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 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.

38.

C. M. BEDDOME.

Providence and Grace unsearchable.

1 ALMIGHTY God, thy wondrous works Of providence and grace,

An angel's perfect mind exceed,
And all our pride abase.

2 Stupendous heights! amazing depths! Creatures in vain explore;

Or if a transient glimpse we gain,
"Tis faint, and quickly o'er.

3 Though all thy mysteries lie concealed Beyond what we can see,

Grant us the knowledge of ourselves,
The knowledge, Lord, of thee.

39.

C. M. J. TAYLOR.

Trust in God through all changes.

1 FATHER divine! before thy view,
All worlds, all creatures lie;
No distance can elude thy search,
No action 'scape thine eye.

From thee our vital breath we drew;
Our childhood was thy care;

And vigorous youth and feeble age
Thy kind protection share.

3 What'er we do, where'er we turn,
Thy ceaseless bounty flows;

Oppressed with wo, when nature faints,
Thine arm is our repose.

4 To thee we look, thou Power Supreme
O still our wants supply!

Safe in thy presence may we live,
And in thy favour die.

40.

L. M. DODDRIDGE.

Providential Bounties improved.

1 FATHER of lights! we sing thy name, Who kindlest up the lamp of day; Wide as he spreads his golden flame, His beams thy power and love display. 2 Fountain of good! from thee proceed The copious drops of genial rain,

Which o'er the hill and through the mead, Revive the grass, and swell the grain.

3 Through the wide world thy bounties spread; Yet millions of our guilty race,

Though by thy daily bounty fed,
Affront thy law, and spurn thy grace.
4 Not so may our forgetful hearts
O'erlook the tokens of thy care;
But what thy liberal hand imparts,
Still own in praise, still ask in prayer.
5 So shall our suns more grateful shine,
And showers in sweeter drops shall fall,
When all our hearts and lives are thine,
And thou, O God! enjoyed in all.

41.

L. M. WESLEY'S COL.

Deliverances acknowledged.

1 GOD of our life, whose gracious power
Through varied deaths our souls hath led,
Or turned aside the fatal hour,
Or lifted up our sinking head!

2 In all our ways thy hand we own,
Thy ruling providence we see:

L

Assist us still our course to run,
And still direct our paths to thee.
3 Whither, O! whither should we fly,
But to our loving Father's breast,
Secure within thine arms to lie,

And safe beneath thy wings to rest?
4 We have no skill the snare to shun,
But thou, O God, our wisdom art;
We ever into ruin run;

But thou art greater than each heart.
5 Foolish and impotent and blind,
Lead us a way we have not known;
Bring us where we our heaven may find,
The heaven of loving thee alone.

42.

L. M. BROWNE.

Dependence on Providence.

1 GREAT Lord of earth, and seas, and skies. Thy wealth the needy world supplies: And safe beneath thy guardian arm, We live secured from every harm. 2 To thee perpetual thanks we owe For all our comforts here below; Our daily bread thy bounty gives, And every rising want relieves. 3 To thee we cheerful homage bring; In grateful hymns thy praises sing; On thee we ever will depend,

The rich, the sure, the faithful friend.

43.

C. P. M. EXETER COL.

Providential Goodness of God.

1 GREAT source of unexhausted good,
Who giv'st us health, and friends, and food,
And peace, and calm content,
Like fragrant incense, to the skies,
Let songs of grateful praises rise,
For all thy blessings lent.

2 Through all the dangers of the day,
Thy providence attends our way,
To guard us and to guide;

Thy grace directs our wandering will,
And warns us, lest seducing ill

Allure our souls aside.

3 Thy smiles, with a reviving light,
Cheer the long darksome hours of night,
And gild the thickest gloom;
Thy watchful love, around our bed,
Doth softly like a curtain spread,
And guard the peaceful room.

4 To thee our lives, our all we owe,
Our peace and sweetest joys below,
And brightest hopes above;

Then let our lives, and all that's ours,
Our souls, and all our active powers,
Be sacred to thy love.

44.

C. M. WEST BOSTON COL.

God just and wise in afflictive Appointments.
1 IF Providence, to try our hearts,
Afflictions should prepare,
To God submissive may we bend,
And keep us from despair.

2 Whate'er he orders must be just;
Then let us kiss the rod,
Nor, poorly sunk, at all distrust
The goodness of our God.

3 The mind to which we owe our own,
To guide our mind is wise;

And he, to whom our faults are known,
The fittest to chastise.

4 Then, till life's latest sands are run,
O teach us, Power Divine,

Still to reply, thy will be done,
Not our will, Lord, but thine.

45.

C. M. DODDRIDGE.

Divine Goodness in moderating Affliction.

1 GREAT Ruler of all nature's frame,
We own thy power divine;

We hear thy breath in every storm,
For all the winds are thine.

2 Wide as they sweep their sounding way,
They work thy sovereign will;

And, awed by thy majestic voice,
Confusion shall be still.

3 Thy mercy tempers every blast
To those who seek thy face;
And mingles, with the tempest's roar,
The whispers of thy grace.

4 Those gentle whispers let us hear,
Till all the tumult cease;

And gales of Paradise shall lull
Our weary souls to peace.

46.

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

The Divine Presence and Help.

1 AND art thou with us, gracious Lord,
To dissipate our fear?

Dost thou proclaim thyself our God,
Our God for ever near?

2 Doth thy right hand, which formed the earth,
And bears up all the skies,
Stretch from on high its friendly aid,
When dangers round us rise?

3 On this support our souls shall lean,
And banish every care;

The gloomy vale of death will smile,
If God be with us there.

4 While we his gracious succour prove,
'Midst all our various ways,

The darkest shades through which we pass,
Shall echo with his praise.

47.

L. M. WATTS.

Darkness of Providence.

1 LORD, we adore thy vast designs,
The obscure abyss of providence!
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to view with feeble sense.

2 Through seas and storms of deep distress
We sail by faith and not by sight;
Faith guides us in the wilderness,
Through all the terrors of the night.
3 Dear Father, if thy lifted rod
Resolve to scourge us here below;
Still let us lean upon our God;
Thine arm shall, bear us safely through.