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5 And when these lips shall cease to move,
When death shall close these eyes,
My soul shall then to nobler heights
Of joy and transport rise.

6 My powers shall then, in lofty strains,
Their grateful tribute pay;

The theme demands an angel's tongue,
An everlasting day.

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1 LET every creature join

To praise th' eternal God;
Ye heavenly hosts, the song begin,
And sound his name abroad.

2 Thou sun with golden beams,
And moon with paler rays,
Ye starry lights, ye twinkling flames,
Shine to your Maker's praise.

3 He built those worlds above,

And fixed their wondrous frame;
By his command they stand or move
And ever speak his name.

4 By all his works above

145.

His honors be expressed;

But saints that taste his saving love
Should sing his praises best.

S. M.

God our constant Benefactor.

1 MY Maker and my King,
To thee my all I owe :

Thy sovereign bounty is the spring
Whence all my blessings flow.

2 Thou ever good and kind,
A thousand reasons move,

WATTS.

STEELE.

A thousand obligations bind,
My heart to grateful love.
3 The creature of thy hand,
On thee alone I live :
My God, thy benefits demand.
More praise than tongue can give.

4 O, let thy grace inspire

146.

My soul with strength divine;
Let all my powers to thee aspire,
And all my days be thine.

L. M.

God's Mercies above all Return.

DODDRIDGE.

1 IN glad amazement, Lord, I stand,
Amidst the bounties of thy hand :
How numberless those bounties are !
How rich, how various, and how fair!
2 But, O, what poor returns I make !
What lifeless thanks I pay thee back!
Lord, I confess, with humble shame,
My offerings scarce deserve the name.
3 Fain would my laboring heart devise
To bring some nobler sacrifice;
It sinks beneath the mighty load,
"What shall I render to my God?"
4 To him I consecrate my praise,
And vow the remnant of my days;
Yet what, at best, can I pretend
Worthy such gifts from such a Friend!
5 In deep abasement, Lord, I see
My emptiness and poverty:

Enrich my soul with grace divine,
And make me worthier to be thine.

6 Give me, at length, an angel's tongue,
That heaven may echo with my song :

The theme, too great for time, shall be
The joy of long eternity.

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Praise from the Works of God.

1 GREATEST of beings! Source of life, Sovereign of air, and earth, and sea! All nature feels thy power, and all

A silent homage pays to thee.

2 Waked by thy hand, the morning sun Pours forth to thee its earlier rays, And spreads thy glories as it climbs ;

DYER.

While raptured worlds look up and praise. 3 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. 4 And groves, and vales, and rocks, and hills, And every flower, and every tree, Ten thousand creatures warm with life, Have each a grateful song for thee. 5 But man was formed to rise to heaven : And, blest with reason's clearer light, He views his Maker through his works, And glows with rapture at the sight. 6 Nor can the thousand songs that rise, Whether from air, or earth, or sea, So well repeat Jehovah's praise,

Or raise such sacred harmony.

148.

10 & 11s. M.

Thanksgiving and Praise.

PARK.

MY soul, praise the Lord, speak good of his name!
His mercies record, his bounties proclaim :
To God, their creator, let all creatures raise
The song of thanksgiving, the chorus of praise!

2 Though hid from man's sight, God sits on his throne, Yet here by his works their author is known: The world shines a mirror its Maker to show, And heaven views its image reflected below. 3 By knowledge supreme, by wisdom divine, God governs this earth with gracious design; O'er beast, bird, and insect, his providence reigns, Whose will first created, whose love still sustains. 4 And man, his last work, with reason endued, Who, falling through sin, by grace is renewed; To God, his creator, let man ever raise The song of thanksgiving, the chorus of praise! 149.

L. M.

Goodness of God.

MRS. FOLLEN.

1 GOD, thou art good! each perfumed flower,
The waving field, the dark green wood,

The insect fluttering for an hour,-
All things proclaim that God is good.

2 I hear it in each breath of wind;

The hills that have for ages stood,
And clouds with gold and silver lined,
All still repeat that God is good.
3 Each little rill, that many a year

Has the same verdant path pursued,
And every bird, in accents clear,
Joins in the song that God is good.
4 The countless hosts of twinkling stars,
That sing his praise with light renewed;
The rising sun each day declares,
In rays of glory, God is good.

5 The moon, that walks in brightness, says
That God is good! and man, endued
With power to speak his Maker's praise,
Should still repeat that God is good.

150.

L. M.

Song of Gratitude and Praise.

Doddridge.

1 GOD of my life, through all my days
I'll tune the grateful notes of praise;
The song shall wake with opening light,
And warble to the silent night.

2 When anxious care would break my rest,
And grief would tear my throbbing breast,
The notes of praise, ascending high,
Shall check the murmur and the sigh.
3 When death o'er nature shall prevail,
And all the powers of language fail,
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break,
And mean the thanks I cannot speak.

4 But, O, when that last conflict 's o'er,
And I am chained to earth no more,
With what glad accents shall I rise,
To join the music of the skies!

5 Then shall I learn th' exalted strains
That echo through the heavenly plains,
And emulate, with joy unknown,
The glowing seraphs round thy throne.

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1 GREAT God! in vain man's narrow view
Attempts to look thy nature through ;
Our laboring powers with reverence own
Thy glories never can be known.

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