5.

O Lord, our heavenly King,
Thy name is all divine:

Thy glories round the earth are spread,
And o'er the heavens they shine.

GREAT first of beings! mighty Lord
Of all this mighty frame!
Produced by thy creating word,
The world from nothing came.

2.

Thy voice sent forth the high command: "Twas instantly obey'd;

And for thy pleasure all things stand,
Which by thy power were made.

3.

Thy glories shine throughout the whole,
Each part reflects thy light;
For thee in course the planets roll,
And day succeeds to night.

4.

For thee the sun dispenses heat,
And beams of cheering light;
The distant stars in order set

Break through the shades of night.

5.

For thee the earth its produce yields,
For thee the waters flow;

And plants and trees adorn the fields,
And ALL thy goodness show.

6.

Let us too, Lord, with zeal pursue
This wise and noble end,
That all we think and all we do
May to thy glory tend.

RISE, rise, my soul, and leave the ground;
Stretch all thy thoughts abroad,
And call forth every tuneful sound,
To praise the eternal God.

2.

Long ere the lofty skies were spread,
Jehovah fill'd his throne;

Ere men were form'd, or angels made,
The Maker lived alone.

3.

His boundless years can ne'er decrease, But still maintain their prime : Eternity's his dwelling-place,

And Ever is his time.

4.

While like a tide our minutes flow,
The present and the past,
He fills his own immortal Now,
And sees our ages waste.

5.

The seas and skies must perish too,
And vast destruction come;

The creatures, look, how old they grow,
And wait their fiery doom!

6.

Well, let the sea shrink all away,
And flame melt down the skies;
My God shall live an endless day,
When this creation dies.

164. L. M.

Nature perishable, God eternal.

1.

MOONS, planets, suns that swim the sky,
Shine to the praise of God most high :
Their lasting lustre he has given
To all the moving host of heaven.

2.

Yet even stars shall cease to burn,
And to primæval night return;
Systems of worlds themselves decay,
To him the insects of a day.

3.

But he remains: and he shall give
The extinguisht elements to live;
Bid them in new creation roll,
And still extend the peopled whole.

165. L. M. WATTS.

To the almighty and unchangeable Creator.

1.

WITH holy fear, with humble song,
The mighty God, our souls, adore;
Reverence and awe become the tongue
That speaks the wonders of his power.

2.

He spake the wondrous word: and lo,
Creation rose at his command;

The rolling orbs their limits know,
Guided by his almighty hand.

3.

Nature with open volume stands,
To spread her Maker's praise abroad;
On every labour of his hands
Is stampt the image of a God.

4.

The tide of creatures ebbs and flows,
Measuring their changes by the moon ;
No ebb his sea of glory knows,
His age is one eternal noon.

5.

Proclaim his praise, ye powers on high, His praise let every region hear;

And while his name sounds thro' the sky, Let humble mortals bow and fear.

THROUGH endless years thou art the same,
O thou eternal God!
Ages to come shall know thy name,
And tell thy works abroad.

2.

The strong foundations of the earth
Of old by thee were laid;

By thee the beauteous arch of heaven
With matchless skill was made.

3.

Soon shall this goodly frame of things,
Form'd by thy powerful hand,
Be, like a vesture, laid aside,
And changed at thy command.

4.

But thy perfections, all divine,
Eternal as thy days,

Through everlasting ages shine
With undiminisht rays.

5.

Thy servants' children, still thy care,
Shall own their fathers' God,
To latest times thy favour share,
And spread thy praise abroad.

167. c. M.

STERNHOLD.

The majesty of God.

1.

THE Lord descended from above,
And bow'd the heavens most high,.
And underneath his feet he cast
The darkness of the sky.

2.

On cherub and on cherubim

Full royally he rode,

And on the wings of mighty winds

Came flying all abroad.

3.

He sat serene upon the floods,

Their fury to restrain;

And he, as sovereign Lord and King, For evermore shall reign.