1519. At School

A Sermon Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. *1/1/2013

Teach me to do your will; for you are my God. [Ps 143:10]

1. This is a prayer about doing, but it is perfectly free from legal taint. The man who offered it had no idea of being saved by his doings, for in the second verse of the psalm he had said, “Do not enter into judgment with your servant: for in your sight no man living shall be justified.” This is not the prayer of a sinner seeking salvation, for salvation is not by doing the will of God but by believing in Christ. It is the prayer of the man who is already saved, and who being saved devotes himself to the service of God, and wishes to be taught in the fear of the Lord. “Teach me to do your will, oh God.”

2. The context leads us to make the remark that David looked upon the doing of God’s will as his best escape from his enemies. He speaks of his cruel persecutors. He declares that though he looked all around he could find no one who would help him. Then he prays, “Teach me to do your will; for you are my God.” And depend upon it, the surest way to escape from harm is to do no evil. If you are surrounded by those who would slander you, your best defence is a blameless life; and if many are watching for your halting and maliciously desiring your fall, your safety lies in holiness. The very best prayer you can pray for your own protection is, “Teach me to do your will.” If you do right no one can harm you.

3. This prayer was suggested by the perplexity of the psalmist’s mind. He was overwhelmed, and did not know what to do, and therefore he cried, “Teach me to do your will, oh God,” he had come to a place where many roads met, and he did not know which path to take; and so he prayed to God to guide him in the appointed way. I commend this prayer to all who may be severely puzzled and anxious. You have exercised your own judgment, and you have, perhaps, too much consulted with friends, and yet your way seems entirely blocked up: then resort to God with this as your heart’s prayer, “Teach me to do your will; for you are my God.”

4. May the Spirit of God now bless us while we expound on this short prayer that we may be helped to understand it, and use it. First, we will speak upon the prayer; and then, secondly, upon its answer.

5. I. And, first, THE PRAYER ITSELF — let us notice its character.

6. It is a holy prayer. “Teach me to do your will.” The man who utters this language desires to be free from sin, for sin can never be God’s will. Under no circumstances whatever may I do wrong and imagine that I am doing God’s will in it. I have read of an extremely poor man who needed fuel for the fire for his children, and the text came to his mind, “All things are yours.” Armed with this text, he thought he would take a little wood from his neighbour’s woodpile; but very happily there came to his mind another text, “You shall not steal.” He was quite clear about its meaning, and so he left the wood alone; but he remembered afterwards how that text had saved him from a great transgression. Depend upon it, whatever circumstances or impressions may seem to say, it is never God’s will that you should do wrong. There are devil’s providences as well as God’s providences. When Jonah wanted to go to Tarshish, he found a ship going there; and I dare say he said “How providential!” Yes, but no providence can ever be an excuse for sinning against God. We are to do right, and therefore we pray, “Teach me to do your will.”

7. It is a humble prayer — the prayer of a man of deep experience, and yet, for all that, and perhaps because of that, a man who felt that he needed teaching concerning every step he should take. When you do not want to be taught, brother, it is because you are too stupid to learn: you may depend upon that. It is only a very young lady fresh from a boarding-school, who has “finished her education,” and it is only a great fool of a man who thinks that he can learn no more. Those who know themselves best, and know the world best, and know God best, always have the lowest thoughts of themselves. They have no wisdom of their own except this, that they are wise enough to flee from their own wisdom, and say to the Lord, “Teach me to do your will.” This is a holy prayer and a humble prayer, and commends itself to every holy and humble heart.

8. It is, dear friends, a docile prayer — the prayer of a teachable man. “Teach me to do your will.” It is not merely, you see, “Teach me your will,” but “Teach me to do it.” The person is so ignorant that he needs to be taught how to do anything and everything. You may tell a child how to walk, but he will not walk for all that. You must teach him to walk. You must take him by the arms as God did for Ephraim. He says, “I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms,” just as a mother teaches her little ones. “Teach me to do.” Lord, it is not enough that you teach my head and teach my heart, but teach my hands and my feet. “Teach me to do your will.” Such a supplicant is docile, and ready to learn.

9. It is an acquiescent prayer also, which is a great thing in its favour. “Teach me to do your will — not mine. I will set my will aside.” He does not say, “Lord, teach me to do part of your will, that part which pleases me,” but all your will. If there is any part of your will which I am not pleased with, for that very reason teach it to me, until my whole soul shall be conformed to your mind, and I shall love your will, not because it happens to be pleasing, but because it is your will. It is a prayer of resignation and self-abnegation, and is, perhaps, one of the highest that the Christian can pray, though it may well befit the learner who stands for the first time at wisdom’s door.

10. And then notice that it is a believing prayer — “Teach me to do your will; for you are my God.” There is faith in God in this claim. “You are my God”; and there is faith in God’s condescension that he will act as a Teacher. Brethren, we have two faults. We do not think God to be as great as he is, and we do not think God can be as little as he can be. We err on both sides, and neither know his height of glory nor his depth of grace. We practically say, “This trial is too insignificant; I will bear it without him.” We forget that the same God who rules the stars condescends to be a Teacher, and teaches us to do his will. We heard once of a president of a great nation who nevertheless taught in a Sunday School: it was thought to be great condescension, but what shall I say of him who, while he sits amid the choirs of angels and accepts their praises, comes down to his little children and teaches them to do his will! The prayer before us is very precious, for it is holy, humble, docile, acquiescent, and believing.

11. Let us now notice what the actual request is. In so many words it says, “Teach me to do your will.” So, brothers and sisters, it is a practical prayer. He does not merely say, “Teach me to know your will” — that is a very excellent prayer; but there are a great many who stop in the knowing, and do not go on to the doing; these are forgetful hearers, deceiving themselves. An ounce of doing is worth a ton of knowing. The most orthodox faith in the world, if it is accompanied by an unholy life, will only increase a man’s damnation. There must be the yielding up of the members and of the mind to God in obedience, or else the more we know the greater will be our condemnation.

12. The psalmist does not say, “Lord, help me to talk about your will,” though it is a very proper thing to talk about, and a very profitable thing to hear about. But still doing is better than talking. If t’s were w’s there would be more saints in the world than there are; that is to say, if those who t-alk uprightly would also w-alk uprightly it would be good; but with many the talk is better than the walk. Better a silent tongue than an unclean life. Practical godliness is preferable to the sweetest eloquence.

13. The prayer is, “Teach me to do your will.” There are some who long to be taught in all mysteries; and truly to understand a mystery properly is a great privilege, but their main thought seems to be to know the deep doctrines, the mysterious points. Many go into prophecy, and a nice muddle they make when they get there. We have had I do not know how many theories of prophecy, each one of them more absurd than the rest, and so it will be, I fear, to the world’s end. Truly, it would be a good thing to understand the prophecies, and all knowledge, “and yet I show to you a more excellent way”; and that excellent way is to live a life of humble, godly dependence and faith, and to show in your life the love that was in Christ Jesus. Lord, I chiefly long to know your will: teach me that, and I am content.

14. I have already said that this prayer asks that we may do God’s will, not our own. Oh! how naturally our heart prays, “Lord, let me have my own way.” That is the first prayer of human nature when it is left alone; “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? Let me have my own way.” That desire will sometimes enter the Christian’s heart, though I hope it will not remain there for long. We may be praying, “Lord, not my will, but yours be done,” and yet the wicked, rebellious heart may be saying inside, “But let it be my will, Lord: let it be my will.” We still cling to self. May the Lord deliver us from Lord Will-be-will, who is a terrible tyrant wherever he rules; and may this be our prayer, “Teach me to do your will.”

15. We are not to ask to do other people’s will, though some people are always slaves to the wills of others. They are just like the company they keep. In Rome they do as Rome does: they try to accommodate themselves to their family; they cannot take a stand, or be decided, but they are ruled and governed, poor slaves that they are, by their associations. They fear the frown of man. Oh that they would rise to something nobler, and pray, “Lord, teach me to do your will, whether it is the will of the great ones of the earth, or the will of my influential friends, or the will of my loud talking neighbours or not. Help me to do your will, to take my stand, and say, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ ” It is a blessed prayer. The more we look at it the more we see in it.

16. What does he mean by doing God’s will? Does he not mean, “Help me to do as your word tells me?” For the will of God is put before us very plainly in his law, and, especially, in that law as viewed in the hand of Christ. “This is the will of God, even our sanctification.” To serve him devoutly, and to love our neighbour as ourselves — this is the will of God. May his Spirit help us. “Teach me to do your will, oh God.”

17. That will also takes the form of providence. Out of two courses equally right we sometimes have to ask the question, “Lord, what is your will here?” There is nothing immoral in either the one or the other, and hence our difficulty, and then we come to the Lord and say. “Here is a case in which your law does not guide me, otherwise I should decide at once, but will you now show me what you will have me to do?”

18. In another case the will of God may be suggested by opportunity. Dear friend, the will of God is that you should speak to that friend sitting near you about soul matters. The will of God is that your unconverted servant should have your prayers and your instruction. God puts men in our way on purpose so that we may do them good. I have no doubt whatever that many a Christian is made to go where he would not choose to go, and to associate with people whom he would not wish to associate with, on purpose so that he may be the means of taking light into dark places, and of carrying life from God to dead souls. So that if you pray this prayer, “Teach me to do your will,” and carry it out, you will watch for opportunities for serving the Lord.

19. The prayer seems to me to have all that scope, and much more.

20. But I would answer another enquiry. What is the intention of the prayer with respect to manner? It does not say, “Lord, enable me to do your will,” but, “Teach me to do your will,” as if there were some particular way of doing it that had to be taught, as when a young man becomes an apprentice to acquire a trade. Lord, I would put myself under indentures to your grace so that you may teach me the art and mystery of doing your will.

21. How then ought God’s will to be done?

22. It should be done thoughtfully. A great many Christians are not half as considerate as they should be. We should go through life, not flippantly like the butterfly that flits from flower to flower, but like the bee that stays and sucks honey, and gathers a sweet supply for the hive. We should be seriously in earnest; and one point of earnestness should be

   With holy trembling, holy fear,
      To make my calling sure,
   Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,
   And suffer all thy righteous will,
      And to the end endure.

23. Lord, help me to do your will, seriously bending all my soul to the doing of it; not trifling in your courts, nor making life a play, but loving you with my understanding.

24. The Lord’s will should be done immediately. As soon as a command is known it should be obeyed. Lord, do not permit me to consult with flesh and blood. Make me prompt and quick of understanding in the fear of God. Teach me to do your will as angels do, who no sooner hear your word than they fly like flames of fire to fulfil your behests.

25. His will should be done cheerfully. Jehovah does not seek slaves to grace his throne. He would have us delight to do his will: yes, his law should be in our heart. Oh! brothers and sisters, you need to pray this: “Teach me to do your will,” or else you will miss the mark.

26. Teach me to do it constantly. Do not let me be your servant sometimes, and then run away from you. Keep me at it. Let me never weary. When the morning wakes me up may it find me ready, and when the evening calls me to rest may I be serving you until I fall asleep.

27. Teach me to do it also, Lord, universally, not some part of it, but all of it, not one of your commands being neglected, nor one single part of my daily task being left undone. I am your servant; make me to be what a good servant is to her mistress, neglecting none of the cares of the household. May I be watchful in all points.

28. Teach me to do your will spiritually, not making the outside of cups and platters clean, but obeying you within my soul. May what I do be done with all my heart. If I pray, help me to pray in the spirit. If I sing, let my heart make music for you. When I am talking to others about your name, and trying to spread the savour of Jesus, do not let me do it in my own strength, or in a wrong spirit, but may the Holy Spirit be upon me.

29. Teach me to do your will intensely. Let the zeal of your house eat me up. Oh that I might throw my whole self into it.

30. This little prayer grows, does it not? Pray it, brothers and sisters, and may the Lord answer you.

31. Once again, there are necessary qualities which we must seek if we would sincerely pray this prayer, “Teach me to do your will.” Then, you must have decision of character, for some never do God’s will, though they wish they did, and they regret, they say, that they cannot: they resolve that they will, and there it ends. Oh you spongy souls! Some of you are sadly squeezable. Whatever hand grips you can shape you. Decision is needed, for you cannot do God’s will unless you know how to say, “No,” and to put your foot down, and declare that whatever may happen you will not turn aside from the service of your God.

32. If the Lord shall teach you to do his will, you will also need courage. The prayer virtually says, “When my enemies ridicule me, teach me to do your will. When they threaten me, teach me to do your will. When they tempt me, teach me to do your will. When they slander me, teach me to do your will, to be brave with the bravery which resolves to do the right, and leaves the issues with God.”

33. “Teach me to do your will.” It means — Give me resignation, kill in me my selfishness, put down, I pray you, my pride, make me willing to be anything or to do anything you wish.

34. It is a prayer that necessitates humility. No man can pray it unless he is willing to stoop and wash the saints’ feet. “Teach me to do your will.” Let me be a scullion in your kitchen if I may glorify you by this. I have no choice except that you are all in all.

35. It is a prayer, too, for spiritual life, and much of it, for a dead man cannot do God’s will. Shall the dead praise him? Shall those who go down to the pit give him thanks? Oh, no, brothers and sisters; you must be full of life if you are to do God’s will. Some professors are not quickened one third of the way up yet. I hope they have a measure of quickening, but it does not seem to have reached the extremities. There may be a little quickening in the heart, but it has not quickened the tongue to confess Christ, nor quickened the hand to give to Christ, or to work for Christ. They seem to be half-dead. Oh Lord, fill me with life from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head, for how can I do your will unless your Spirit saturates me through and through, until every pulse is consecrated? I would be wholly yours. “Teach me to do your will.”

36. II. I will not detain you many minutes over the second part of our sermon, in which we are to say a little upon ITS ANSWER. There is the prayer, “Teach me to do your will.” Will it get an answer? Yes, brethren, it will assuredly obtain an answer of peace.

37. For, first, there is a reason for expecting it. “You are my God.” Oh, yes, if we were asking this of someone else we might fear, but “you are my God” is a blessed argument, because the greater supposes the less. If God has given us himself, he will give us teaching. It is also God’s way to teach: — “Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he will teach transgressors in the way.” It is a quality of a good man to wish to make others good; it is supremely the quality of the good God to make others good. When I think of what the Lord is, I am certain that he will be willing to teach me to do his will. Moreover, he has promised to do it. “I will instruct you, and teach you in the way that you shall go. I will guide you with my eye.” And, again, he is glorified by doing so, for it brings glory to God when his people do his will; therefore I may expect for all these reasons that he will teach me to do his will.

38. Again, dear friends, it needs to be answered. “Teach me to do your will. Lord, there is no one who can ever teach me your will unless you do it. I shall never learn it by myself. I shall never pick this scholarship up by chance. Lord, unless you hold me firmly, and teach me with your most supreme art, I shall never learn to do your will as I desire to learn it.” You see, he turns away from every other teacher to his God, he goes to school with God alone. And there is the prayer, “Teach me to do your will; for you are my God.” Brother, you must have this teaching, or else you will never do God’s will. No strength of nature, no wit of nature, can ever suffice to serve the Lord properly; you must be taught from above.

39. There are many ways in which God gives his answer to this prayer — “Teach me to do your will.” We have received one wonderful answer to it already. He has given Jesus Christ to be our Example. There is no teaching like actual example. If you want to know the will of God study the life of Christ.

40. The Lord is pleased to give us fainter copies of that same will of his in his saints. Read the sacred biographies of the Scriptures. Watch the holy lives of those who are among you, who live near to God, and follow them as far as they follow Christ. They are not complete copies; they are blots and blunders: still, the Lord teaches young people by the godly lives of their parents, and he instructs all of us by the biographies of devote men and women.

41. Again, the Lord teaches us by every line of his word, and often when that word is heard, or carefully read, it comes home with great power to the soul, and guides us in the way of life.

42. Moreover the Lord has a way of teaching us by his own Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks in secret whispers to those who are able to hear him. It is not every professing Christian who has the visitations of the Spirit of God in personal admonitions, but there are saints who hear a voice behind them saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” God guides us with his eye as well as by his word. Opened eyes can see in a moment what the Lord means. He has gentle means. His daily dealings in loving tenderness are guides to us. Every mercy is a star to pilot us to heaven. When we are not willing to be guided so easily, he will teach us by rough means. The Lord has a bit and a whip for those who need them. He will restrain us by affliction and infirmity, and sometimes chasten us very severely with losses, bereavements, depression of spirit, and the like: but in some way or other he will hear the prayer for teaching, for it is a covenant promise, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord.” Blessed are they to whom the teaching comes sweetly and softly. It can be so if we are willing to have it so; but surely if we will not be tenderly guided, God will make us to do his will as men compel the young bull to do their will when it is rebellious under the yoke, and must be broken in. The Lord will hear our prayer for instruction; but it may not be quite in the way we would have chosen.

43. One thing more, I trust all of us who know the Lord, have prayed the prayer, “Teach me to do your will; for you are my God.” Now be careful, my dear friend, watch that you do it sincerely, and know what you are doing, because after offering such a petition as this, you dare not go into sin. You cannot say, “Teach me to do your will,” and then go off to frivolous amusements, or spend your evenings in vain and giddy society, because that would be an insolent mockery of God. You say, “Teach me to do your will,” and then get up and do what you know to be completely contrary to his mind and will: what defiant profanity is this!

44. Again, do not offer this prayer with a reserve. Do not say, or mean, “Teach me to do your will in all points except one. That is a point in which I pray you have me excused.” I am afraid that certain believers do not want to learn too much. I have known them not to like to read special passages of Scripture. Perhaps they trouble them doctrinally, or concerning the ordinances of the Christian faith, or concerning matters of church discipline; if they do not paste those pages together to hide the obnoxious passage yet they do not like them opened too much. They would rather read a verse which looks more to their liking. But, brother, if you and a text have a quarrel, make up with it immediately. You must not alter the text; alter your creed, alter your life, alter your thought, God the Holy Spirit helping you; for the text is right, and you are in the wrong. “Teach me to do your will,” means, if we pray it honestly, “I will search God’s book to know what his mind is.” Why, there are numbers of you who join with the church you were brought up in, whatever it is. You do not take the trouble to examine concerning whether your church is scriptural or not. This is a blind way of acting. This is not obeying the will of God. Know what God’s book teaches. Search the Scriptures. Many Christians believe what their minister preaches because he preaches it. Do not believe a word of what I preach unless you can find it in the Word of God. “To the law and to the testimony. If we do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in us.” We are all fallible, and though we teach as best we can, and hope that God teaches you much by us, yet we are not inspired, and do not pretend to be. Search the book of God on your own account, and abide by what you find there, and by nothing else. Where the Bible leads you are bound to follow, and following its guidance you shall not walk in darkness. Seek to know the will of God; and when you know it, carry it out, and pray the Holy Spirit to take away the dearest idol you have known — the thought that pleases you best — out of your mind, if it is contrary to the supreme will of the eternal God. May the Lord grant that we may pray like this, and so be heard.

45. Alas, unconverted people cannot pray according to the manner of my text. They have, first of all, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before they can do the will of the Lord. May you all be led to believe in the Saviour, and when you have done so then may the Holy Spirit lead you to pray, “Teach me to do your will; for you are may God.”

46. May the Lord bless you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Ps 142; 143]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 119” 119 @@ "(Song 1)"]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Sacred Gratitude — ‘Return Unto Thy Rest’ ” 708]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 143” 143]

Letter From Mr. Spurgeon

Dear Friends, — I had joyfully expected to set out for home next Monday, but flights of letters have come to warn me against returning while an Arctic temperature freezes our native land. Many matters make me anxious to see my dear home and church, but I submit to the loving advice of my deacons, which has just reached me by telegram; and I shall stay in this warm retreat for another week, hoping for a change of weather.

                  Yours heartily,
                  C. H. Spurgeon
                  Mentone, January 31, 1880

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 119 (Song 1)
1 Oh how I love thy holy law!
   ‘Tis daily my delight;
   And thence my meditations draw
   Divine advice by night.
2 How doth thy word my heart engage!
   How well employ my tongue!
   And in my tiresome pilgrimage
   Yields me a heavenly song.
3 Am I a stranger, or at home,
   ‘Tis my perpetual feast:
   Not honey dropping from the comb,
   So much allures the taste.
4 No treasures so enrich the mind,
   Nor shall thy word be sold
   For loads of silver well refined,
   Nor heaps of choicest gold.
5 When nature sinks, and spirits droop,
   Thy promises of grace
   Are pillars to support my hope,
   And there I write thy praise.
                     Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 2)
1 Oh that the Lord would guide my ways
   To keep his statutes still!
   Oh that my God would grant me grace
   To know and do his will!
2 Oh send thy Spirit down, to write
   Thy law upon my heart!
   Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
   Nor act the liar’s part.
3 From vanity turn off my eyes;
   Let no corrupt design,
   Nor covetous desires arise
   Within this soul of mine.
4 Order my footsteps by thy word,
   And make my heart sincere;
   Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
   But keep my conscience clear.
5 My soul hath gone too far astray,
   My feet too often slip;
   Yet since I’ve not forgot thy way
   Restore thy wandering sheep.
6 Make me to walk in thy commands,
   ‘Tis a delightful road;
   Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
   Offend against my God.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 119 (Song 3)
1 My soul lies cleaving to the dust;
   Lord, give me life divine;
   From vain desires and every lust,
   Turn off these eyes of mine.
2 I need the influence of thy grace
   To speed me in thy way,
   Lest I should loiter in my race
   Or turn my feet astray.
3 When sore afflictions press me down,
   I need thy quickening powers;
   Thy word that I have rested on
   Shall help my heaviest hours.
4 Are not thy mercies sovereign still,
   And thou a faithful God?
   Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal
   To run the heavenly road?
5 Does not my heart thy precepts love,
   And long to see thy face?
   And yet how slow my spirits move
   Without enlivening grace!
6 Then shall I love thy gospel more,
   And ne’er forget thy word,
   When I have felt its quickening power
   To draw me near the Lord.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 4)
1 My soul lies grovelling low,
      Still cleaving to the dust:
   Thy quickening grace, oh Lord, bestow,
      For in thy word I trust.
2 Make me to understand
      Thy precepts and thy will;
   Thy wondrous works on every hand,
      I’ll sing and talk of still.
3 My soul, oppress’d with grief,
      In heaviness melts down;
   Oh strengthen me and send relief,
      And thou shalt wear the crown.
4 Remove from me the voice
      Of falsehood and deceit;
   The way of truth is now my choice,
      Thy word to me is sweet.
5 Thy testimony stands,
      And never can depart;
   I’ll run the way of thy commands
      If thou enlarge my heart.
                        Joseph Irons, 1847

Psalm 119 (Song 5)
1 Consider all my sorrows, Lord,
   And thy deliverance send;
   My soul for thy salvation faints;
   When will my troubles end?
2 Yet I have found ‘tis good for me
   To bear my Father’s rod;
   Afflictions make me learn thy law,
   And live upon my God.
3 This is the comfort I enjoy
   When new distress begins:
   I read thy word, I run thy way,
   And hate my former sins.
4 Had not thy word been my delight
   When earthly joys were fled,
   My soul oppress’d with sorrow’s weight,
   Had sunk amongst the dead.
5 I know thy judgments, Lord, are right,
   Though they may seem severe;
   The sharpest sufferings I endure
   Flow from thy faithful care.
 6 Before I knew thy chastening rod
      My feet were apt to stray;
   But now I learn to keep thy word,
      Nor wander from thy way.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 119 (Song 6)
1 Oh that thy statutes every hour
   Might dwell upon my mind!
   Thence I derive a quickening power,
   And daily peace I find.
2 To meditate thy precepts, Lord,
   Shall be my sweet employ;
   My soul shall ne’er forget thy word;
   Thy word is all my joy.
3 How would I run in thy commands,
   If thou my heart discharge
   From sin and Satan’s hateful chains,
   And set my feet at large!
4 My lips with courage shall declare
   Thy statutes and thy name;
   I’ll speak thy words though kings should hear,
   Nor yield to sinful shame.
                           Isaac Watts, 1719

Psalm 119 (Song 7)
1 Father, I bless thy gentle hand;
   How kind was thy chastising rod;
   That forced my conscience to a stand,
   And brought my wandering soul to God!
2 Foolish and vain, I went astray
   Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord;
   I left my guide, and lost my way;
   But now I love and keep thy word.
3 ‘Tis good for me to wear the yoke,
   For pride is apt to rise and swell;
   ‘Tis good to bear my Father’s stroke,
   That I might learn his statutes well.
4 Thy hands have made my mortal frame,
   Thy Spirit form’d my soul within;
   Teach me to know thy wondrous name,
   And guard me safe from death and sin.
5 Then all that love and fear the Lord,
   At my salvation shall rejoice;
   For I have hoped in thy word,
   And made thy grace my only choice.
                        Isaac Watts, 1719.

The Christian, Sacred Gratitude
708 — “Return Unto Thy Rest”
1 My heart is resting, oh my God;
      I will give thanks and sing;
   My heart is at the secret source
      Of every precious thing.
2 Now the frail vessel thou hast made
      No hand but thine shall fill;
   The waters of the earth have fail’d,
      And I am thirsting still.
3 I thirst for springs of heavenly life,
      And here all day they rise;
   I seek the treasure of thy love,
      And close at hand it lies.
4 And a “new song” is in my mouth,
      To long-loved music set;
   Glory to thee for all the grace
      I have not tasted yet.
5 I have a heritage of joy
      That yet I must not see:
   The hand that bled to make it mine;
      Is keeping it for me.
6 My heart is resting on his truth,
      Who hath made all things mine;
   Who draws my captive will to him,
      And makes it one with thine.
            Ann Letitia Waring, 1850, a.

Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 143
1 Hear, oh my God, with pity hear,
   My humble supplicating moan;
   In mercy answer all my prayer,
   And make thy truth and goodness known.
2 And oh! let mercy still be nigh;
   Should awful justice frown severe,
   Before the terrors of thine eye,
   What trembling mortal can appear?
3 I call to mind the former days;
   Thy ancient works declare thy name,
   Thy truth, thy goodness, and thy grace;
   And these, oh Lord, are still the same.
4 Come, Lord, on wings of mercy fly,
   My spirit fails at thy delay;
   Hide not thy face; I faint, I die,
   Without thy blissful healing ray.
5 Teach me to do thy sacred will;
   Thou art my god, my hope, me stay;
   Let thy good Spirit lead me still,
   And point the safe, the upright way.
6 Thy name, thy righteousness I plead,
   Oh Lord, revive my drooping heart;
   Let these distressing fears recede,
   And bid my troubles all depart.
                           Anne Steele, 1760.