ECCLESIASTES.

LIV. Vanity of Life.* Chap. i. 2.

1 THE evils that beset our path
Who can prevent or cure?

We stand upon the brink of death
When most we seem secure.

2 If we to-day sweet peace possess,
It soon may be withdrawn;
Some change may plunge us in distress,
Before to-morrow's dawn.

3 Disease and pain invade our health,
And find an easy prey;

And oft, when least expected, wealth
Takes wings, and flies away.

4 A fever or a blow can shake
Our wisdom's boasted rule,

And of the brightest genius make
A madman or a fool.

5 The gourds, from which we look for fruit,
Produce us only pain;

A worm, unseen, attacks the root,
And all our hopes are vain.

6 I pity those who seek no more

Than such a world can give;

Wretched they are, and blind, and poor,
And dying while they live.

7 Since sin has fill'd the earth with wo,
And creatures fade and die,

Lord, wean our hearts from things below,
And fix our hopes on high.

LV. C. Vanity of the World.

1 GOD gives his mercies to be spent ;
Your hoard will do your soul no good;
Gold is a blessing only lent,

Repaid by giving others food.

2 The world's esteem is but a bribe,

To buy their peace you sell your own;

The slave of a vain-glorious tribe,

Who hate you while they make you known.

8 The joy that vain amusements give,
O! sad conclusion that it brings!

The honey of a crowded hive,
Defended by a thousand stings.

*Book ii. Hymn 6.

4 "Tis thus the world rewards the fools

That live upon her treach'rous smiles;
She leads them, blindfold, by her rules,
And ruins all whom she beguiles.

5 God knows the thousands who go down
From pleasure into endless wo;
And with a long despairing groan
Blaspheme their Maker as they go.

6 O fearful thought! be timely wise;
Delight but in a Saviour's charms,
And God shall take you to the skies,
Embrac'd in everlasting arms.

LVI. Vanity of the Creature sanctified.

1 HONEY though the bee prepares,
An envenom'd sting he wears;
Piercing thorns a guard compose
Round the fragrant, blooming rose.

2 Where we think to find a sweet,
Oft a painful sting we meet:
When the rose invites our eye,
We forget the thorn is nigh.

3 Why are thus our hopes beguil'd?
Why are all our pleasures spoil'd?
Why do agony and wo

From our choicest comforts grow?

4 Sin has been the cause of all!
"Twas not thus before the fall!
What but pain, and thorn, and sting
From the root of sin can spring?

5 Now with every good we find
Vanity and grief entwin'd:
What we feel, or what we fear,
All our joys embitter here.

6 Yet, through the Redeemer's love,
These afflictions blessings prove;
He the wounding stings and thorns
Into healing med'cines turns.

7 From the earth our hearts they wean.
Teach us on his arm to lean;
Urge us to a throne of grace,
Make us seek a resting place.

8 In the mansions of our King
Sweets abound without a sting;
Thornless there the roses blow,
And the joys unmingled flow.

SOLOMON'S SONG.

LVII. The name of Jesus. Chap. i. 3.

1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ear!

It sooths his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

2 It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
"Tis Manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.

3 Dear name! the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding-place;
My never-failing treas❜ry, fill'd
With boundles stores of grace.

4 By thee my pray'rs acceptance gain,
Although with sin defil'd;
Satan accuses me in vain,

And I am own'd a child.

5 Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

6 Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought:
But when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought.

7 "Till then I would thy love proclaim
With ev'ry fleeting breath;
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

ISAIAH.

LVIII. C. O Lord, I will praise thee. Chap. xii.

1 I will praise thee ev'ry day,
Now thine anger's turn'd away!
Comfortable thoughts arise
From the bleeding sacrifice.

2 Here, in the fair Gospel field,
Wells of free salvation yield
Streams of life, a plenteous store,
And my soul shall thirst no more.

3 Jesus is become, at length,
My salvation and my strength;
And his praises shall prolong,
While I live, my pleasant song.

LIX.

4 Praise ye then his glorious name,
Publish his exalted fame!

Still his worth your praise exceeds,
Excellent are all his deeds.

5 Raise again the joyful sound,
Let the nations roll it round!
Zion shout, for this is he,

God the Saviour dwells in thee!

The Refuge, River, and Rock of the Church. Chap. xxxii. 2.

1 HE who on earth as man was known,

And bore our sins and pains;

Now seated on th' eternal throne,
The God of glory reigns.

2 His hands the wheels of nature guide
With an unerring skill;

And countless worlds, extended wide,
Obey his sov'reign will.

S While harps unnumber'd sound his praise
In yonder world above;

His saints on earth admire his ways,
And glory in his love.

4 His righteousness, to faith reveal'd,
Wrought out for guilty worms,
Affords a hiding-place and shield
From enemies and storms.

5 This land, through which his pilgrims go,
Is desolate and dry;

But streams of grace from him o'erflow,
Their thirst to satisfy.

6 When troubles, like a burning sun,
Beat heavy on their head,
To this almighty Rock they run,
And find a pleasing shade.

7 How glorious he! how happy they

In such a glorious Friend!

Whose love secures them all the way,

And crowns them at the end.

LX. Zion, or the City of God.* Chap. xxxiii. 20, 21.

1 GLORIOUS things of thee are spoken,†
Zion, city of our God!

He, whose word cannot be broken,
Form'd thee for his own abode :‡

*Book ii. Hymn 24. Psalm lxxxvii. 3. Psalm cxxxii. 14.

*

On the Rock of Ages founded,*
What can shake thy sure repose;
With salvation's walls surrounded,t

Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
2 See the streams of living waters
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove :
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t' assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.

3 Round each habitation hovʼring,
See the cloud and fire appear!!
For a glory and a cov'ring,

Showing that the Lord is near;
Thus deriving, from their banner,
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the Manna

Which he gives them when they pray.

4 Blest inhabitants of Zion,

Wash'd in the Redeemer's blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,

Makes them kings and priests to God:

"Tis his love his people raises

Over self to reign as kings,

And as priests, his solemn praises
Each for a thank-off'ring brings.

5 Saviour, if of Zion's city

I, through grace, a member am;
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in thy name:
Fading is the worldling's pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure

None but Zion's children know.

LXI. Look unto me and be ye saved. Chap. xlv. 22.

1 As the serpent rais'd by Moses¶
Heal'd the burning serpent's bite;

Jesus thus himself discloses

To the wounded sinner's sight:

Hear his gracious invitation,

"I have life and peace to give, "I have wrought out full salvation, Sinner, look to me and live.

"Pore upon your sins no longer,

"Well I know their mighty guilt; "But my love than death is stronger, "I my blood have freely spilt:

Matt. xvi. 18.

Isaiah xxvi. 1.

§ Rev. i. 6.

Psalm xlvi. 4. Isa. iv. 5, 6. 1 Numb. xxi. 9.