CCCLIII.

1

C. M. DODDRIDGE.

Christ's care of Ministers and Churches.

WE

Rev. ii. 1.

E bless the eternal Source of light, Who makes the stars to shine; And through this dark beclouded world, Diffuseth rays divine.

2 We bless the church's sovereign King,
Whose golden lamps we are;
Fix'd in the temples of his love
To shine with radiance fair.
3 Still be our purity preserv'd;
Still fed with oil the flame;
And on our hearts be still inscrib'd;
Our heavenly master's name.

2

Then, while between our ranks he walks,
And all our state surveys,

His smiles shall with new lustre deck
The people of his praise.

Travailing in Birth for Souls. Gal. iv. 19.

HAT contradictions meet

WH

In minister's employ!

It is a bitter sweet,

A sorrow full of joy :

No other post affords a place
For equal honour or disgrace!.
Who can describe the pain
Which faithful preachers feel;
Constrain❜d to speak in vain,
To hearts as hard as steel!
Or who can tell the pleasures felt,
When stubborn hearts begin to melt.

3

4

The Saviour's dying love,
The soul's amazing worth;
Their utmost efforts move,

And draw their bowels forth :

They pray and strive, their rest departs,
Till Christ be form'd in sinner's hearts.

If some small hope appear,
They still are not content,
But, with a jealous fear,

They watch for the event:

Too oft they find their hopes deceiv'd,
Then how their inmost souls are griev'd!

5 But when their pains succeed,
And from the tender blade,
The rip'ning ears proceed,
Their toils are overpaid:
No harvest joy can equal theirs,
To find the fruit of all their cares.

6

1

On what has now been sown,

Thy blessing, Lord, bestow;
The pow'r is thine alone,

To make it spring and grow;
Do thou the gracious harvest raise,

And thou, alone, shalt have the praise.

DEACONS.

CCCLV. L. M. RIP. SEL.

At a choice of Deacons.

FAIR

Altered.

1 Tim. iii. 8, 13.

AIR Zion's King, we suppliant bow,
And hail the grace thy church enjoys;

Her officers are all thy own,

With all the gifts thy hand employs.

2 Up to thy throne we lift our eyes,
For blessings to attend our choice,*
Of Deacons, generous, prudent, wise,
That we together may rejoice.
3 Happy in Jesus, their own Lord,
May they his sacred table spread,
The table of their pastor fill,

And fill the hungry poor with bread!
4 [When pastor, saints, and poor they serve,
May their own hearts with grace be crown'd!
While patience, sympathy, and joy
Adorn, and through their lives abound.]

By purest love to Christ, and truth,
O may they win a good degree
Of boldness in the christian faith,
And meet the smile of thine and thee!

6 And when the work to them assign'd-
The work of love is fully done,

Call them from serving tables here.
To sit around thy glorious throne.

糖

SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.

CCCLVI. L. M. RIP. SEL.
The spread of the Gospel. Matt, vi. 10.
TO distant lands thy gospel send,

Το

And thus thy empire wide extend;

To Gentile, Turk, and stubborn Jew,
Thou King of grace! salvation show.

* If this hymn be sung before the choice, then the se

d line of the second verse may stand thus:

For wisdom to direct our choite?"

2 Where'er thy sun, or light arise,
Thy name, O God! immortalize:
May nations yet unborn confess,
Thy wisdom, power and righteousness.
CCCLVII. C. M. RIP. SEL.

1

The increase of the Church promised and pleaded. Psalm ii. 8.

F

ATHIER, is not thy promise pledg'd
To the exalted Son,

That through the nations of the earth
Thy word of life shall run?

2 "Ask, and I give the heathen lands
"For thine inheritance,

"And to the world's remotest shores
"Thine empire shall advance."

3 Hast thou not said the blinded Jews
Shall their Redeemer own;
While Gentiles to his standard crowd,
And bow before his throne?

4 [When shall th' untutor'd Indian tribes, A dark bewilder'd race,

Sit down at our Immanuel's feet,
And learn and feel his grace.]

5 Are not all kingdoms, tribes, and tongues, Under th' expanse of heaven,

To the dominion of thy Son,

Without exemption given?

6 From east to west, from north to south, Then be his name ador'd!

Europe, with all thy millions, shout
Hosannas to thy Lord!

7 Asia and Africa resound

From shore to shore his fame:

And thou, America, in songs
Redeeming love proclaim!

CCCLVIII. C. M. RIP. SEL.

Prayer for Missionaries.
1 GREAT God, the nations of the earth
Are by creation thine;
And in thy works by all beheld,
Thy radiant glories shine.

2 But, Lord, thy greater love has sent
Thy gospel to mankind,
Unveiling what rich stores of grace
Are treasur'd in thy mind.

3 Lord, when shall these glad tidings spread
The spacious earth around,
'Till every Land and every Tribe
Shall hear the joyful sound:

4 O when shall Afric's sable sons
Enjoy the heavenly word,
And vassals long-enslav'd become
The free-men of the Lord ?

5 [When shall th' untutor'd heathen tribes,.
A dark bewilder'd race,
Sit down at our Immanuel's feet,
And learn and see his grace ?]

6 Ilaste, sovereign mercy, and transform
Their cruelty to love;

Soften the tyger to a lamb,

The vulture to a dove!

Smile, Lord, on each divine attempt
To spread the gospel's rays,