Melodious murmurs, warbling tune His _praise_.
Join voices all ye living souls: ye birds,
That singing up to heaven’s gate ascend,
Bear on your wings and in your notes His _praise_;
Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk the earth,
And stately tread, or lowly creep;
Witness if I be silent morn or even,
To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade,
Made vocal by my song, and taught His _praise_.
_Milton._
To God, who sits in highest seat,
Glory and power given be;
To father, Son, and Paraclete,
Who reign in equal dignity,
Whose boundless power we still adore,
And sing their _praise_ for evermore.
_Drummond._
While this immortal spark of heavenly flame
Distends my breast, and animates my frame,
To thee my ardent _praises_ shall be borne
On the first breeze that wakes the blushing morn;
The latest star shall hear the pleasing sound,
And nature in full choir shall join around.
When full of Thee, my soul excursive flies
Through earth, air, ocean, or thy regal skies;
From world to world new wonders still I find,
And all the Godhead flashes on my mind,
When, winged with whirlwinds, vice shall take its flight
To the deep bosom of eternal night,
To Thee my soul shall endless _praises_ pay:
Join, men and angels! join the exalted lay.
_Blacklock._
If no basis bear my rising name
But the fallen ruins of another’s fame;
Then teach me, Heaven! to scorn the guilty bays;
Drive from my breast that wretched lust of _praise_:
Unblemished let me live, or die unknown;
O, grant me honest fame, or grant me none.
_Pope._
Nor absolutely vain is human _praise_,
Where human is supported by divine.
_Young._
My fears of danger, while I breathe,
My dread of endless hell beneath,
My sense of sorrow for my sin,
To springing comfort change within;
Change all my sad complaints for ease,
To cheerful notes of endless _praise_.
_Parnell._
The praise I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray:
My unassisted heart is barren clay,
That of its native self can nothing feed;
Of good and pious works Thou art the seed
That quickens only where Thou sayest it may;
Unless Thou show to us Thy own true way,
No man can find it. Father! Thou must lead:
Do Thou then breathe these thoughts into my mind
By which such virtue may in me be bred,
That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread:
The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,
That I may have the power to sing to Thee;
And sound Thy _praises_ everlastingly.
_Wordsworth._
Up to the throne of God is borne
The voice of _praise_ at early morn,
And He accepts the punctual hymn
Sung as the light of day grows dim.
Nor will He turn His ear aside
From holy offerings at noontide;
Then here, reposing, let us raise
A song of gratitude and _praise_.
_Wordsworth._
Oh, for the harp that David swept,
At whose divine entrancing sound,
The evil spirit distance kept,
While holier visions hover’d round:
Oh for such harp, in these our days,
To speak a God’s, a Saviour’s _praise_.
_Barton._
From yon lowly roof, whose curling smoke
O’ermounts the mist, is heard at intervals
The voice of psalms--the simple song of _praise_.
_Graham._
And now, with fixed intent and mind sincere,
Lift up your eyes from earth, to _praise_ with me
The Sovereign Lord, who reigns in heaven above,
And try to follow where I shew the way.
But be it yours, while joining in the prayer,
That not your tongue so much as heart may share.
O love supreme, full-orbed and glorious sun,
Compared with whom that other is but night,
The world’s true life alone, the world’s true light!
O Thou whose breath created it at first,
And still upholdest with a father’s care!
Whate’er Thou willest, who hast power to do!
O fountain without rise, whose boundless stream
Flows without ebb, and undiminished pours!
Who from Thyself derivest, underived!
And in Thyself hast ever lived!
Who, when revealed the most, then most art hid!
Thou, if the soul has breathed one true desire
To see Thy light, wilt give it wings for heaven.
To mount a phœnix at Thy beam revived!
Since nought there is beside Thee, in Thyself
And of Thyself sole blest! since only Thou
Conferrest good, and to receive must give.
Deign in my heart, to light the holy flame,
And by my lips give glory to Thy name.
_From the Italian of Celio Magno._
God of the fair and open sky!
How gloriously above us springs
The tented dome of heavenly blue,
Suspended on the rainbow’s rings!
Each brilliant star that sparkles through,
Each gilded cloud that wanders free
In evening’s purple radiance, gives
The beauty of its _praise_ to Thee!
_W. B. O. Peabody._
PRAYER.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my _prayer_: give ear, O God of Jacob.--Psalm
lxxxiv. 8.
But thou, when thou _prayest_, enter into thy closet, and when thou
hast shut thy door, _pray_ to thy Father, which is in secret; and thy
Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.--Matthew, vi.
6.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by _prayer_ and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God.--Philippians, iv. 6.
Is any among you afflicted? let him _pray_.--James, v. 13.
The effectual fervent _prayer_ of a righteous man availeth
much.--James, v. 16.
Even as Elias, mounting to the sky,
Did cast his mantle to the earth behind,
So, when the heart presents the _prayer_ on high,
Exclude the world from traffic with the mind:
Lips near to God, and ranging heart within,
Is but vain babbling, and converts to sin.
_Robert Southwell._
Temporal blessings Heaven oft doth share
Unto the wicked, at the good man’s _prayer_.
_Quarles._
When we of helps or hopes are quite bereaven,
Our humble _prayers_ have entrance into Heaven.
_Ford._
Petitions yet remain
Which Heaven may hear, nor deem Religion vain.
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heaven the measures and the choice.
Safe in His power whose eyes discern afar,
The secret ambush of a specious _prayer_;
Implore His aid, in His decisions rest,
Secure whate’er He gives, He gives the best.
_Dr. Johnson._
O may my _prayers_ before Thy throne arise,
An humble but accepted sacrifice!
And when Thou shalt my weary eyelids close,
And to my body grant a sweet repose,
May my ethereal guardian kindly spread
His wings, and from the tempter shield my bead!
May of Thy heavenly light some piercing beams
Illume my sleep, and sanctify my dreams.
_Watts._
What various hindrances we meet
In coming to a mercy-seat!
Yet who that knows the worth of _prayer_
But wishes to be often there?
_Prayer_ makes the darkened cloud withdraw,
_Prayer_ climbs the ladder Jacob saw,
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings every blessing from above.
Restraining _prayer_, we cease to fight;
_Prayer_ makes the Christian’s armour bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.
_Cowper._
Enthroned amidst the worlds of light,
Jehovah rules the realms of bliss;
Yet bends to scenes of earthly night,
To such a house of pain as this!
The glories of the heavenly plains
Hide not one mourner from his eye,
Nor can the seraphs’ loudest strains
Drown, by their sound, the faintest sigh.
Oh _Prayer_! thou mine of things unknown,
Who can be poor possessing thee?
Thou wert a fount of joy alone,
Better than worlds of gold could be.
Were I bereft of all beside,
That bears the form or name of bliss,
I yet were rich, what will betide,
If God, in mercy, leave me this.
_Edmeston._
_Prayer_, surpassing human might;
_Prayer_, heaven’s holy portress;
_Prayer_, the saint’s supreme delight,
_Prayer_, the sinner’s fortress.
_Prayer_ and faith can joy impart,
Joy beyond expressing,
And call down upon the heart
Israel’s choicest blessing.
_Bernard Barton._
_Prayer_ is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
_Prayer_ is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
_Prayer_ is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
_Prayer_ the sublimest strains that reach
The majesty on high.
_Prayer_ is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air;
His watchword in the hour of death,
He enters Heaven with _prayer_.
_Prayer_ is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their hymns rejoice,
And cry, “Behold he _prays_!”
O Thou by whom we come to God,
The life, the truth, the way,
The path of _prayer_ Thyself hath trod,--
Lord, teach us how to _pray_.
_J. Montgomery._
Arrested suns and tranquill’d seas declare
To heav’n and earth th’ omnipotence of _prayer_,
That gives the hopeless hope, the feeble might,
Outruns the swift, and puts the strong to flight,
The noontide arrow foils, and plague that stalks by night;
Unmatch’d in power, unbounded in extent,
As omnipresent as omnipotent,
To no meridian nor clime confined,
Man with his fellow-man, and mind to mind,
’Tis hers, in links of love and charity to bind.
But farther still extends her awful reign:
To her indeed belongs that golden chain
From fabled God and their Olympus riven;
But, since to truth and her adorers given,
E’en with his Maker man to join, and earth with heaven.
Then let those lips that never _pray’d_, begin:
We must or cease to _pray_, or cease to sin;
Each earth-born want and wish, a grov’ling brood,
Are oft mistaken, or misunderstood;
But who would dare to _pray_ for aught that is not good?
Nor that our _prayers_ make Heav’n more prompt to give,
But they make us more worthy to receive:
There is in that celestial treasury
Wealth inexhaustible, admission free;
But he that never _prays_, rejects the golden key.
_Colton._
_Prayer_ is a creature’s strength, his very breath and being;
_Prayer_ is the golden key that can open the wicket of mercy;
_Prayer_ is the magic sound that saith to fate, so be it;
_Prayer_ is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of
Omnipotence.
Wherefore, _pray_, O creature, for many and great are thy
wants;
Thy mind, thy conscience, and thy being, thy rights commend thee
unto _prayer_,
The cure of all cares, the grand panacea for all pains,
Doubt’s destroyer, ruin’s remedy, the antidote to all anxieties.
_Martin F. Tupper._
But holiest rite or longest _prayer_
That soul can yield, or wisdom frame,
What better import can it bear
Than “Father, hallowed be Thy name!”
_Eliza Cook._
Give me, O Lord, the spirit of _prayer_,
Thy grace, thy mercy to implore;
Let not my wilful spirit dare
To count secure her present store.
The richer falls Thy dew of grace,
The humbler let my head descend,
Till mercy’s sun in boundless space
Shall shed its bliss, time without end.
_John Jay Adams._
PREACHING.
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall
they hear without a _preacher_?
And how shall they _preach_, except they be sent.--Romans, x. 14, 15.
For, after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of _preaching_ to save them that
believe.--I. Corinthians, i. 21.
_Preach_ the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.--II. Timothy, iv.
2.
He bore his great commission in his look,
But sweetly tempered awe, and softened all he spoke.
He _preached_ the joys of Heaven, and pains of hell,
And warned the sinner with becoming zeal,
But on eternal mercy loved to dwell.
_Dryden._
But above all, in her own light array’d,
See mercy’s grand apocalypse display’d!
The sacred book no longer suffers wrong,
Bound in the fetters of an unknown tongue;
But speaks with plainness, art could never mend,
What simplest minds can soonest comprehend.
God gives the word, the _preachers_ throng around,
Live from his lips, and spread the glorious sound:
That sound bespeaks salvation on her way,
The trumpet of a life-restoring day;
’Tis heard where England’s eastern glory shines,
And in the gulfs of her Cornubian mines.
And still it spreads. See Germany send forth
Her sons to pour it on the farthest north:
Fired with a zeal peculiar, they defy
The rage and rigour of a polar sky,
And plant successfully sweet Sharon’s rose
On icy plains, and in eternal snows.
_Cowper._
No studied eloquence was there displayed,
Nor poetry of language lent its aid;
But plain the words that from the _preacher_ came;
A _preacher_ young, and all unknown to fame;
While youth and age a listening ear inclined,
To learn the way the pearl of price to find.
_Elizabeth Bogart._
PREPARATION.
The _preparations_ of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue,
is from the Lord.--Proverbs, xvi. 1.
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived
by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath
_prepared_ for him that waiteth for him.--Isaiah, lxiv. 4.
_Prepare_ to meet thy God.--Amos, iv. 12.
Blaspheme not Heaven with rash, impatient speech,
Nor deem, at thine own hour, its rest to reach,
Unhappy child! The full-appointed time
Is His to choose; and when the sullen chime
And deep-toned striking of the funeral bell,
Thy fate to earthly ears shall sadly tell,
O! may the death thou talk’st of as a boon,
Find thee _prepared_, nor come, even then, too soon!
_Mrs. Norton._
If no more
From its calmed deeps shall rise the fettered sea,
If Heaven’s fair bow proclaims the peril o’er;
A wreck more fearful yet remains for thee;
Time only bears thee to eternity.
Tread then the path thy bright Exemplar trod;
Think on the day when this vast earth shall be
In bursting flames dissolved--yon skies so broad
Shrink like a shrivelled scroll.--“_Prepare_ to meet thy God.”
_Dale._
_Prepare_ me gracious God
To stand before thy face!
Thy spirit must the work perform
For it is all of grace.
In Christ’s obedience clothe
And wash me in His blood!
So shall I lift my hand with joy
Among the sons of God.
Do thou my sins subdue;
Thy sov’reign love make known;
The spirit of my mind renew,
And save me in thy Son.
_Anon._
PRESENCE--OMNIPRESENCE.
O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst march
through the wilderness;
The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the _presence_ of God:
even Sinai itself was moved at the _presence_ of God, the God of
Israel.--Psalm lxviii. 7, 8.
Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy
_presence_?
If I ascend up into Heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell,
behold, Thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea;
Even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold
me.--Psalm cxxxix. 7, 8, 9, 10.
What!--will a man play tricks, will he indulge
A silly fond conceit of his fair form,
And just proportion, fashionable mien,
A pretty face, in _presence_ of his God?
_Cowper._
Come, holy, holy, holy Lord!
Thou Father, Son, and Spirit come!
I lean upon Thy changeless word;
Make the faithful soul Thy home!
Arm of the Lord, awake! awake!
In me Thy glorious self reveal:
Let me thy sevenfold gifts partake:
All, all Thy mighty _presence_ feel.
_C. Wesley._
Yes!--what was earth to him, whose spirit passed
Time’s utmost bounds?--on whose unshrinking sight
Ten thousand shapes of burning glory cast
Their full resplendence?--Majesty and might
Were in his dreams;--for him the veil of light
Shrouding Heaven’s inmost sanctuary and throne,
The curtain of the unutterably bright,
Was raised!--to him, in fearful splendour shown,
Ancient of days! e’en Thou mad’st Thy dread _presence_ known.
_Mrs. Hemans._
In all the immense, the strange, and old,
Thy _presence_ careless men behold;
In all the little, weak, and mean,
By Faith be thou as clearly seen.
Thou teachest not a leaf can grow,
Till life from Thee within it flow;
That not a speck of dust can be,
O Fount of Being, save by Thee!
_John Sterling._
What joy, while here I view the day,
That warns my thirsting soul away;
What transports fill my breast!
For lo! my great Redeemer’s power
Unfolds the everlasting door,
And leads me to His rest.
The festal morn, my God, is come,
That calls me to the hallowed dome,
Thy _presence_ to adore;
My feet the summons shall attend,
With willing steps Thy courts ascend,
And tread th’ ethereal floor.
_Merrick._
God hath a _presence_, and that ye may see
In the fold of the flower, the leaf of the tree,
In the sun of the noon-day, the star of the night,
In the storm-cloud of darkness, the rainbow of night,
In the waves of the ocean, the furrows of land,
In the mountain of granite, the atom of sand,
Turn where ye may, from the sky to the sod,
Where can ye gaze that ye see not God.
_Eliza Cook._
Soul of the world, All-seeing Eye,
Where, where shall man Thy _presence_ fly?
Say, would he climb the starry height?
All Heaven is instinct with Thy Light:--
Dwell in the darkness of the grave?
Yea, Thou art there to judge and save.
In vain on wings of morn we soar,
In vain the realms of space explore,
In vain retreat to shades of night,--
From what can veil us from Thy sight?
Distance dissolves before Thy ray,
And darkness kindles into day.
_William Peter._
PRIDE.
Every one that is _proud_ in heart is an abomination to the
Lord.--Proverbs, xvi. 5.
_Pride_ goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a
fall.--Proverbs, xvi. 18.
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the
patient in spirit is better than the _proud_ in spirit.--Ecclesiastes,
vii. 8.
The day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is _proud_
and lofty.--Isaiah, ii. 12.
Small things make base men _proud_.
_Shakspere._
When grief, that well might humble, swells our _pride_,
And _pride_ increasing aggravates our grief,
The tempest must prevail till we are lost.
_Lillo._
Though, various foes against the truth combine,
_Pride_, above all, opposes her design;
_Pride_, of a growth superior to the rest,
The subtlest serpent, with the loftiest crest,
Swells at the thought, and, kindling into rage,
Would hiss the cherub Mercy from the stage.
_Cowper._
_Pride_, self-adoring _pride_, was primal cause
Of all sin past, all pain, all woe to come.
_Pollok._
Hate, unbelief, and blasphemy of God,
Envy and slender, malice and revenge,
And murder and deceit, and every birth
Of damned sort, were progeny of _pride_.
_Pollok._
What if his very virtues
Had pampered his swol’n heart, and made him _proud_?
And what if _pride_ had duped him into guilt?
_Coleridge._
If thou be one whose heart the holy form
Of young imagination hath kept pure,
Stranger! henceforth be warn’d, and know that _pride_,
Howe’er disguised in its own majesty,
Is littleness; that he who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
Which he has never used, that thought with him
Is in its infancy.
_Wordsworth._
PRIEST.
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art a _priest_ for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.--Psalm cx. 4.
Such an high _priest_ became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
For the law maketh men high _priests_ which have infirmity; but the
word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is
consecrated for evermore.--Hebrews, vii. 26, 28.
Behold, Melchizedek!
And he who for himself and for his seed
Paid tithes to him, and he who thus bespake
His pious Father: “But where is the Lamb
For sacrifice?”--his dignity partake,
Humbly with Isaac and with Abraham,
The eternal _priest_ bowed down in silent prayer.
Messiah thus--
“Ere Abraham was, I am!
And thou, thou _priest_ of Salem, who while-ere
Greeted the faithful from his victory
With sacramental blessing;--thou wert him
Of th’ everlasting Order and Decree,
Whence bread from Heaven, angelic food for man,
And life divine outpoured in blood. With thee
That sacramental ordinance began,
Accomplished now. Be thou a _priest_ for ever:
I swear, nor shall repent. I will--I can--
After thine Order rule, and it shall never
In righteousness and peace, surcease to hold
Sway and dominion when and wheresoever.”
_J. A. Heraud._
The _priestly_ brotherhood, devout, sincere,
From mean self-interest and ambition clear,
Their hope in Heaven, servility their scorn,
Prompt to persuade, expostulate, and warn.
There wisdom pure, and given them from above,
Their usefulness ensured by zeal and love,
As meek as the man Moses, and withal
As bold as in Agrippa’s presence, Paul,
Should fly the world’s contaminating touch,
Holy and unpolluted.
_Cowper._
PRISON.
Let the sighing of the _prisoner_ come before Thee; according to the
greatness of Thy power preserve Thou those that are appointed to
die.--Psalm lxxix. 11.
The Lord looseth the _prisoners_.--Psalm cxlvi. 7.
Turn you to the stronghold ye _prisoners_ of hope.--Zechariah, ix. 12.
Prisoners of hope, arise,
And see your Lord appear!
Lo! on the wings of love He flies,
And brings redemption near.
Redemption in His blood
He calls you to receive:
“Look unto me, the pardoning God;
Believe,” He cries, “believe!”
_C. Wesley._
Though not a human voice he hears,
And not a human form appears
His solitude to share,
He is not all alone--the eye
Of Him who hears the _prisoner’s_ sigh
Is even on him there.
_J. L. Chester._
The captive welcomes even death’s relief:
What then, to him, the frowning _prison_-walls,
The clanking chain, the tyrant’s ’vengeful spite?
From the freed spirit every shackle falls,--
Earth’s gloom is lost, in Heaven’s glorious light.
_H. H. Weld._
Thy solemn vows are on me, Lord;
Thou shalt receive my praise;
I’ll sing “How faithful is Thy word!
How righteous all thy ways!”
Thou hast secured my soul from death,
O set Thy _prisoner_ free!
That heart and hand, and life and breath,
May be employ’d for Thee.
Then, like a bird that soars and sings,
Escaping from the cage,
My _prisoned_ soul shall stretch her wings,
And in Thy cause engage.
_Anon._
PROMISE.
He remembered His holy _promise_, and Abraham His servant.
And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with
gladness.--Psalm cv. 42, 43.
Behold I send the _promise_ of my Father upon you.--Luke, xxiv. 49.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you.
All the _promises_ of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the
glory of God by us.--II. Corinthians, i. 19, 20.
His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the _promises_.
He said, “Let the wide heaven be spread;”
And heaven was stretched abroad.
“Abra’m, I’ll be thy God,” He said;
And He was Abra’m’s God.
_Watts._
Happy the man whose hopes rely
On Israel’s God: He built the sky,
And earth, and seas, with all their train;
His truth for ever stands secure,
He saves the oppress’d, He feeds the poor,
And none shall find His _promise_ vain.
_Watts._
When the good man yields his breath,
(For the good man never dies,)
Bright, beyond the gulf of death,
To the land of _promise_ hies!
_James Montgomery._
Still let me love the sacred page
Where truths from Heaven recorded lie;
And while I tread this mortal stage,
May I be taught to live and die.
Still let me bind it to my heart,
The richest jewel I can wear;
That when all other charms depart,
Its lustre still may sparkle there.
Father! Thy truth shall be my guide;
Thy _promises_ my soul shall cheer;
And when by sin or sorrow tried,
Oh! may Thy smile dispel my fear.
_Hutton._
PROPHECY--PROPHETS.
He spake by the mouth of His holy _prophets_, which have been since the
world began.--Luke, i. 70.
Knowing this first, that no _prophecy_ of the scripture is of any
private interpretation.
For the _prophecy_ came not in old time by the will of man: but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.--II. Peter, i.
20, 21.
The world’s a _prophecy_ of worlds to come.
_Young._
The words of _prophecy_, those truths divine,
Which make that Heaven, if thou desire it, thine--
(Awful alternative! believed, beloved,
Thy glory--and thy shame if unimproved,)
Are never long vouchsafed, if pushed aside
With cold disgust, or philosophic pride.
_Cowper._