Burst into praise, my soul; all nature, join; Angels and men, in harmony combine; While human years are measured by the
And while eternity its course shall run, His goodness in perpetual showers descending,
Exalt in songs and raptures never ending.
LORD, thou art good; all nature shows
Its mighty maker kind;
Thy bounty through creation flows
Full, free, and unconfined.
The whole and every part proclaims
Unlimited good-will;
It shines in stars and flows in streams,
And broods on every hill.
It spreads through all the spreading main,
And heavens, which spread more wide;
It drops in every shower of rain,
And rolls on every tide.
Through the vast whole it pours supplies,
Spreads joy through every part:
Lord, let such love attract mine eyes,
And captivate my heart.
High admiration let it raise,
And kind affections move;
Employ my tongue in songs of praise,
And fill my soul with love.
TRIUMPHANT, Lord, thy goodness reigns
Through all the wide cœlestial plains,
And its full streams redundant flow
Down to the abodes of men below.
Through nature's works its glories shine:
The cares of providence are thine:
And thou hast raised within our frame
A fairer temple to thy name.
O give to every human heart
To taste and feel how good thou art;
With grateful love and reverent fear
To know how blest thy children are.
Let nature burst into a song:
Ye echoing hills, the notes prolong: Earth, seas, and stars, your anthems raise, All vocal with your Maker's praise.
Ye saints, with joy the theme pursue:
Its sweetest notes belong to you,
Chosen by heaven's almighty King
For ever round his throne to sing.
THE Lord, how wondrous are his ways!
How firm his truth, how large his grace!
He takes his mercy for his throne,
And thence he makes his glories known.
Not half so high his power hath spread
The starry heavens above our head,
As his rich love exceeds our praise,
Exceeds the highest hopes we raise.
Not half so far hath nature placed
The rising morning from the west,
As his forgiving grace removes
The guilt of those whom he approves.
The mighty God, the wise and just, Knows that our frame is feeble dust, And will no heavy loads impose Beyond the strength which he bestows.
He knows how soon our nature dies,
Blasted by every wind that flies;
Like grass we spring, and die as soon,
Or morning flowers that fade at noon.
But his eternal love is sure
To all the saints, and shall endure :
From age to age his truth shall reign,
Nor children's children hope in vain.
WHEN mercy is the theme,
Who shall refuse to sing?
Angels with ceaseless song proclaim
Heaven's gracious King.
O could we catch the strain
That swells their golden wires,
And, feebly, back reflect again
Their sacred fires!
It held its holy place
In the Creator's breast
Long ere the guilty human race
Its power confess'd:
When o'er the lawless earth
Vice like a tempest drove,
When monstrous sin sprang forth to birth,
Yet mercy strove.
When Judah dared rebel, How soft compassion spoke! "Why will ye die, O Israel?" Why God provoke?
He asks no sacrifice,
But hearts made pure and clean, Set free from galling chains of vice, And hating sin.
Free as the almighty will,
No bound his mercy knows,
Demands no aid to reconcile,
But freely flows.
The wounded contrite soul,
Which hates its follies past,
And seeks religion's grave controul,
Sweet peace shall taste.
'Tis mercy calls: awake each grateful string;
Resound the praises of our heavenly King;
In strains of joy proclaim abroad
The boundless mercy of our God,
The mercies shown us from above,
The wonders of redeeming love:
Come, let us in one sacred chorus join,
Till our united voices reach the seats divine.
The Lord, though seated far beyond the sky,
Yet sees the wretched with a pitying eye;
His eye beholds each anxious care,
The lonely sigh, the silent tear:
He sees the widow's streaming eye,
And hears the hungry orphan's cry:
Depending worlds his sacred bounty share,
All creatures find a part of their Creator's
Hear this, ye pious but dejected minds, Whom error darkens or whom weakness blinds;
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