And guard me with a watchful eye;
My noonday walks He shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.

When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary, wandering steps He leads,
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For Thou, O Lord, art with me still:
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful shade.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

Before Jehovah's awful throne

B

EFORE Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred joy:
Know that the Lord is God alone,
He can create, and He destroy.

His sov'reign power, without our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us men;
And when like wandering sheep we stray'd,
He brought us to His fold again.

We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise;
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
Shall fill Thy courts with sounding praise.

Wide as the world is Thy command,
Vast as eternity Thy love:

Firm as a rock Thy truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move.

O God, our help in ages past

GOD, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home:

Under the shadow of Thy Throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure:
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
Shall conquer, though they die;
They view the triumph from afar.
And seize it with their eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be thine.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

The Dying Christian to his Soul

V

ITAL spark of heav'nly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling 'ring, flying,

O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.

Hark! they whisper: angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away!
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,