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THE DIVINE PERFECTIONS.

I

GREAT GOD! thy glories shall employ
Our holy love, our humble joy;
Our lips, in grateful songs, shall bring
Their tribute to th' eternal king.

II

The earth and stars, and worlds unknown,
Depend on thy eternal throne;
All nature rests upon thy word,

And men and angels own thee, LORD.

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Who shall pretend to teach thee skill,
Or guide the counsels of thy will?
Thy mercy ages past have known,
And ages long to come shall own.

IV

Thou, GOD of heav'n! dost condescend
To be our father and our friend:
We love thy name; we love thy word:
Join all our pow'rs to praise thee, LORD,

UNIVERSAL PRAISE TO GOD.

I

O GOD! Our king! thy various praise
Shall fill the remnant of our days;
Thy love employ our humble tongue,
Till death and glory raise the song.

II

The wings of ev'ry hour shall bear
Some thankful tribute to thine ear;
And ev'ry setting sun shall see
New works of duty done for thee.

III

Thy truth and justice we'll proclaim;
Thy bounty flows, an endless stream;
Thy mercy swift, thine anger slow,
But dreadful to the stubborn foe.

IV

Let ev'ry age and nation raise
A long succession of thy praise;
And unborn ages make our song
The joy and labour of their tongue.

V

But who can speak thy won'drous deeds?
Thy greatness all our thoughts exceeds!
Vast and unsearchable thy ways,
Vast and immortal be thy praise.

PRAISE THE PECULIAR DUTY OF MAN.

I

LORD of the world's majestic frame! Stupendous are thy ways;

Thy various works declare thy name, And all resound thy praise.

II

While all the radiant orbs of light,
That shine from pole to pole,

In silent harmony unite

To praise thee as they roll;

III

O shall not we of human race
The glorious concert join?
Shall not the children of thy grace
Attempt the theme divine?

IV

Not all the feeble notes of time
Can show forth GOD's high praise;
Nor all the noblest strains sublime
That earth or heav'n can raise.

V

Yet this shall be our best employ, Through life's uncertain days; And in the realms of boundless joy, Eternal be thy praise!

PRAISE TO GOD.

I

SING to the LORD with joyful voice;
Let ev'ry land his name adore:
Ye favour'd British isles! rejoicc,
And sound his praise from shore to shore.

II

Nations, attend before his throne
With solemn fear, with sacred joy :
Know that the LORD is GOD alone;
He can create, and he destroy.

III

We are the people of his care,
Our souls and all our mortal frame:
What lasting honours shall we rear,
Almighty maker! to thy name?

IV

We'll sing thy love in thankful songs;
High as the heav'ns our voices raise;
And earth, with her unnumber'd tongues,
Shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.

V

Wide as the world is thy command!
Vast as eternity thy love!

Firm as a rock thy truth will stand,

When rolling years shall cease to move. b

THE SAME.

I

GREATEST of beings, source of life,
Sov'reign of air, and earth, and sea!
All nature feels thy pow'r; and all
A silent homage pay to thee.

II

Rais'd by thy hand, the morning sun
Pours forth to thee its earlier rays,
And spreads thy glories as it climbs ;
While raptur'd worlds look up and praise.

III

The moon, to the deep shades of night, Speaks the mild lustre of thy name; While all the stars, that cheer the scene, Thee, the great LORD of light, proclaim.

IV

And groves, and vales, and rocks, and hills,
And ev'ry flow'r, and ev'ry tree;
Millions of creatures warm with life,
Have each a grateful song to thee.

But man was form'd to rise to heav'n;
And, blest with reason's clearer light,
He, through his works, his maker views,
And glows with rapture at the sight.

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