Blessedness of Public Worship. Ps. 84.
1 LORD of the worlds above,
How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of thy love,
Thine earthly temples, are!
To thine abode
My heart aspires, with warm desires
To see my God.
2 The sparrow for her young
With pleasure seeks a nest,
And wandering swallows long
To find their wonted rest:
My spirit faints
With equal zeal to rise and dwell
Among thy saints.
3 To spend one sacred day
Where God and saints abide,
Affords diviner joy
Than thousand days beside.
Where God resorts,
I love it more to keep the door
Than shine in courts.
4 O happy souls that pray
Where God appoints to hear!
O happy men that pay
Their constant service there!
They praise thee still;
And happy they that love the way
5 They go from strength to strength
Through this dark vale of tears,
Till each arrives at length-
Till each in heaven appears.
When God, our King, shall thither bring
Delight in Public Worship. Ps. 84.
1 GREAT God, attend, while Zion sings
The joy that from thy presence springs.
To spend one day with thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
2 Might I enjoy the meanest place
Within thy house, O God of grace,
Not tents of ease, nor thrones. of power,
Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.
3 God is our sun-he makes our day;
God is our shield-he guards our way
From all th' assaults of hell and sin,
From foes without and foes within.
4 All needful grace will God bestow,
And crown that grace with glory too.
He gives us all things, and withholds
No real good from upright souls.
5 O God, our King, whose sovereign sway
The glorious host of heaven obey,
Display thy grace, exert thy power,
Till all on earth thy name adore.
Excellence of Public Worship.
1 LORD of hosts, how lovely fair,
E'en on earth, thy temples are!
Here thy waiting people see
Much of heaven, and much of thee.
2 From thy gracious presence flows
Bliss that softens all our woes,
While thy Spirit's holy fire
Warms our hearts with pure desire.
3 Here we supplicate thy throne;
Here thou mak'st thy glories known;
Here we learn thy righteous ways,
Taste thy love, and sing thy praise.
4 Thus, with festive songs of joy,
We our happy lives employ-
Love, and long to love thee more,
Till from earth to heaven we soar.
The Jewish Temple and Christian Church. Ps. 132.
1 THE Lord in Zion placed his name :
His ark was settled there:
To Zion the whole nation came
To worship thrice a year.
2 But we have no such lengths to go,
Nor wander far abroad :
Where'er thy saints assemble now
There is a house for God.
3 Arise, O King of grace, arise,
And enter to thy rest:
Lo, thy church waits with longing eyes
Thus to be owned and blessed.
4 Enter with all thy glorious train,-
Thy Spirit and thy word;
All that the ark did once contain
Could no such grace afford.
5 Here, mighty God, accept our vows;
Here let thy praise be spread;
Bless the provisions of thy house,
And fill thy poor with bread.
6 Here let the Son of David reign-
Let God's Anointed shine;
Justice and truth his court maintain,
With love and power divine.
Call to the House of Prayer.
1 COME to the house of prayer,
O ye afflicted, come :
The God of peace shall meet you there-
He makes that house his home.
2 Come to the house of praise,
Ye who are happy now;
In sweet accord your voices raise,
In kindred homage bow.
3 Ye aged, hither come,
For ye have felt his love:
Soon shall your trembling tongues be dumb,
Your lips forget to move.
4 Ye young, before his throne,
Come, bow; your voices raise;
Let not your hearts his praise disown
Who gives the power to praise.
5 Thou, whose benignant eye
In mercy looks on all-
Who see'st the tear of misery,
And hear'st the mourner's call-
6 Up to thy dwelling-place
Bear our frail spirits on,
Till they outstrip time's tardy pace,
And heaven on earth be won.
1 Lo, God is here! Let us adore,
And humbly bow before his face;
Let all within us feel his power ;
Let all within us seek his grace..
2 Lo, God is here! Him, day and night,
United choirs of angels sing:
To him, enthroned above all height,
Heaven's host their noblest praises bring.
3 Being of beings! may thy praise
Thy courts with grateful fragrance fill:
Still may we stand before thy face-
Still hear and do thy sovereign will.
4 More of thy presence, Lord, impart;
More of thine image may we bear;
Erect thy throne within our heart,
And reign without a rival there.
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