d Wonders of grace to God belong; Repeat his mercies in your song.)
e 6 (He saw the Gentiles dead in sin, And felt his pity work within;
d His mercies ever shall endure,
When death and sin shall reign no more.)
o 7 He sent his Son with power to save,
From guilt, and darkness, and the grave;
d Wonders of grace to God belong;
Repeat his mercies in your song.
-8 Through this vain world he guides our feet, And leads us to his heavenly seat:
d His mercies ever shall endure,
When this vain world shall be no more
PSALM 138. L. M. Quercy. [*]
Restoring and Preserving Grace.
ITH all my powers of heart and tongue, I'll praise my Maker in my song; Angels shall hear the notes I raise,
Approve the song, and join the praise.
e 2 Angels, who make the church their care,
Shall witness my devotion there;
While holy zeal directs my eyes
To thy fair temple in the skies.
-3 I'll sing thy truth and mercy, Lord;
I'll sing the wonders of thy word;
Not all the works and names below,
So much thy power and glory show.
e 4 [To God I cried when troubles rose :
He heard me and subdued my foes:
o He did my rising fears control,
And strength diffused through all my soul. g 5 The God of heaven maintains his state, Frowns on the proud, and scorns the great: e But from his throne descends to see
The sons of humble poverty.]
e 6 Amidst a thousand snares I stand,
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
-Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive
07 Grace will complete what grace begins,
To save from sorrow or from sins;
The work that wisdom undertakes,
Eternal mercy ne'er forsakes.
PSALM 139. L. M. 1ST PT. Bath. Geneva.[*]
The All-seeing God.
LORD, thou hast searched and seen me through;
Thine eye commands, with piercing view,
My rising and my resting hours,
My heart and flesh with all their powers.
2 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.
p 3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand :
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
4 [Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.
5 "O may these thoughts possess my breast,
"Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!
"Nor let my weaker passions dare
"Consent to sin; for God is there."
6 Could I so false, so faithless prove,
To quit thy service and thy love;
Where, Lord, could I thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?]
-7 If up to heaven I take my flight,
"Tis there thou dwell'st enthroned in light;
a Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
-8 If, mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the Western sea;
o Thy swifter hand would first arrive,
And there arrest thy fugitive.
-9 Or should I try to shun thy sight,
Beneath the spreading veil of night;
One glance of thine, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darkness into day.
e 10 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin; for God is there!
11 [The veil of night is no disguise ;-
No screen from thy all-searching eyes:
Thy hand can seize thy foes as soon,
Through midnight shades, as blazing noon.
12 Midnight and noon in this agree,-
Great God, they're both alike to thee:
Not death can hide what God will spy;
And hell lies naked to his eye.
13 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er 1 rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin; for God is there!]
L. M. SECOND PART. Portugal. [*]
The wonderful Formation of Man.
"Twork of such a curious frame
WAS from thy hand, my God, I came.
In me thy fearful wonders shine,
And each proclaims thy skill divine.
2 Thine eyes did all my limbs survey,
Which yet in dark confusion lay;
Thou saw'st the daily growth they took,
Formed by the model of thy book.
3 [By thee my growing parts were named,
And what thy sovereign counsel framed,
(The breathing lungs, the beating heart,)
Was copied with unerring art.]
4 At last to show my Maker's name,
God stamped his image on my frame!
And in some unknown moment joined
The finished members to the mind.
5 [There the young seeds of thought began,
And all the passions of the man :
Great God, our infant nature pays
Immortal tribute to thy praise.]
6 Lord, since, in my advancing age, I've acted on life's busy stage,
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.
7 I could survey the ocean o'er,
And count each sand that makes the shore,
Before my swiftest thoughts could trace
The numerous wonders of thy grace.
8 These on my heart are still impressed;
With these I give my eyes to rest;
And at my waking hour I find
God and his love possess my mind.
L. M. THIRD PART. Bath. [*]
Sincerity professed, and Grace tried.
''M' when impious men transgress thy will!
God, what inward grief I feel,
I mourn to hear their lips profane
Take thy tremendous name in vain.
2 Does not my soul detest and hate
The sons of malice and deceit?
Those that oppose thy laws and thee,
I count them enemies to me.
e 3 Lord, search my soul, try every thought:
Though my own heart accuse me not
Of walking in a false disguise,
I beg the trial of thine eyes.
4 Doth secret mischief lurk within? Do I indulge some unknown sin? -O turn my feet, whene'er I stray, And lead me in thy perfect way.]
C. M. FIRST PART. Wantage. [b]
God's Omnipresence and Omniscience.
all vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest;
My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.
-3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they're formed within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean
4 O wondrous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature hide!
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.
o 5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.
a 6 Lord, where shall guilty souls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?
In hell they meet thy dreadful fire,-
In heaven thy glorious throne.
e 7 Should I suppress my vital breath,
To 'scape the wrath divine;
o Thy voice could break the bars of death, And make the grave resign.
-8 If, winged with beams of morning light,
I fly beyond the West;
Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.
9 If o'er my sins I think to draw
The curtains of the night;
o Those flaming eyes that guard thy law,
Would turn the shades to light.
g 10 The beams of noon, the midnight hour, Are both alike to thee:
e O may I ne'er provoke that Power, From which I cannot flee.
C. M. SECOND PART. Colchester. [*]
Wisdom of God in the Formation of Man.
W And all my frame survey,
THEN I, with pleasing wonder, stand,
Lord, 'tis thy work! I own thy hand
Thus built my humble clay.
2 Thy hand my heart and reins possessed,
Where unborn nature grew;
Thy wisdom all my features traced,
And all my members drew.
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