HYMNS.

MORNING HYMNS.

HYMN 1.

AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and early rise
To pay thy morning sacrifice.

Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart,
And with the angels bear thy part,
Who all night long unwearied sing
Glory to Christ, th' eternal King.

Glory to Thee, who safe hast kept,
And hast refresh'd me while I slept :

Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
I may of endless life partake.

Lord, I my vows to Thee renew ;

Scatter my sins as morning dew ;

Guard my first springs of thought and will, And with Thyself my spirit fill.

B

Direct, controul, suggest this day,
All I design, or do, or say ;

That all my pow'rs, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

HYMN 2.

LORD of my life, O may Thy praise
Employ my noblest powers,
Whose goodness lengthens out my days,
And fills the circling hours.

Preserv'd by Thy Almighty arm,

I passed the shades of night,
Serene, and safe from every harm,
And see returning light.

While many spent the night in sighs,
And restless pains and woes;
In gentle sleep I closed my eyes,
And undisturb'd repose.

When sleep, death's semblance, o'er me spread,

And I unconscious lay,

Thy watchful care was round my bed,

To guard my feeble clay.

O let the same Almighty care
My waking hours attend ;
From every danger, every snare,
My heedless steps defend.

Smile on my minutes as they roll,
And guide my future days;
And let Thy goodness fill my soul
With gratitude and praise.

HYMN 3.

MY GOD, how endless is Thy love!
Thy gifts are every evening new ;
And morning mercies from above,
Gently distil like early dew.

Thou spread'st the curtains of the night,
Great guardian of my sleeping hours ;
Thy sov'reign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.

I yield my pow'rs to Thy command;
To Thee I consecrate my days :
Perpetual blessings from Thy hand,
Demand perpetual songs of praise.

EVENING HYMNS.

HYMN 4.

GLORY to Thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath Thine own Almighty wings.

Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, The ills that I this day have done ; That with the world, myself, and Thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.

OTHECA

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.

SANDBACH: PRINTED BY R. LINDOP.

PREFACE.

"THE singing of Psalms and Hymns has ever constituted a delightful part of Divine Worship.

In the lowest state of the Church of Christ, when the sufferings of our blessed Saviour were at hand, Himself and the company of His disciples followed the custom of adding praise to their devotions; and from the practice of Paul and Silas, as well as from the very explicit instructions recorded in the New Testament, and from the testimony of the younger Pliny, we find, that the first Christians were wont to edify themselves in Psalms and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.'" At the era of the Reformation, when the Gospel, long hid, was to be restored to us,-when, rescued from the motley and meretricious disguisements of the Romish ceremonial, it was to shine forth afresh in all the pure and primitive beauty of holiness, the Reformers found in Psalmody the most elevating of virtuous excitements, and the strongest bond of congregational union.

But highly valuable as the compositions of the sweet Psalmist of Israel confessedly are, yet it has been long and generally acknowledged that to a Christian Congregation, something was still wanting in this department of Public worship, which," in addition to the holy effusions of the Old Testament, may convey that