God seen in Nature and Grace.
1 ETERNAL Wisdom, thee we praise;
Thee the creation sings;
With thy great name rocks, hills, and seas,
And heaven's high palace rings.
2 Thy hand, how wide it spread the sky!
How glorious to behold!
Tinged with the blue of heavenly dye,
And starred with sparkling gold.
3 Thy glories blaze all nature round,
And strike the gazing sight,
Through skies, and seas, and solid ground,
With terror and delight.
4 Infinite strength and equal skill
Shine through the worlds abroad,
Our souls with vast amazement fill,
And speak the builder, God.
5 But still the wonders of thy grace
Our softer passions move:
Pity divine in Jesus' face
e see, adore, and love.
1 THE God of nature and of
In all his works appears;
His goodness through the earth we trace,
His grandeur in the spheres.
2 Behold this fair and fertile globe,
By him in wisdom planned :
'Twas he who girded, like a robe,
The ocean round the land.
3 Lift to the firmament your eye-
Thither his path pursue:
His glory, boundless as the sky,
O'erwhelms the wondering view.
4 He bows the heavens ;-the mountains stand
A highway for their God;
He walks amidst the desert land-
'Tis Eden where he trod.
5 The forests in his strength rejoice:
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old, the Lord God's voice
Is heard among the trees.
6 If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will paradise be found!
1 GREAT Cause of all things! Source of life!
Sovereign of air, and earth, and sea!
All nature feels thy power, and all
A silent homage pay to thee.
2 Waked by thy hand, the morning sun
Pours forth to thee its earlier rays,
And spreads thy glories as it climbs,
While raptured worlds look up and praise.
3 The moon to the deep shades of night
Speaks the mild lustre of thy name;
While all the stars that cheer the scene
Thee, the great Lord of light, proclaim..
4 And groves, and vales, and rocks, and hills,
And every flower, and every tree-
Ten thousand creatures, warm with life,
Have each a grateful song for thee.
5 But man was formed to rise to heaven;
And, blessed with reason's clearer light,
He views his Maker through his works,
And glows with rapture at the sight.
6 Nor can the thousand songs that rise,
Whether from air, or earth, or sea,
So well repeat Jehovah's praise,
Or raise such sacred harmony.
The Heavens declare the Glory of God. Ps. 19.
1 THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue, ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
2 Th' unwearied sun from day to day
Does his Creator's power display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty hand.
3 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth;
4 While all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets, in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
5 What though, in solemn silence, all
Move round this dark, terrestrial ball-
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found
6 In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing, as they shine,
'The hand that made us is divine.'
1 GREAT God, the heaven's well-ordered frame Declares the glory of thy name:
There thy rich works of wonder shine— A thousand starry beauties there,
A thousand radiant marks appear,
Of boundless power and skill divine.
2 From night to day, from day to night,
The dawning and the dying light
Lectures of heavenly wisdom read;
With silent eloquence they raise
Our thoughts to our Creator's praise,
And neither sound nor language need.
3 Yet their divine instructions run
Far as the journeys of the sun,
And every nation knows their voice;
The sun, in robes of splendor drest
Breaks from the chambers of the east,
Rolls round, and makes the earth rejoice.
4 Where'er he spreads his beams abroad,
He smiles, and speaks his maker, God;
All nature joins him in the praise.
Thus God in every creature shines;
Fair is the book of nature's lines,
But fairer is the book of grace.
Nature inviting to praise
1 THOU great Creator, wise and good!
To thee our songs we raise :
Nature, through all her various scenes,
Invites us to thy praise.
2 At morning, noon, and evening mild,
Fresh wonders strike our view;
And while we gaze, our hearts exult
With transports ever new.
3 Thy glory beams in
Which gilds the gloom of night;
It decks the smiling face of morn
With rays of cheerful light.
4 The lofty hill, the humble vale,
With countless beauties shine;
The silent grove, the awful shade,
Proclaim thy power divine.
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