2 He gives the conquest to the weak,
Supports the fainting heart,
And courage in the evil hour
His heavenly aids impart.

3 Mere human power shall fast decay,
And youthful vigor cease;
But they who wait upon the Lord,
In strength shall still increase.

4 They with unwearied feet shall tread
The path of life divine;

With growing ardor onward move,
With growing brightness shine.

5 On eagles' wings they mount, they soar;
Their wings are faith and love;
Till, past the cloudy regions here,
They rise to heaven above.

303

C. M.

God the Salvation of his People.

DODDRIDGE.

1 HOW long shall dreams of creature-bliss Our flattering hopes employ,

And mock our fond, deluded eyes
With visionary joy?

2 Why from the mountains and the hills
Is our salvation sought,
While our eternal Rock's forsook,
And Israel's God forgot?

3 The living spring neglected flows
Full in our daily view;

Yet we, with anxious, fruitless toil,
Our broken cisterns hew.

4 These fatal errors, gracious God,
With gentle pity see;

To thee our roving eyes direct,
And fix our souls on thee.

304

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

God supplying the Wants of his People.

1 MY God, how cheerful is the sound!
How pleasant to repeat !

Well may that heart with pleasure bound,
Where God hath fixed his seat.

2 What want shall not our God supply
From his redundant stores?

What streams of mercy from on high
An arm almighty pours!

3 From Christ, the ever-living Spring,
These ample blessings flow;

Prepare, my lips, his name to sing,
Whose heart hath loved us so.

4 Now to our Father and our God
Be endless glory given,

Through all the realms of man's abode,
And through the highest heaven.

305

L. M.

RIPPON'S COL.

Divine Influences compared to Rain.

1 AS showers on meadows newly mown, Our God shall send his Spirit down; Eternal Source of grace divine,

What soul-refreshing drops are thine!

2 That heavenly influence let me find
In holy silence of the mind,
While every grace maintains its bloom,
Diffusing wide its rich perfume.

3 Nor let these blessings be confined
To me, but poured on all mankind,
Till earth's wild wastes in verdure rise,
And a young Eden bless our eyes.

306

L. M.

Living Water.

DODDRIDGE.

1 BLEST Savior! Source of grace divine,
What soul-refreshing streams are thine!
O, bring these healing waters nigh,
Or we must droop, and fall, and die.

2 No traveller, through desert lands,
'Midst scorching suns and burning sands,
More eager longs for cooling rain,
Or pants the current to obtain.

3 Our longing souls aloud would sing,
"Spring up, celestial fountain, spring;
To a redundant river flow,

And cheer this thirsty land below."

4 May this blest torrent, near my side,
Through all the desert gently glide,
Then, in Immanuel's land above,
Spread to a sea of joy and love!

251

307

L. M.

DODDRIDGE.

The healing Stream flowing from God, the Fountain. Ez. xlvii. 8,9.

1 GREAT Source of being and of love!
Thou waterest all the worlds above;
And all the joys we mortals know
From thine exhaustless fountain flow.

2 A sacred spring, at thy command,
From Zion's mount, in Canaan's land,
Beside thy temple, cleaves the ground,
And pours its limpid stream around.

3 The limpid stream, with sudden force,
Swells to a river in its course;

Through desert realms its windings play,
And scatter blessings all the way.

4 Close by its banks, in order fair,
The blooming trees of life appear;
Their blossoms fragrant odors give,
And on their fruit the nations live.

5 To the dead sea the waters flow,
And carry healing as they go;

Its poisonous dregs their power confess,
And all its shores the fountain bless.

6 Flow, wondrous stream, with glory crowned,
Flow on to earth's remotest bound;
And bear us, on thy gentle wave,
To him who all thy virtues gave.

252

308

L. M.

RIPPON'S COL.

A propitious Gale longed for.

1 AT anchor laid, remote from home, Toiling, I cry, "Sweet Spirit, come! Celestial breeze, no longer stay,

But swell my sails, and speed my way.

2 "Fain would I mount, fain would I glow, And loose my cable from below;

But I can only spread my sail;

Thou, thou must breathe the auspicious gale."

309

L. M.

DODDRIDGE.

God shining into the Heart.

1 PRAISE to the Lord of boundless might,
With uncreated glories bright!

His presence gilds the worlds above;
The unchanging Source of light and love.

2 Our rising earth his eye beheld,

When in substantial darkness veiled;
"Let there be light," Jehovah said,
And light o'er all its face was spread.

3 He sees the mind, when lost it lies
In shades of ignorance and vice,
And darts from heaven a vivid ray,
And changes midnight into day.

4 Shine, mighty God, with vigor shine,
On this benighted heart of mine;
And let thy glories stand revealed,
As in the Savior's face beheld.