866. C. M. Watts.

Winter.

1 The h.o.a.ry frost, the fleecy snow, Descend, and clothe the ground; The liquid streams forbear to flow, In icy fetters bound.

2 When, from his dreadful stores on high, G.o.d pours the sounding hail, The man that does his power defy Shall find his courage fail.

3 G.o.d sends his word and melts the snow; The fields no longer mourn; He calls the warmer gales to blow, And bids the spring return.

4 The changing wind, the flying cloud, Obey his mighty word; With songs and honors sounding loud, Praise ye the sovereign Lord.

867. H. M. Freeman.

The Same.

1 Lord of the worlds below!

On earth thy glories shine; The changing seasons show Thy skill and power divine.

The rolling years Are full of thee; In all we see A G.o.d appears.

2 In winter, awful thou!

With storms around thee cast; The leafless forests bow Beneath thy northern blast.

While tempests lower, To thee, dread King, We homage bring, And own thy power.

868. L. M. H. Ballou.

The Acceptable Fast.

1 This is the fast the Lord doth choose; Each heavy burden to undo, The bands of wickedness to loose, And bid the captive freely go.

2 Let every vile and sinful yoke Of servile bondage and of fear, By mercy, love and truth be broke; And from each eye wipe every tear.

3 Yes, to the hungry deal thy bread; Bring to thine house the outcast poor; There let the fainting soul be fed, Nor spurn the needy from thy door.

4 And when thou seest the naked, spare The raiment that his wants demand; Since all mankind thy kindred are, To all thy charity expand.

5 Thus did the Saviour of our race: Himself, the Bread of Life, he gave; He clothed us with his righteousness, And broke the fetters from the slave.

869. C. M. S. Streeter.

Humiliation and Prayer.

1 Here in thy temple, Lord, we meet, And bow before thy throne; Abased and guilty, at thy feet We seek thy grace alone.

2 Our sins rise up in dread array, And fill our hearts with fear; Our trembling spirits melt away, But find no helper near.

3 O, send thy pity from on high With pardon all-divine; Bring now thy gracious spirit nigh, And make us wholly thine.

4 We humbly mourn our follies past, Each guilty path deplore; Resolved, while feeble life shall last, To tread those paths no more.

870. C. M. Anonymous.

The Same.

1 Now let our prayers ascend to thee, Thou great and holy One; Above the world raise thou our hearts; In us, thy will be done.

2 O, let us feel how frail we are, How much we need thy grace; O, strengthen, Lord, our fainting souls, While here we seek thy face.

3 Our sins, alas! before thee rise; Thou knowest all our guilt; Let not our faith, our hope, our trust, On earthly things be built.

4 Forgive our sins, thy spirit grant, Let love our souls refine, And heavenly peace and holy hope a.s.sure that we are thine.

871. S. M. Drummond.

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen?"

1 "Is this a fast for me?"-- Thus saith the Lord our G.o.d;-- "A day for man to vex his soul, And feel affliction's rod?--

2 "Like bulrush low to bow His sorrow-stricken head, With sackcloth for his inner vest, And ashes round him spread?

3 "Shall day like this have power To stay th' avenging hand, Efface transgression, or avert My judgments from the land?

4 "No; is not this alone The sacred fast I choose,-- Oppression's yoke be burst in twain, The bands of guilt unloose?--

5 "To nakedness and want Your food and raiment deal, To dwell your kindred race among, And all their sufferings heal?