Rev. L. Hartsough.

318 Welcome Voice.  S.M.

Christ the Guide and Counselor. (688)

Jesus, my truth, my way,
  My sure, unerring light,
On thee my feeble steps I stay,
  Which thou wilt guide aright.

2 My wisdom and my guide,
  My counselor thou art;
Oh, never let me leave thy side,
  Or from thy paths depart.

3 Never will I remove
  Out of thy hands my cause;
But rest in thy redeeming love,
  And hang upon thy cross.

4 Oh, make me all like thee,
  Before I hence remove;
Settle, confirm, and ’stablish me—­
  And build me up in love.

     Charles Wesley.

319 Loving Kindness.  L.M.

Loving Kindness. (699)

Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,
And sing thy great Redeemer’s praise;
He justly claims a song from me,
His loving kindness, oh, how free!

2 He saw me ruined in the fall,
Yet loved me notwithstanding all;
He saved me from my lost estate—­
His loving kindness, oh, how great!

3 Though numerous hosts of mighty foes—­
Though earth and hell my way oppose;
He safely leads my soul along—­
His loving kindness, oh, how strong!

4 When trouble, like a gloomy cloud, Has gathered thick and thundered loud, He near my soul has always stood—­ His loving kindness, oh, how good!

     S. Medley, 1787.

320 Loving Kindness.  L.M.

Love Which Passeth Knowledge.

Of him who did salvation bring,
I could forever think and sing;
Arise, ye needy, he’ll relieve;
Arise, ye guilty, he’ll forgive.

2 Ask but his grace, and lo, ’tis given!  Ask, and he turns your hell to heaven; Though sin and sorrow wound my soul, Jesus, thy balm will make me whole.

3 ’Tis thee I love, for thee alone,
I shed my tears, and make my moan! 
Where’er I am, where’er I move,
I meet the object of my love.

4 Insatiate to this spring I fly;
I drink, and yet am ever dry;
Ah! who against thy charms is proof? 
Ah, who that loves can love enough?

     Bernard of Clairvaux,
     tr. by A.W.  Boehm, 1712

321 The Solid Rock.  L.M.

The Sure Foundation.

My hope is built on nothing less
  Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
  But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Cho.—­On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand,
      All other ground is sinking sand.

2 When darkness veils his lovely face,
  I rest on his unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
  My anchor holds within the vail.

3 His oath, his covenant, his blood,
  Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
  He then is all my hope and stay.

4 When he shall come with trumpet sound. 
  O, may I then in him be found;
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
  Faultless to stand before the throne.