Call forth praise from every tongue;
Let the whole assembly prove
All thy power and all thy love.
10
Casting the Gospel Net
By Newton
I
When Peter, through the tedious night,
Had often cast his net in vain,
Soon as the Lord appear’d in sight
He gladly let it down again.
II
Once more the gospel net we cast;
Do thou, O Lord, the effort own!
We learn from disappointments past
To rest our hope on thee alone.
III
Upheld by thy supporting hand,
We enter on another year;
And now we meet at thy command,
To seek thy gracious presence here.
IV
May this be a much-favour’d hour
To souls in Satan’s bondage led;
clothe thy word with sovereign power
To break the rocks and raise the dead!
V
Have mercy on our num’rous youth,
Who, young in years, are old in sin;
And by thy Spirit, and thy truth,
Show them the state their souls are in.
VI
Then by a Saviour’s dying love,
To every wounded heart reveal’d,
Temptations, fears, and guilt remove,
And be their sun and strength and shield
VII
To mourners speak a cheering word,
On seeking souls vouchsafe to shine;
Let poor backsliders be restored,
And all thy saints in praises join.
VIII
O hear our prayer, and give us hope,
That when thy voice shall call us home,
Thou still wilt raise a people up
To love and praise thee in our room.
11
Pleading for and with Youth
By Cowper
I
Sin has undone our wretched race.
But Jesus has restored
And brought the sinner face to face
With his forgiving Lord.
II
This we repeat, from year to year,
And press upon our youth;
Lord, give them an attentive ear;
Lord, save them by thy truth.
III
Blessings upon the rising race!
Make this a happy hour,
According to thy richest grace
And thine almighty power.
IV
We feel for your unhappy state,
(May you regard it too!)
And would awhile ourselves forget,
To pour out prayer for you.
V
We see, though you perceive it not,
Th’ approaching awful doom;
O tremble at the solemn thought,
And flee the wrath to come!
VI
Dear Saviour, let this new-born year
Spread an alarm abroad;
And cry in every careless ear
“Prepare to meet thy God!”
12
Prayer for Children
By Cowper
I
Gracious Lord, our children see!
By thy mercy we are free,
But shall these, alas! remain
Subjects still of Satan’s reign?
Isr’el’s young ones, when of old
Pharaoh threaten’d to withhold,
Then thy messenger said, “No—
Let the children also go.”
II
When the angel of the Lord,
Drawing forth his dreadful sword,
Slew, with an avenging hand,
All the first-born of the land.
Then thy people’s door he pass’d,
Where the bloody sign was placed.
Hear us now upon our knees,
Plead the blood of Christ for these!
III
Lord, we tremble, for we know
How the fierce malicious foe,
Wheeling round his watchful flight,
Keeps them ever in his sight.
Spread thy pinions, King of kings!
Hide them safe beneath thy wings,
Lest the ravenous bird of prey
Stoop, and bear the brood away.
13
The Shunammite
By Newton
2 Kings 4:31.
I
The Shunammite, oppressed with grief,
When she had lost the son she loved,
Went to Elisha for relief,
Nor vain her application proved.
II
He sent his servant on before,
To lay a staff upon his head;
This he could do, but do no more—
He left him as he found him, dead.
III
But when the Lord’s almighty power
Wrought with the prophet’s prayer and faith
The mother saw a joyful hour—
She saw her child restored from death.
IV
Thus, like the weeping Shunammite,
For many dead in sin we grieve.
Now, Lord, display thine arm of might,
Cause them to hear thy voice and live.
V
Thy preachers boar the staff in vain,
Though at thine own command we go.
Lord, we have tried and tried again,
We find them dead, and leave them so.
VI
Come then thyself—to every heart
The glory of thy name make known.
The means are our appointed part,
The power and grace are thine alone.
14
Elijah’s Prayer
By Newton
1 Kings 18.
I
Does it not grief and wonder move,
To think of Israel’s shameful fall,
Who needed miracles to prove
Whether the Lord was God or Baal?
II
Methinks I see Elijah stand,
His features glow with love and zeal.
In faith and prayer he lifts his hand,
And makes to Heaven his great appeal.
III
“O God! if I thy servant am,
If ’tis thy message fills my heart,
Now glorify thy holy name,
And show this people who thou art.”
IV
He spake, and lo a sudden flame
Consumed the wood, the dust, the stone.
The people struck, at once proclaim—
“The Lord is God, the Lord alone.”
V
Like him we mourn an awful day,
When more for Baal than God appear.
Like him, believers, let us pray,
And may the God of Israel hear.
VI
Lord, if thy servant speak thy truth,
If he indeed is sent by thee,
Confirm the word to all our youth,
And let them thy salvation see.
VII
Now may the Spirit’s holy fire
Pierce every heart that hears thy word,
Consume each hurtful vain desire,
And make them know thou art the Lord!
15
Preaching to the Dry Bones
By Newton
Ezekiel 37.
I
Preachers may from Ezekiel’s case
Draw hope in this declining day.
A proof like this of sovereign grace
Should chase our unbelief away.
II
When sent to preach to mould’ring bones,
Who could have thought he would succeed?
But well he knew the Lord from stones
Could raise up Abr’am’s chosen seed.
III
Can these be made a num’rous host,
And such dry bones new life receive?
The prophet answer’d—“Lord, thou know’st
They shall, if thou commandment give.”
IV
Like him around I cast my eye,
And oh! what heaps of bones appear;
Like him, by Jesus sent I’ll try,
For he can cause the dead to hear.
V
Hear, ye dry bones, the Saviour’s word,
He who when dying gasp’d—“Forgive,”—
That gracious sinner-loving Lord
Says—“Look to me, dry bones, and live.”
VI
Thou heav’nly wind, awake and blow,
In answer to the prayer of
