4 Where'er he spreads his beams abroad, He speaks the majesty of God;
All nature joins to show his praise : Thus God in every creature shines, Bright in the book of nature's lines, But brighter in the book of grace.
HYMN 6. L. M. [#]
Voice of Nature.
1 THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue, ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
2 The golden sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty hand.
3 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And, nightly, to the listening earth,
Repeats the story of her birth ;-
4 While all the stars, that round her burn,
And all the planets, in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
5 What though, in solemn silence, all
Move round this dark, terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found?
6 In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing, as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."
HYMN 7. L. M. [#]
Sovereign Creator.
1 BEFORE Jehovah's royal throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
Know that the Lord is God alone;
He can create, and he destroy.
2 His sovereign power, without our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us men;
And when, like wandering sheep, we strayed,
He brought us to his fold again.
3 We'll crowd his gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise,
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
Shall fill his courts with sounding praise.
4 Wide as the world is his command,
Vast as eternity his love;
Firm as a rock his truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move.
HYMN 8. C. M. [#]
Infinity of God.
1 GREAT GOD, how infinite art thou!
How weak and frail are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And homage pay to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere earth or heaven was made;
Thou art the ever-living God,
Were all the nations dead.
3 Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there's nothing old appears,
Great God, there's nothing new.
4 Our lives through varying scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares,
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
1 My God, thy boundless love I praise;
How bright on high its glories blaze!
How sweetly bloom below!
It streams from thine eternal throne;
Through heaven its joys forever run,
And all the earth o'erflow.
2 "Tis love that paints the purple morn,
And bids the clouds, in air upborne,
Their genial drops distil;
In every vernal beam it glows,
And breathes in every gale that blows,
And glides in every rill.
3 It robes in cheerful green the ground,
And pours its flowery beauties round,
Whose sweets perfume the gale;
Its bounties richly spread the plain,
The blushing fruit, the golden grain,
And smile on every
4 But in thy word I see it shine
With grace and glories more divine,
Proclaiming sins forgiven;
There Faith, bright cherub, points the way
To realms of everlasting day,
And opens all her heaven.
1 To God all nature owes its birth;
He formed this ponderous globe of earth;
He raised the glorious arch on high,
And measured out the azure sky.
2 He sits enthroned amidst the spheres,
And glory, like a garment, wears;
While boundless wisdom, power and grace,
Command our awe, invite our praise.
3 "Tis he who bids the tempests rise,
And rolls the thunder through the skies;
His voice the elements obey;
Wide o'er the earth extends his sway.
4 In every work and way divine,
Omnipotence and wisdom shine;
And goodness fixes still the end,
To which they all, unvarying, tend.
5 His power we trace on every side;
O, may his wisdom be our guide;
And while we live, and when we die,
May his almighty love be nigh.
HYMN 11. L. M. [#]
Omniscience and Omnipresence. 1 FATHER of all, omniscient Mind, Thy wisdom who can comprehend? Its highest point what eye can find, Or to its lowest depths descend? 2 If up to heaven's ethereal height, Thy prospect to elude, I rise, In splendour, there, supremely bright, - Thy presence shall my sight surprise. 3 Thee, mighty God, my wondering soul, Thee, all her conscious powers adore, Whose being circumscribes the whole, Whose eyes the universe explore.
4 Thine essence fills this breathing frame; It glows in every vital part,
Lights up our souls with livelier flame,
And feeds with life each beating heart.
5 To thee, from whom our being came,
Whose smile is all the heaven we know,
Inspired with this exalted theme,
To thee our grateful strains shall flow.
HYMN 12. L. M. [#]
Greatness and Glory of God.
1 How great is our Creator, God,
In wisdom, majesty and might,
When he displays his power abroad,
And brings his wonders forth to light.
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