RE-OPENING A PLACE OF WORSHIP.

C.M. JOHN RIPPON and C. H. SPURGEON.

1209 So worship I the God of my fathers.

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Acts xxiv. 14.

GOD, before whose radiant throne

The heavenly armies bend,

Now graciously incline Thine ear,
And to our suit attend.

2 Where our forefathers joined in praise,
We meet to praise Thy name,
Where they Thy faithful promise proved,
We find Thee still the same.

3 This house, these walls, re-edified,
Are raised, Lord, for Thee;
In all the plenitude of grace,
In this assembly be.

4 Here may the dead be made alive,
Backsliding souls return;

More grace by gracious souls be felt,
And saints like seraphs burn.

5 Here build Thy church, maintain Thy cause,

Nor let it e'er decline;

But flourish till the Lord descends

In majesty divine.

L.M.

S. WOLCOTT.*

1210 Where prayer was wont to be made.

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'TH

Acts xvi. 13.

HIS house, most holy Lord, is Thine; Its strength and beauty are Thine own; These courts we throng with praise divine,

2 Thy covenant was our fathers' trust, God of the faithful and the free! Devoutly o'er their sleeping dust,

Our sacred tribute swells to Thee.

3 Thy dwelling consecrates this ground;
Thy presence crowns Thy chosen seat;
And from these hallowed walls shall sound
The call to worship at Thy feet.

4 The old and young shall hither flock;
Here happy households join in prayer ;
The joyful saints here praise their Rock;
The burdened cast on Christ their care.
5 And when the house we enter glad

Shall miss our presence and our praise,
In heaven above, with glory clad,
The song immortal shall we raise.

OPENING AN ORGAN.

C.M. Double.

H. WARE.

1211 Praise Him with stringed instruments and

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organs.—Psalm cỉ. 4.

LL nature's works His praise declare,
To whom they all belong;

There is a voice in every star,
In every breeze a song.

Sweet music fills the world abroad
With strains of love and power;
The stormy sea sings praise to God,
The thunder and the shower.

2 To God the tribes of ocean cry,
And birds upon the wing;

To God the powers that dwell on high
Their tuneful tribute bring.

Like them, let man the throne surround,
With them loud chorus raise,
While instruments of loftier sound
Assist his feeble praise.

3 Thy glory, Lord, we celebrate
With heaven's immortal throngs ;
The pealing organ consecrate
To aid our happy songs.

Oh, teach its rich and swelling notes
To lift our souls on high,
And while the music round us floats,
Let earth-born passion die.

THANKS FOR RAIN.

A. L. P., PEOPLE'S HYMNAL.

1212 Thou, God, didst send a plentiful rain.

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0

O

Psalm lxviii. 9.

SING to the Lord,
Whose bountiful hand

Again doth accord

His gifts to the land.

2 His clouds have shed down
Their plenteousness here;
His goodness shall crown
The hopes of the year.

3 In clefts of the hills

The founts He hath burst,
And poureth their rills
Through valleys athirst.

4 The river of God

The pastures hath blest,
The dry, withered sod

5 And every fold

Shall teem with its sheep
With harvests of gold

The fields shall be deep;

6 The vales shall rejoice
With laughter and song,
And man's grateful voice
The music prolong.

7 So, too, may He pour
The Last and the First,
His graces in store

On spirits athirst;

8 Till when the great day
Of harvest hath come,

He takes us away
To garner at home.

IN AN EPIDEMIC.

C.M. Double. [E. H. PLUMPTRE.]

1213 They brought unto Him all that were

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diseased; and besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.--Matt. xiv. 35, 36. HINE arm, O Lord, in days of old

TH

Was strong to heal and save;

It triumphed o'er disease and death,

O'er darkness and the grave:

To Thee they went, the blind, the dumb,
The palsied and the lame,

The leper with his tainted life,
The sick with fevered frame;

2 And, lo, Thy touch brought life and health,
Gave speech, and strength, and sight;
And youth renewed and frenzy calmed
Owned Thee, the Lord of Light.
And now, O Lord, be near to bless,
Almighty as of yore,

In crowded street, by restless couch,
As by Gennesareth's shore.

3 Be Thou our great Deliverer still,
Thou Lord of life and death,
Restore and quicken, soothe and bless
With Thine almighty breath:
To hands that work, and eyes that see,
Give wisdom's heavenly lore,

That whole and sick, and weak and strong,
May praise Thee evermore.

1214

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L.M.
Psalm cii.

PARE us, O Lord, aloud we pray,
Nor let our sun go down at noon;

SPA

Thy years are one eternal day,

And must Thy children die so soon?

WATIS.

2 Yet in the midst of death and grief,
The thought our sorrow should assuage,
Our Father and our Saviour live;

Christ is the same, through every age.

3 'Twas He the earth's foundations laid; Heaven is the building of His hand; The earth grows old, these heavens shall fade,