When any turn from Zion’s way,

(Alas, what numbers do!)

Methinks I hear my Saviour say,

Wilt thou forsake me too?”

Ah, Lord! with such a heart as mine,

Unless thou hold me fast,

I feel I must, I shall decline,

And prove like them at last.

How vain are all things here below!

How false, and yet how fair!

Each pleasure hath its poison too,

And ev’ry sweet a snare.

Dear Saviour! let thy beauties be

My soul’s eternal food;

And grace command my heart away

From all created good.

I thirst, but not as once I did,

The vain delights of earth to share;

Thy wounds, Immanuel, all forbid

That I should seek my pleasures there.



It was the sight of thy dear cross

First wean’d my soul from earthly things;

And taught me to esteem as dross

The mirth of fools and pomp of kings.

Jesus, my Saviour, is enough,

When all is gone and spent;

He fills and over-fills my soul,

Thus I am pure content.

My covenant with flesh and blood,

And every sinful thing,

Is broken, and is stedfast made,

With Jesus Christ my king.

Vanish from me, ye objects vain,

All scenes of lower kind;

A pleasure equal to my wish

In God alone I find.

Lord, season all my speech

With thine own Spirit’s salt,

And never let excess of words

Become my grievous fault.



Let grace dwell in my heart,

So shall it rule my tongue,

And all my faculties for thee

Become a harp well strung.



Each word a note of praise,

Each speech a line of song,

Thus like the angels round thy throne,

I’ll praise thee all day long.

Hear ye not a voice from heaven,

To the listening spirit given?

“Children, come,” it seems to say;

“Give your hearts to me to-day.”



While our day is in its dew,

And the clouds of life are few,

Jesu, may we hear thy voice,

And in thy dear love rejoice.



Then, when night and age appear,

Thou wilt chase each doubt and fear:

Thou our glorious Leader be,

When the stars shall fade and flee.



Now to thee, O Lord, we come,

In the morning’s early bloom:

Breathe on us thy grace divine;

Touch our hearts, and keep them thine.

Think gently, and as gently speak,

If thou art strong, respect the weak;

If thou art weak, from what thou art,

Judge gently of another’s heart.



For gentle thoughts and gentle words

Were ever thy dear Saviour Lord’s;

Shall worms a fellow-worm reprove,

When the great holy God is Love?



Therefore be gentle, O my soul!

Thy thoughts and words alike control;

And if thou must in aught decide,

Err ever on the gentle side.