Thus dost thou ever seek thine own to bring

From lowest depths of earth to heavenly light; Guiding them now where griefs their shadows fling, Then opening Heaven to their enraptured sight.

Oh blessed Lord, in darkest hour of shame,
Still let me feel 'tis good that I am here;
Let some bright ray of heavenly light proclaim
That thou art with me still, my soul to cheer.

No. 18.

Seeking that which was Lost.

St. Matt. xviii. 10-14.

AND didst thou then, indeed, O Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth,

Vouchsafe to leave thy throne on high for those of nothing worth?

For truly nothing worth were we, who guilty sinners are,

That thou shouldst e'er have looked on us as

objects of thy care.

Ten thousand worlds around thee roll, beyond the ken of man,

And countless myriads yet untold, thou measur'st with a span;

And yet 'midst all these glorious] orbs and realms of endless space,

Thy love upon this earth did rest, and Adam's guilty race.

No care hadst thou for angels bright, who needed not thine aid,

Nor yet for those who fell from Heaven, them

selves who sinners made;

But thou didst come to die for those whom Satan

led astray,

The ransom for their souls to be, and guide to endless day.

E'en thus, where all the rest are safe, the Shepherd leaves his fold,

To seek his sheep that's gone astray o'er wild and dreary wold;

And joys in that recovered one, more than in all beside,

That never from his guarded flock had wandered far and wide.

And thus, too, is there joy in Heaven as each one enters in,

Who comes with child-like trust to Christ to save

him from his sin;

For none like these may e'er be lost, or wander from Christ's fold,

Whose angels now before the throne their Father's face behold.

Oh! give me, Lord, that simple trust, that spirit free from guile,

That I at length may enter in where nothing shall defile;

And where the brightest, noblest crown, shall e'er

by him be worn,

Who, though amongst the least on earth, is by the Spirit born.

No. 19.

The Besetting Sin.

St. Matt. xix. 16-30.

OH! for some ray of heavenly light To pierce the heart's thick veil, That, as with shade of deepest night, Would all our sins conceal.

For Satan still, with subtlest art,

Seduces us to weave

A web for our deceitful heart,
Lest truth it should receive.

For outward works he little cares,
Done at stern duty's call,

So but some secret sin declares
The world was in them all.

"Oh! have I not each law fulfilled; (Hear the heart's flattering strain ;) What lack I yet that God has willed Eternal life to gain?"

Presumptuous boast! when such thy thought,
Oh! fear some secret sin;

For all thy righteousness is naught,
Till Christ shall reign within.

When He is there, thou wilt resign
All that was held most dear;

Oh! seek then now to make him thine,
And nothing shalt thou fear.