126.

7s M.

*RYLAND.

All our Times in God's Hand.

1 SOVEREIGN Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise!
All my times are in thy hand,
All events at thy command.

2 Thou didst form me by thy power;
Thou wilt guide me hour by hour;
All my times shall ever be
Ordered by thy wise decree.

1

3 Times of sickness. times of health;
Times of penury and wealth;
Times of trial and of grief;
Times of triumph and relief;

4 Times temptation's power to prove;
Times to taste a Savior's love;-
All is fixed, the means and end,
As shall please my heavenly Friend.
5 0 thou gracious, wise, and just!
In thy hands my life I trust.
Have I aught that's dearer still?
I resign it to thy will.

127.

C. M.

Divine Providence.

SCOTT.

1 GOD reigns;-events in order flow
Man's industry to guide;

But in a different channel go
To humble human pride.

2 The swift not always in the race
Shall win the crowning prize;
Not always wealth and honor grace
The labors of the wise.

3 Fond mortals do themselves beguile
When on themselves they rest;
Blind is their wisdom, vain their toil,
By thee, O Lord, unblest.

4 'Tis ours the furrows to prepare,
And sow the precious grain;
'Tis thine to give the sun and air,
And to command the rain.

5 Evil and good before thee stand
Their mission to perform;

The sun shines bright at thy command;
Thy hand directs the storm.

6 In all thy ways we humbly own
Thy providential power;
Entrusted to thy care alone,
The lot of every hour.

1

128.

L. M.

ANONYMOUS.

Providence Mysterious.

1 THY ways, O Lord, with wise design,
Are framed upon thy throne above,
And every dark or bending line
Meets in the centre of thy love.

2 With feeble light, and half obscure,
Poor mortals thine arrangements view,
Not knowing that the least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.

3 Thy flock, thine own peculiar care,
Though now they seem to roam uneyed,
Are led or driven only where

They best and safest may abide.

4 They neither know nor trace the way; But, trusting to thy piercing eye,

None of their feet to ruin stray,
Nor shall the weakest fail or die.

5 My favored soul shall meekly learn
To lay her reason at thy throne;
Too weak thy secrets to discern,
I'll trust thee for my guide alone.

129.

C. M.

BEDDOME.

The Same.

1 GREAT God of providence! thy ways
Are hid from mortal sight
Wrapt in impenetrable shades,
Or clothed with dazzling light.

2 The wondrous methods of thy grace
Evade the human eye;

The nearer we attempt t' approach,
The farther off they fly.

3 But in the world of bliss above,
Where thou dost ever reign,

These myst'ries shall be all unveiled,
And not a doubt remain.

4 The Sun of righteousness shall there
His brightest beams display,
And not a hovering cloud obscure
That never-ending day.

1 GOD moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

COWPER.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take:
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace:
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;-
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

131.

L. M.

ANONYMOUS.

Providence Kind and Sure.

1 THROUGH all the various passing scene
Of life's mistaken ill or good,

Thy hand, O God! conducts unseen
The beautiful vicissitude.

2 Thou givest, with paternal care,
Howe'er unjustly we complain,
To each their necessary share
Of joy and sorrow, health and pain.

3 When lowest sunk with grief and shame,
Filled with affliction's bitter cup,
Lost to relations, friends, and fame,
Thy powerful hand can raise us up.

4 Thy powerful consolations cheer,
Thy smiles suppress the deep-fetched sigh,
Thy hand can dry the trickling tear
That silent dims the widow's eye.

5 All things on earth, and all in heaven,
On thy eternal will depend;

And all for greater good were given,
And all shall in thy glory end.
6 This be my care- to all beside
Indifferent let my wishes be,·

'Passion be calm, and dumb be pride,
And fixed, O God, my soul on thee.'

Providence Unsearchable.

FAWCETT.

1 THY way, O God! is in the sea;
Thy paths I cannot trace,
Nor comprehend the mystery
Of thy unbounded grace.

2 Here the dark veils of flesh and sense
My captive soul surround;
Mysterious deeps of providence
My wandering thoughts confound.

3 When I behold thy awful hand
My earthly hopes destroy,
In deep astonishment I stand,
And ask the reason why.

4 As through a glass, I dimly see
The wonders of thy love:
How little do I know of thee,
Or of the joys above!

5 'Tis but in part I know thy will:
I bless thee for the sight.

When will thy love the rest reveal
In glory's clearer light?