Jesus, I love to trace,

Throughout the sacred page,
The footsteps of thy grace,

The same in every age!

O grant that I may faithful be

To clearer light vouchsafed to me!

Lev. xii. 6. + Lev. xvi. 21.

Lev. xiv. 51-53.

XXI. SARDIS. Rev. iii. 1—6.

"WRITE to Sardis," saith the Lord,
And write what he declares,
He whose Spirit, and whose word,
Upholds the seven stars:
"All thy works and ways I search,
Find thy zeal and love decay'd:

Thou art call'd a living church,
But thou art cold and dead.

"Watch, remember, seek, and strive, Exert thy former pains ; Let thy timely care revive,

And strengthen what remains: Cleanse thine heart, thy works amend,

Former times to mind recall,

Lest

my sudden stroke descend, And smite thee once for all.

"Yet I number now in thee
A few that are upright;
These my Father's face shall see,
And walk with me in white.

When in judgment I appear,
They for mine shall be confest;
my faithful servants hear,
And woe be to the rest."

Let

XXII. PRAYER FOR A BLESSING ON THE YOUNG.

BESTOW, dear Lord, upon our youth

The gift of saving grace ;

And let the seed of sacred truth

Fall in a fruitful place.

Grace is a plant, where'er it grows,
Of pure and heavenly root;
But fairest in the youngest shows,
And yields the sweetest fruit.

Ye careless ones, O hear betimes
The voice of sovereign love!

Your youth is stain'd with many crimes,
But mercy reigns above.

True, you are young, but there's a stone
Within the youngest breast;
Or half the crimes which you have done
Would rob you of your rest.

For you the public prayer is made,
Oh! join the public prayer!
For you the secret tear is shed,
O shed yourselves a tear!

We pray that you may early prove
The Spirit's power to teach;
You cannot be too young to love
That Jesus whom we preach.

XXIII. PLEADING FOR AND WITH YOUTH.

SIN has undone our wretched race,

But Jesus has restored,

And brought the sinner face to face
With his forgiving Lord.

This we repeat, from year to year,
And press upon our youth;
Lord, give them an attentive ear,
Lord, save them by thy truth.

Blessings upon the rising race!
Make this a happy hour,
According to thy richest grace,
And thine almighty power.
We feel for your unhappy state,
(May you regard it too,)
And would awhile ourselves forget
To pour out prayer for you.

We see, though you perceive it not,
The approaching awful doom;
O tremble at the solemn thought,
And flee the wrath to come!

Dear Saviour, let this new-born year
Spread an alarm abroad;

And cry in every careless ear,

66

Prepare to meet thy God!"