The Majesty of God.
́E weak inhabitants of clay,
Ye triffing insects of a day,
Low in your native dust bow down
Before th' Eternal's awful throne.
2 Loud let ten thousand trumpets sound,
And call remotest nations round:
Assembled on the crowded plains,
Princes and people, kings and swains.
3 Join'd with the living, let the dead
Rising, the face of earth o'erspread;
And, while his praise unites their tongues,
Let angels echo back the songs.
4 The drop that from the bucket falls,
The dust that hangs upon the scales,
Is more to sky, and earth, and sea,
Than all this pomp, great God! to thee.
Universal Presence of God.
Y heart and all my ways, O God!
By thee are search'd and seen;
My outward acts thine eye observes,
My secret thoughts within.
2 Attendant on my steps, all day
Thy providence I see:
And in the solitude of night
I'm present still with thee.
3 No spot the boundless realms of space,
Whence thou art absent, know;
In heaven thou reign'st a glorious King,
An awful Judge below.
4 Lord! if within my thoughtless heart Thou aught should'st disapprove, The secret evil bring to light,
And by thy grace remove.
5 If e'er my ways have been perverse,
Or foolish in thy view,
Recal my steps to thy commands,
And form my life anew.
God's Omniscience and Omnipresence.
NATHER of all! omniscient mind!
Thy wisdom who can comprehend?
Its highest point what eye can find,
Or to its lowest depths descend?
2 What cavern deep, what hill sublime,
Beyond thy reach, shall I pursue?
What dark recess, what distant clime,
Shall hide me from thy boundless view?
3 If up to heaven's ethereal height,
Thy prospect to elude, I rise;
In splendour there, supremely bright,
Thy presence shall my sight surprise.
4 Thee, mighty God! my wond'ring soul,
Thee, all her conscious pow'rs adore ;
Whose being circumscribes the whole,
Whose eyes the universe explore.
5 Thine essence fills this breathing frame,
It glows in every vital part;
Lights up my soul with livelier flame, And feeds with life my beating heart. 6 To thee, from whom my being came, Whose smile is all the heav'n I know. Inspir'd with this exalted theme,
To thee my grateful strains shall flow. BLACKLOCK.
HYMN 198. C. M.
The Ways of the Righteous known to God.
10 thee, my God! my days are known;
My soul enjoys the thought;
My actions all before thee lie,
Nor are my wants forgot.
2 Each secret wish devotion breathes
Is vocal to thine ear;
And all my walks of daily life
Before thine eye appear.
3 The vacant hour, the active scene,
Thy mercy shall approve;
And ev'ry pang of sympathy,
And ev'ry care of love.
4 Each golden hour of beaming light
Is gilded by thy rays;
And dark affliction's midnight gloom
A present God surveys.
5 Full in thy view through life I pass,
And in thy view I die:
Lord, when all mortal bonds shall break
May I still find thee nigh!
HYMN 199. Eight, Eight, and Six Metre.
Delighting in Divine Goodness.
PARENT of good! thy works of might
with wonder and delight;
Thy name is all divine:
There's nought in earth, or sea, or air,
Or heaven itself that's good or fair,
But is entirely thine.
2 Immensely high thy glories rise.
They strike my soul with sweet surprise,
And sacred pleasure yield;
An ocean wide without a bound,
Where ev'ry noble wish is drown'd,
And ev'ry want is fill'd.
3 To thee my warm affections move,
In sweet astonishment and love,
While at thy feet I fall;
I pant for nought beneath the skies,
To thee my ardent wishes rise,
O my eternal All!
4 What shall I do to spread thy praise,
My God! through my remaining days,
Or how thy name adore?
To thee I consecrate my breath,
Let me be thine in life and death,
And thine for evermore.
The Goodness and Mercy of God.
WEET is the mem'ry of thy grace,
O God, my heav'nly King!
Let age to age thy righteousness
In sounds of glory sing.
2 God reigns on high, but not confines
His goodness to the skies;
Through the whole earth his bounty shines,
And ev'ry want supplies.
3 With longing eyes, thy creatures wait
On thee for daily food;
Thy lib'ral hand provides their meat,
And fills their mouths with good.
4 How kind are thy compassions, Lord!
How slow thine anger moves!
But soon he sends his pard'ning word,
To cheer the souls he loves.
5 Creatures, with all their endless race,
Thy pow'r and praise proclaim;
But saints, who taste thy richer grace,
Delight to bless thy name.
HYMN 201. L. M.
God the intellectual Light.
RAISE to the Lord of boundless might,
With uncreated glories bright!
His presence gilds the worlds above,
The unchanging Source of light and love.
2 Our rising earth his eye beheld,
When in substantial darkness veil'd;
The shapeless chaos, nature's womb,
Lay buried in eternal gloom.
3 Let there be light, Jehovah said;
And light o'er all its face was spread;
Nature, array'd in charms unknown,
Gay with its new-born lustre, shone.
4 He sees the mind, when lost it lies
In shades of ignorance and vice;
And darts from heav'n a vivid ray,
And changes midnight into day.
5 Shine, mighty God! with vigour shine
On this benighted heart of mine;
There be thy brighter beams reveal'd
As in the Saviour's face beheld.
6 Thine image, on my soul impress'd, In radiant lines shall stand confess'd; While all my faculties unite
To praise the Lord, who gives me light. DODDRIDGE
HYMN 202. C. M.
The Being, Omnipresence, and Providence of God.
REAT God, how vast is thine abode !
Mysterious are thy ways!
Unseen thy footsteps in the air
And trackless in the seas.
2 Yet the whole peopled world bespeaks Thy being and thy pow'r
'Midst the resplendent blaze of day, And awful midnight hour.
|