"Go," saith the Lord, "my Gabriel go,
"Salute the virgin's fruitful womb,[1]
"Make haste, ye cherubs, down below,
Sing and proclaim the Saviour come."

3 Here a bright squadron leaves the skies,
And thick around Elisha stands;[2]
Anon a heavenly soldier flies,
And breaks the chains from Peter's hands.[3]

4 Thy winged troops, O God of hosts,
Wait on thy wandering church below,
Here we are sailing to thy coasts,
Let angels be our convoy too.

5 Are they not all thy servants,[4] Lord?
At thy command they go and come
With cheerful haste obey thy word,
And guard thy children to their home.

[1] Luke 1:16. [2] Luke 2:13.
[3] Acts 11:7. [4] Heb. 1:14.

Hymn 2:19.
Our frail bodies, and God our preserver.

1 Let others boast how strong they be,
Nor death, nor danger fear;
But we'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

2 Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay,
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3 Our life contains a thousand springs,
And dies if one be gone;
Strange! that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long.

4 But 'tis our God supports our frame,
The God that built us first;
Salvation to th' Almighty Name,
That rear'd us from the dust.

5 [He spoke, and straight our hearts and brains
In all their motions rose;
"Let blood, (said he) flow round the veins,"
And round the veins it flows.

6 While we have breath, or use our tongues,
Our Maker we'll adore;
His Spirit moves our heaving lungs
Or they would breathe no more.]

Hymn 2:20.
Backslidings and returns; or, The
inconstancy of our love.

1 Why is my heart so far from thee,
My God, my chief delight?
Why are my thoughts no more by day
With thee, no more by night?

2 [Why should my foolish passions rove?
Where can such sweetness be
As I have tasted in thy love;
As I have found in thee?]

3 When my forgetful soul renews
The savour of thy grace,
My heart presumes I cannot lose
The relish all my days.

4 But ere one fleeting hour is pass'd,
The flattering world employs
Some sensual bait to seize my taste,
And to pollute my joys.

5 [Trifles of nature or of art
With fair deceitful charms
Intrude upon my thoughtless heart,
And thrust thee from my arms.]

6 Then I repent and vex my soul
That I should leave thee so,
Where will those wild affections roll
That let a Saviour go?

7 [Sin's promis'd joys are turn'd to pain,
And I am drown'd in g