With Thy gracious aid defend us ;
Let Thy guiding light attend us ;
Bring us to Thy place of rest.

Adam of St. Victor. Tr. R. Campbell.

C. M.

371

FATHER of mercies ! in Thy word

What endless glory shines !
For ever be Thy name adored

For these celestial lines.

2 Here may the wretched sons of want

Exhaustless riches find ;
Riches above what earth can grant,

And lasting as the mind.

3 Here the Redeemer's welcome voice

Spreads heavenly peace around ;
And life and everlasting joys

Attend the blissful sound.

4 Oh, may these heavenly pages be

My ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may I

see,
And still increasing light.
5 Divine Instructor, gracious Lord,

Be Thou for ever near ;
Teach them to love Thy sacred word,
And view my Saviour there.

A. Steele.

372

C. M.
The Spirit breathes upon the word,

And brings the truth to sight ;
Precepts and promises afford

A sanctifying light.

2 A glory gilds the sacred page,

Majestic like the sun ;
It gives a light to every age ;

It gives, but borrows none.
3 The hand that gave it still supplies

The gracious light and heat ;
His truths upon the nations rise ;

They rise, but never set.
4 Let everlasting thanks be Thine,

For such a bright display
As makes a world of darkness shine

With beams of heavenly day. 5 My soul rejoices to pursue

The steps of Him I love,
Till glory breaks upon my view
In brighter worlds above.

W. Cowper. 373

C. M.
HOW PRECIOUS is the book divine,

By inspiration given :
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine,

To guide our souls to heaven.
2 Its light, descending from above,

Our gloomy world to cheer,
Displays a Saviour's boundless love,

And brings His glories near.
3 It shows to man his wandering ways,

And where his feet have trod ;
And brings to view the matchless grace

Of a forgiving God. 4 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts,

In this dark vale of tears ;
Life, light, and joy it still imparts,

And quells our rising fears.

5 This lamp, through all the tedious night

Of life, shall guide our way,
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.

J. Fawcett. 374

C. M.
LAMP of our feet, whereby we trace

Our path, when wont to stray,
Stream from the fount of heav'nly grace,

Brook by the traveller's way.
2 Bread of our souls, whereon we feed,

True manna from on high ;
Our guide and chart, wherein we read

Of realms beyond the sky :
3 Pillar of fire, through watches dark,

Or radiant cloud by day;
When waves would 'whelm our tossing

bark,
Our anchor and our stay :
4 Word of the ever-living God,

Will of His glorious Son;
Without Thee how could earth be trod,

Or heaven itself be won ?
5 Lord, grant us all aright to learn

The wisdom it imparts ;
And to its heavenly teaching turn,
With simple, childlike hearts.

B. Barton. 375

C. M. 81.
There is a book, who runs may read,

Which heav'nly truth imparts,
And all the lore its scholars need,

Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

The works of God, above, below,

Within us and around,
Are pages in that book to show

How God Himself is found.
2 The glorious sky, embracing all,

Is like the Maker's love,
Wherewith encompassed great and small

In peace and order move.
The moon above, the church below,

A wondrous race they run ;
But all their radiance, all their glow,

Each borrows of its sun.
3 The Saviour lends the light and heat

That crowns His holy hill ;
The saints, like stars, around His seat

Perform their courses still.
The dew of heaven is like Thy grace,

It steals in silence down;
But, where it lights, the favored place

By richest fruits is known.
4 One Name above all glorious names,

With its ten thousand tongues,
The everlasting sea proclaims,

Echoing angelic songs.
The raging fire, the roaring wind,

Thy boundless power display;
But in the gentler breeze we find

The Spirit's viewless way.
5 Two worlds are ours : 'tis only sin

Forbids us to descry
The mystic heaven and earth within,

Plain as the sea and sky.
Thou, who hast given me eyes to see

And love this sight so fair,
Give me a heart to find out Thee

And read Thee everywhere.

J. Keble.

L. M.

376

God, in the Gospel of His Son,
Makes His eternal counsels known ;
'T is here His richest mercy shines,
And truth is drawn in fairest lines.

2 Here, sinners of a humble frame

May taste His grace, and learn His name ; May read, in characters of blood,

The wisdom, power, and grace of God. 3 The prisoner here may break his chains ;

The weary rest from all his pains ;
The captive feel his bondage cease,
The mourner find the way of peace.

4 Here, faith reveals, to mortal eyes,

A brighter world beyond the skies ;
Here, shines the light which guides our way

From earth to realms of endless day. 5 Oh, grant us grace, Almighty Lord !

To read and mark Thy Holy Word,
Its truths with meekness to receive,
And by its holy precepts live.

B. Beddome. Alt. T. Cotterill.

377

6s.

LORD, Thy word abideth,
And our footsteps guideth ;
Who its truth believeth
Light and joy receiveth.

2 When our foes are near us,

Then Thy word doth cheer us ;
Word of consolation,
Message of salvation.