115. L. M.

ASPLAND'S COLLECTION.

To the One God.

1.

ALMIGHTY Father of mankind,
Jehovah, self-existent Lord,
Supreme and universal Mind,
The only God, be thou adored.

2.

From everlasting thou hast been,
To everlasting thou shalt be:
No change, no cloud can intervene
To shade thy peerless majesty.

3.

One nature and one being thou,
Sole First Great Cause, we humbly own;
To thee alone we pay the vow,
And bend in homage round thy throne.

4.

Father of Christ, and Israel's God,
Thy name assert, thy praise restore;
Nor rivals dare thy dread abode,
Nor creatures creature-power adore.

5.

On eagle wing send truth abroad,
Angel of peace to every clime!

Let Christian lands vouch thee their God,
The heathen raise thy praise sublime.

116. P. M.

MILTON.

The perfections and providence of God.

1.

LET us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind :
For his mercies shall endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

2.

Let us sound his name abroad,
For of gods he is the God;

Who by wisdom did create

The painted heavens so full of state:

3.

Did the solid earth ordain

How to rise above the main :

Who by his commanding might
Fill'd the new-made world with light;

4.

Caused the golden-tressed sun
All the day his course to run;
And the moon to shine by night
Mid her spangled sisters bright.

5.

All his creatures God doth feed;
His full hand supplies their need :
Let us therefore warble forth
His high majesty and worth.

6.

He his mansion hath on high,
Above reach of mortal eye:
And his mercies shall endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.

117. C. M. WATTS.

The perfections and providence of God.

1.

WE sing the almighty power of God,
Who bade the mountains rise;
Who spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.

2.

We sing the wisdom that ordain'd
The sun to rule the day;

The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.

3.

We sing the goodness of the Lord,
Who fills the earth with food;
Who form'd the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.

4.

Lord, how thy wonders are display'd
Where'er we turn our eyes;
If we survey the ground we tread,
Or gaze upon the skies!

5.

There's not a plant or flower below
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.

6.

Thy hand is our perpetual guard;
We live beneath thine eye:

O may we ne'er forget the Lord,
Who is for ever nigh!

The blessings of the year, the gift of pro

vidence.

1.

THE morn and eve thy praise resound,
Lord, as they walk the ethereal round;
Thy visits teach the grateful soil
To recompense the labourer's toil.

2.

By unexhausted springs supplied
The river pours its copious tide,
A thousand streams in sportive play
Through the rich meadows wind their way.

3.

The clouds in frequent showers distill'd Drop fatness on the fruitful field,

Break the rough glebe, the furrows cheer, And crown with good the smiling year.

4.

The pastures of the extended waste
Thy gifts in rich profusion taste;
The hills around exulting stand,
And show the bounty of thy hand.

5.

Cherish'd at length by lenient skies,
Herbage and corn luxuriant rise;
The laughing vale assumes a tongue
And bursts triumphant into song.

119. C. M.

WATTS.

Providence acknowledged in the seasons.

1.

WITH Songs and honours sounding loud Address the Lord on high;

Over the heavens he spreads his cloud, And waters veil the sky.

2.

He sends his showers of blessings down To cheer the plains below;

He makes the grass the mountains crown, And corn in valleys grow.

3.

His steady counsels change the face

Of the declining year;

He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.

4.

His hoary frost, his fleecy snow,
Descend and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.

5.

He sends his word, and melts the snow;
The fields no longer mourn:
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.

6.

The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word:

With songs and honours sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.