6 Thee at all times will I bless;
Having thee, I all possess:
How can I bereaved be,
Since I cannot part with thee!
THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
GOD, in the high and holy place,
Looks down upon the spheres;
Yet in his providence and grace,
To every eye appears.
2 He bows the heavens; the mountains stand A highway for our God:
He walks amid the desert land;
'Tis Eden where he trod.
3 In every stream his bounty flows,
Diffusing joy and wealth;
In every breeze his Spirit blows,
The breath of life and health.
4 His blessings fall in plenteous showers,
Upon the lap of earth,
That teems with foliage, fruits, and flowers,
And rings with infant mirth.
5 If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound;
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will paradise be found!
GLORY AND CONDESCENSION OF GOD. L. M.
EHOVAH reigns, his throne is high,
His robes are light and majesty;
His glory shines with beams so bright,
No mortal can sustain the sight.
2 His terrors keep the world in awe;
His justice guards his holy law;
His love reveals a smiling face,
His truth and promise seal the grace.
3 Through all his works his wisdom shines,
And baffles Satan's deep designs;
His power is sovereign to fulfil
The noblest counsels of his will.
4 And will this glorious Lord descend
To be my Father and my Friend?
Then let my songs with angels join ;
Heaven is secure, if God be mine.
BEGIN, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some boundless thing,
The mighty works, or mightier name,
Of our eternal King.
2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
And sound his power abroad;
Sing the sweet promise of his grace,
And the performing God.
3 Proclaim "Salvation from the Lord,
For wretched dying men;"
His hand has writ the sacred word,
With an immortal pen.
4 His very word of grace is strong,
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along,
Speaks all the promises.
5 0 might I hear thy heavenly tongue
But whisper, "Thou art mine !"
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almost divine.
6 How would my leaping heart rejoice,
And think my heaven secure!
I trust the all-creating voice,
And faith desires no more.
LORD, what is man that he should prove
The object of thy boundless love?
Say, why should he so largely share
Thy favour, and thy tender care?
2 While these my lips draw vital breath,
Or till I close my eyes in death,
I'll ne'er forget thy wondrous love,
Nor thoughtless of thy kindness prove.
3 Beneath thy shadowing wings' defence
I'll place my only confidence:
In every danger and distress,
To thee will I my prayer address.
4 Should all my hopes on earth be lost,
In thee I'll make my constant boast:
I'll spread the glories of thy name,
And thy unbounded love proclaim.
ORAISE, everlasting praise, be paid
To Him that earth's foundation laid;
Praise to the God, whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please.
2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord,
Who rules his people by his word;
And there, as strong as his decrees,
He sets his kindest promises.
3 Firm are the words his prophets give,
Sweet words, on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke, and spread the skies abroad.
4 Each of them powerful as that sound,
That bid the new made world go round,
And stronger than the solid poles,
On which the wheel of nature rolls.
5 Whence then should doubts and fears arise?
Why trickling sorrows drown our eyes?
Slowly, alas! our mind receives
The comforts that our Maker gives.
60 for a strong and lasting faith
To credit what th' Almighty saith!
T'embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own.
SHALL foolish, weak, short-sighted man
Beyond the angels go,
The great Almighty God explain,
Or to perfection know?
2 His attributes divinely soar
Above the creature's sight,
And prostrate seraphim adore
The glorious Infinite.
3 Jehovah's everlasting days!
They cannot numbered be;
Incomprehensible the space
Of thine immensity!
4 Thy wisdom's depths by reason's line
In vain we strive to sound,
Or stretch our labouring thought t' assign
Omnipotence a bound.
5 The brightness of thy glory leaves
Description far below;
Nor man's, nor angel's heart conceives
How deep thy mercies flow.
6 Thy grace is most unsearchable,
And dazzles all above;
They gaze, but cannot count nor tell
The treasures of thy love.
JUSTICE AND MERCY UNIted.
NFINITE grace! and can it be
That heaven's Supreme should stoop so low, A wretch to visit, vile like me;
One who has been his bitterest foe?
2 Can holiness and wisdom join,
With truth, with justice, and with grace,
To make eternal blessings mine,
And sin, with all its guilt, efface?
3 O love! beyond conception great,
That formed the vast stupendous plan,
Where all divine perfections meet;
To reconcile rebellious man.
4 There wisdom shines in fullest blaze,
And justice all her rights maintains;
Astonished angels stoop to gaze,
While mercy o'er the guilty reigns.
5 Yes, mercy reigns, and justice too;
In Christ harmoniously they meet;
He paid to justice all her due,
And now he fills the mercy-seat.
6 Such are the wonders of our God,
And such the amazing depths of grace:
To save, from wrath's vindictive rod,
The chosen sons of Adam's race.
7 With grateful songs, then, let our souls,
Surround our gracious Father's throne;
And all between the distant poles,
His truth and mercy ever own.
14 GOD'S CONDESCENSION TO THE HUMBLE. L. M.
HUS saith the high and lofty One,
"I sit upon my holy throne;
My name is God; I dwell on high:
Dwell in my own eternity.
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