4 Dear Lord, had we ten thousand tongues,
And notes beyond the angels' songs;
Still we should fail, nor could make known
The nameless mercies of thy throne.
HOU, who sitt'st enthron'd above! Thou, in whom we live and move! Thou, who art most great, most high! God, from all eternity!
2 O, how sweet, how excellent,
'Tis when tongue and heart consent,
Grateful hearts and joyful tongues,
Hymning thee in tuneful songs!
3 When the morning paints the skies,
When the stars of ev'ning rise,
We thy praises will record,
Sov'reign Ruler! mighty Lord!
4 Decks the spring with flow'rs the field?
Harvest rich doth autumn yield?
Giver of all good below!
Lord, from thee these blessings flow.
5 Sov'reign Ruler! mighty Lord!
We thy praises will record:
Giver of these blessings! we
Pour the grateful song to thee.
The Seasons ordained by God.
THE rolling year, Almighty Lord!
Obeys thy powerful nod;
Each season, as it silent moves,
Declares the present God.
2 Wak'd by thy voice, out steps the spring,
In living green new drest;
On hills, in vales, thro' fields and groves,
Thy beauties stand confest.
3 The sun calls forth his summer months,
Nor do the hours delay;
The fruits with varied colours glow
Beneath his rip'ning ray.
4 Thy bounty, Lord! in autumn shines,
And spreads a common feast;
He that regards his fav'rite, man,
Will not neglect the beast.
5 When winter rears his hoary head,
And shows his furrow'd brow,
In storms and tempests, frosts and snows,
How awful, Lord, art thou!
6 The rolling year, Almighty Lord!
Obeys thy pow'rful nod;
Each season, as it silent moves,
Declares the present God.
HYMN 189.
THE rising morn, the closing day,
Repeat thy praise with grateful voice;
Both in their turns thy power display,
And laden with thy gifts rejoice.
2 Earth's wide-extended, varying scenes,
All smiling round, thy bounty show;
From seas or clouds, full magazines,
Thy rich diffusive blessings flow.
3 Now earth receives the precious seed,
Which thy indulgent hand prepares;
And nourishes the future bread,
And answers all the sower's cares
4 Thy sweet refreshing show'rs attend,
And through the ridges gently flow,
Soft on the springing corn descend; And thy kind blessing makes it grow. 5 Thy goodness crowns the circling year, Thy paths drop fatness all around; Ev'n barren wilds thy praise declare,. And echoing hills return the sound. 6 Here, spreading flocks adorn the plain; There, plenty ev'ry charm displays; Thy bounty clothes each lovely scene, And joyful nature shouts thy praise. MRS. STEELE. HYMN 190. L.M.
REAT God! at whose all-pow'rful call
At first arose this beauteous frame,
By thee the seasons change, and all
The changing seasons speak thy name.
2 Thy bounty bids the infant year,
From winter storms recover'd, rise;
When thousand grateful scenes appear,
Fresh op'ning to our wond'ring eyes.
3 O how delightful 'tis to see
The earth in vernal beauty drest!
While in each herb, and flow'r, and tree,
Thy blooming glories shine confest!
4 Aloft, full beaming, reigns the sun,
And light and genial heat conveys;
And, while he leads the seasons on,
From thee derives his quick'ning rays.
5 Around us, in the teeming field,
Stands the rich grain, or purpled vine ;*
At thy command they rise, to yield
The strength'ning bread, or cheering wine.
6 Indulgent God! from ev'ry part
Thy plenteous blessings largely flow;
We see we taste-let ev'ry heart
With grateful love and duty glow.
HYMN 191. Sevens Metre.
The Divine Majesty and Power.
ING, ye sons of might, O sing
Pow'r and strength to him assign,
Bow before his hallow'd shrine.
2 Hark! his voice in thunder breaks;
Hush'd to silence while he speaks,
Ocean's waves from pole to pole
Hear the awful accents roll.
3 Now the bursting clouds give way,
And the vivid lightnings play;
And the wilds, by man untrod,
Hear, dismay'd, th' approaching God.
4 He the swelling surge commands;
Fix'd his throne for ever stands ;
He his people shall increase,
And with safety crown, and peace.
HYMN 192. L. M.
The Glory of God.
NOD is a name my soul adores,
G Th' Almighty, the Eternal One ;
Nature and grace, with all their pow'rs,
Confess the Infinite Unknown.
2 Thy voice produc'd the seas and spheres,
Bade planets roll, and suns to shine :
But nothing like thyself appears
Through all these spacious works of thine.
3 Still restless nature dies and grows;
From change to change the creatures run:
Thy being no succession knows,
And all thy vast designs are one.
4 Thrones and dominions round thee fall,
And worship in submissive forms;
Thy presence shakes this lower ball,
This humble dwelling-place of worms.
The Condescension of God.
AMIDST the heav'nly pow'rs sublime
God's throne is fix'd on high;
And through eternity he hears
The praises of the sky.
2 Yet, looking down, he visits oft
The humble, hallow'd cell;
And with the penitent who mourns,
'Tis his delight to dwell:
3 The downcast spirit to revive,
The sorrowful to cheer;
And from the bed of dust, the man
Of contrite heart to rear.
4 With him dwells no relentless wrath
Against the human race :
The souls, which he has form'd, shall find
A refuge in his grace.
HYMN 194.
The Condescension of God to Human Affairs.
Tnd bows to see what angels do;
H' Almighty stoops to view the skies,
Yet down to earth directs his eyes,
And bends his footsteps' downwards too.
2 He over-rules all human things,
And manages our mean affairs;
On humble souls the King of kings
Bestows his counsels and his cares.
3 In vain might earthly monarchs try
Such condescending schemes to plan;
For man was never rais'd so high
Above his meanest fellow-man.
4 O could our thankful hearts devise
A tribute equal to thy grace,
To heav'n our grateful songs should rise,
And list'ning angels learn thy praise.
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