5 Thy pardoning love, so free, so sweet, Dear Savior, I adore ;

O keep me at thy sacred feet,

And let me rove no more.

345.

C. M.

MRS. STEELE.

Desiring to return.

1 0 THOU, whose tender mercy hears
Contrition's humble sigh;

Whose hand, indulgent, wipes the tears
From sorrow's weeping eye!

2 See, low before thy throne of grace,
A wretched wanderer mourn;
Hast thou not bid me seek thy face?
Hast thou not said, Return?'

3 And shall my guilty fears prevail
To drive me from thy feet?.
O let not this dear refuge fail,
This only safe retreat.

4 Absent from thee, my guide, my light!
Without one cheering ray,

Through dangers, fears, and gloomy night,
How desolate my way!

5 O shine on this benighted heart,
With beams of mercy shine;
And let thy healing voice impart
A taste of joys divine.

PRAYER AND DEVOUT EXERCISES.

346.

C. M.

WATTS.

Heartless Worship an Abomination.

1 GOD is a spirit just and wise,
He sees our inmost mind;

In vain to heaven we raise our cries,
And leave our souls behind.

2 Nothing but truth before his throne
With honor can appear;

The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.

3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bending knees the ground;
But God abhors the sacrifice

Where not the heart is found.

4 Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, And make my soul sincere ;

Then shall I stand before thy face,
And find acceptance there.

347.

L. M.

SCOTT.

Forms of Worship vain without Virtue.

1 TH' uplifted eye and bended knee
Are but vain homage, Lord, to thee;
In vain our lips thy praise prolong,
The heart a stranger to the song.

2 Can rites and forms, and flaming zeal,
The breaches of thy precepts heal?
Can fasts and penance reconcile
Thy justice, and obtain thy smile?

3 The pure, the humble, contrite mind,
Thankful, and to thy will resigned,
To thee a nobler offering yields
Than Sheba's groves, or Sharon's fields;

4 Than floods of oil, or costly wine,
Rolling by thousands to thy shrine;
Or than, if to thine altar led,

A first-born son the victim bled.

5 ‘Be just and kind, and humble too,
In all you say, in all
do;
To men your charity impart,

you

And love your God with all your heart.'

6 This truth, by ancient prophets given, Was by thy Son confirmed from heaven; And, deep engraved, this great command Doth on eternal pillars stand.

348.

C. M.

BROWNE.

Acceptable Worship.

1 WHEREWITH Shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
O! how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone?

2 Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?

Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?

3 0 no, my soul; 'twere fruitless all;
Such offerings are vain :

No fatlings from the field or stall
His favor can obtain.

4 To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;

To God with humble reverence bow,
And to his glory live.'

5 Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere, He never will despise ;

And cheerful duty he'll prefer

To costly sacrifice

349.

7s M.

J. TAYLOR.

Acceptable Offering.

1 FATHER of our feeble race,
Wise, beneficent, and kind!
Spread o'er nature's ample face,
Flows thy goodness unconfined:

Musing in the silent grove,
Or the busy walks of men,
Still we trace thy wondrous love,
Claiming large returns again.

2 Lord, what offering shall we bring,
At thine altars when we bow?
Hearts, the pure unsullied spring
Whence the kind affections flow;
Soft compassion's feeling soul,
By the melting eye expressed;
Sympathy, at whose control

Sorrow leaves the wounded breast;

3 Willing hands to lead the blind,
Bind the wounded, feed the poor;
Love, embracing all our kind;
Charity, with liberal store :-
Teach us, O thou heavenly king,
Thus to show our grateful mind,
Thus the accepted offering bring,
Love to thee and all mankind.

350.

C. M.

ANONYMOUS.

The Lord's Prayer.

10 THOU, enthroned in worlds above,
Our Father and our Friend!
Lo, at the footstool of thy love
Thy children humbly bend.

2 All reverence to thy name be given;
Thy kingdom wide displayed;
And, as thy will is done in heaven,
Be it on earth obeyed.

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