He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his great designs,
And works his sovereign will.
3 Ye fearful saints! fresh courage take:
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and will 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.
HYMN 109. L. M.
Faith in God in the Darkness of Providence.
1 LORD! we adore thy vast designs, Th' obscure abyss of providence,
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to view with feeble sense.
2 Now clouds obscure thine awful face,
And gathering darkness veils thy smile,
Yet through the clouds we see thy grace,
And trust in thy compassion still.
3 Through every scene of deep distress,
We walk by faith and not by sight;
Faith guides us in the wilderness,
And cheers the gloom of darkest night.
4 FATHER! if thou with lifted rod
Resolve to scourge us here below,
Still may we lean on thee, our God,
And may thine arm support us through.
Confidence in the Divine Government.
1 GIVE to the winds thy fears;
Hope and be undismayed;
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears,
He shall lift up thy head.
2 Through waves, and clouds, and storms
He gently clears thy way;
Wait thou his time, so shall this night
Soon end in joyous day.
3 What though thou rulest not;
Yet heaven, and earth, and hell
Proclaim, God sitteth on the throne,
And ruleth all things well.
4 Thou seest our weakness, Lord;
Our hearts are known to thee;
O lift thou up the sinking head,
Confirm the feeble knee.
5 To each thou dost divide
His lot of good and ill;
Nor this too great, nor that too small,
Ordained by heaven's high will.
6 Let man conform his mind
To every changing state;
Rejoicing now, and now resigned,
And the great issue wait.
7 Hopeful and humble take
Thy evil and thy good;
Nor by presumption nor despair,
Weak mortal, be subdued.
The Vicissitudes of Providence.
1 THE gifts, indulgent heaven bestows, Are variously conveyed;
The human mind, like nature, knows
Alternate light and shade.
2 While changing aspects all things wear,
Can we expect to find
Unclouded sunshine all the year,
Or constant peace of mind?
3 More gaily smiles the blooming spring,
When wintry storms are o'er ;
Retreating sorrow thus may bring
Delights unknown before.
4 Then, Christian! send thy fears away,
Nor sink in gloomy care;
Though clouds o'erspread the scene to day,
To-morrow may be fair.
God the Protector of Innocence. Ps. x.
1 WHAT eye like thine, Eternal Sire!
Through sin's obscurest depths inquire?
What hand, like thine, on virtue's foes
The needful judgments can impose?
2 The meek observer of thy laws
To thee commits his injured cause:
In thee, each anxious fear resigned,
The fatherless a father find.
3 Thine is the throne; beneath thy reign,
Thou sovereign King! the tribes profane
Behold their dreams of conquest o'er,
And vanish, to be seen no more.
4 'Tis thine the orphan's cheek to dry, The guiltless sufferer's cause to try; To rein each earth-born tyrant's will, And bid the sons of pride be still.
"God is our Refuge and Strength." Ps. xlvi.
1 ON God supreme our hope depends,
Whose omnipresent sight
E'en to the pathless realms extends
Of uncreated night.
2 Plunged in th' abyss of deep distress,
To him we raised our cry;
His mercy made our sorrows cease,
And filled our tongues with joy.
3 Though earth her ancient seat forsake, By pangs convulsive torn,
Though her self-balanced fabric shake,
And ruined nature mourn;
4 Though hills be in the occan lost,
With all their trembling load;
No fear shall e'er disturb the just,
Or shake his trust in God.
5 Nations remote and realms unknown In vain resist his sway;
For lo! Jehovah's voice is shown,
And earth shall melt away.
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