4 Impart the breath of endless life;
Let thy salvation come;
And thus shall num'rous households meet
In one eternal home.
Family Religion. Gen. xviii. 19.
1 FATHER of men! thy care we bless,
Which crowns our families with peace;
From Thee they spring, and by thy hand
They have been and are still sustain'd.
2 To Thee, most worthy to be prais'd,
Be our domestic altars rais'd;
And may our habitations prove
The dwellings of the God of love.
3 To Thee may each united house
Morning and night present its vows;
Our household, and the rising race,
Be taught thy precepts and thy grace.
4 When we, through grace divine, have risen
To join thy family in heaven,
Still may each future age proclaim
The honours of thy glorious name.
HYMN 18.
Abraham interceding for Sodom. Gen. xviii. 23---33. 1 WITH what success was Abr'am's pray'r For guilty Sodom crown'd?
The Lord would spare, if in the place
Ten righteous men were found.
2 And could a single holy soul
So rich a boon obtain?
Great God, and shall a nation cry,
And plead with thee in vain?
3 Are not the righteous dear to Thee,
Now, as in ancient times?
Yes, thou wilt hear; unless our land
Has equall'd Sodom's crimes.
4 Still are we Thine, we bear thy name;
Here yet is thine abode;
Long has thy presence bless'd our land,
Forsake us not, O GOD.
Abraham's obedience, when commanded to offer Isaac. Gen.
1 BLEST Abr'am, when severely tried,
His faith by his obedience showed;
He with the hard command complied,
And gave his Isaac back to God.
2 He gave that son of promise up,
That long desir'd, that only son;
Object of all his joy and hope,
And less belov'd than God alone. 3 0 for a faith like his, that we
His bright example may pursue!
May gladly give up all to Thee,
To whom our more than all is due!
4 Who Thee, the God of Abr’am, know,
Their faith by like obedience prove;
And, heark'ning to thy voice, they show
The life and power of faith and love.
The type of the sacrifice of the promised seed. Gen. xxii. 11 -18. Compare John viii. 56.
1 STRANGE and mysterious was the sight,
When Abr'am's son, his sole delight,
Was offer'd by divine command.
The Church's hope,-behold him lie!
The promis'd heir,-prepar'd to die!
And offer'd by a Father's hand!
2 Strong was the faith that thus obey'd!
And great the grace by God display'd!
For, lo, another victim dies,
The type and pledge of Christ from heaven,
By his Almighty Father given
For sinful men the sacrifice.
3 The blessing of that promis'd seed,
Receiv'd, like Isaac, from the dead,
On all earth's families descends.
Adore the Father's love, who gave
His Son, his only Son, to save
From sin, and woe that never ends!
HYMN 21.
The promise to Abraham. Gen. xxii. 18.
1 HAIL, thou universal blessing,
Abr'am's long expected seed,
Ev'ry perfect gift possessing;-
Thee thy fallen creatures need.
Let each family and nation
All thy gracious influence prove;
Bless them with thy full salvation,
Bless them with thy heavenly love.
2 Happy is the man forgiven;
O may we that blessing feel!
Now be citizens of heaven,
Heirs of greater blessings still.
O may we, anew created,
Thine own image here receive;
Then to Paradise translated,
In thy glorious presence live.
Jacob's prayer to the God of Bethel.
1 O GOD of Bethel! by whose hand
Thine Israel still is fed;
Who through their weary pilgrimage
Hast all the fathers led;
2 To thee our humble vows we raise,
To thee address our prayer;
And in thy kind and faithful breast
Deposit all our care.
3 Through all the changing scenes of life
Our wand'ring footsteps guide;
Do thou our daily bread supply,
And raiment fit provide.
4 Spread thine own promis'd shield around,
Till all our wand'rings cease,-
Till in our Father's lov'd abode
Our souls arrive in peace.
5 These blessings from thy gracious hand
Thy servants now implore;
Thou art, in Christ, our cov❜nant God,
And portion evermore.
The prophecy of Jacob. Gen. xlix. 10.---For its fulfilment as to the peculiar preservation of the tribe of JUDAH, trace the history of the Jews, more especially after the days of Solomon. Kings xi. 31---39.---Compare also the Gospel history, and particularly John xii. 32, as to the final and universal purport of the prediction.
1 OF old, with clear prophetic eye,
The dying Jacob from afar
Beheld in Bethl'hem's cloudless sky
The rising of the Eastern star.
2 The sceptre and the regal crown
From JUDAH's chosen tribe have past;
Each relique of his old renown
Low at Emmanuel's footstool cast.
3 From ancient Israel's race and name
Their early honours far have flown;
Lord! magnify thy Shiloh's fame;
O Father! glorify thy own.
4 Now, thro' thy grace, from shore to shore
Thy kingdom spread from sea to sea!
And to Thy Son for evermore
The gathering of the people be!
The holiness of the divine presence. Exod. iii.5.
1 FEARFUL in holiness wast Thou,
O God, on Horeb's height;
Well might thy servant Moses bow,
And worship at the sight.
2 Well might he, at such high behest,
With feet unshod draw nigh,
When thus Thy presence was confest
In awful Majesty.
3 And what thou wast on Horeb's brow,
Or Sinai's cloud-capt hill,
That still Thou art:-thy presence now,
O God! is holy still.
4 Grant us to feel Thy presence here;
Our hearts thy temple be;
In spirit and in truth draw near,
O Lord, to worship Thee.
The Passover. Exod. xii.-- 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.
1 The Angel came at dead of night
To Egypt's stubborn land;
The dying firstborn mark'd his flight;
They fell beneath his hand.
2 He pass'd the tents of Jacob o'er,
Nor pour'd the wrath divine;
For sprinkled blood, on ev'ry door,
Of mercy was the sign.
3 For them the Paschal lamb had bled,
And stay'd the fatal stroke;
Then Israel's sons, by Moses led,
Left Egypt's galling yoke.
4 Now Christ, our Passover, is slain,
That, sprinkled with his blood,
We may our liberty regain,
And 'scape the wrath of God.
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