1 LORD! thou hast been thy children's God, All-powerful, wise, and good, and just; In every age their safe abode,
Their hope, their refuge, and their trust. 2 Great Father of eternity!
How short are ages in thy sight!
A thousand years, how swift they fly,
Like one still silent watch of night!
3 Uncertain life, how soon it flies!
Flowers of the morn, how short our bloom;
Like spring's gay verdure now we rise,
Cut down ere night to fill the tomb!
4 Teach us, O Lord! to count our days,
And with true diligence apply
Our hearts to wisdom's sacred ways,
That we may learn to live and die,
1 THINE, Lord, is wisdom, thine alone!
Justice and Truth before thee stand:
And ever near thy sacred throne
Is Mercy, waiting thy command.
2 Each evening shows thy tender love,
Each rising morn thy plenteous grace:
Thy waken'd judgments slowly move,
Thy willing mercy flies apace!
3 To thy benign, indulgent care,
Father, this light, this breath we owe; And all we have, and all we are,
From thee, great Source of being, flow.
1 AWAKE, our tongues-our tribute bring
To him who gave us power to sing;
Praise him, who is all praise above,
The source of wisdom and of love.
2 How vast his knowledge! how profound!
A depth where all our thoughts are drowned,
The stars he numbers-and their names
He gives to all those heavenly flames.
3 Through each bright world above, behold
Ten thousand thousand charms unfold:
Earth, air, and mighty seas combine,
To speak his wisdom all divine.
4 But in redemption, O what grace!
Its wonders, O what thought can trace;
Here wisdom shines for ever bright-
Praise him, our souls, with sweet delight.
1 FATHER of all, omniscient Mind,
Thy wisdom who can comprehend?
Its highest point what eye can find,
Or to its lowest depths descend?
2 If up to heaven's ethereal height,
Thy prospect to elude, we rise,
In splendor, there, supremely bright,
Thy presence shall our sight surprise.
3 Thee, mighty God, each wondering soul,
Thee, all our conscious powers adore,
Whose being circumscribes the whole,
Whose eyes the universe explore.
4 Thine essence fills each breathing frame; It glows in every vital part,
Lights up our souls with livelier flame,
And feeds with life each beating heart. 5 To thee, from whom our being came, Whose smile is all the heaven we know, Inspired with this exalted theme, To thee our grateful strains shall flow.
1 LORD, from thy bounteous hand
Incessant good distills;
And all in air, or sea, or land,
Thy love with gladness fills.
2 In thee all live and are:
Thy power doth all sustain ;
Even those thy daily favors share,
Who spurn thine easy reign.
3 Thy sun his genial ray
On all impartial pours;
On all who hate or bless thy sway,
Descend the fruitful showers.
4 O praise the eternal King!
Your strains to him belong;
Cherubic choirs his goodness sing-
Awake the ceaseless song!
5 Lord! thine the kingdom is;
All power and might are thine;
And when created nature dies,
Thy glories still shall shine.
1 GREAT God, the heaven's well-ordered frame, Declares the glories 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 the Creator's praise,
And neither sound nor language need.
3 Yet their divine instructions run
Wide as the circuit of the sun,
And every nation knows their voice; The sun, in robes of splendor dressed, Breaks from the chambers of the east, Moves round, and makes the earth rejoice.
294. H. M.
1 THE first Almighty Cause,
Who did all things create,
Gave nature all her laws,
Unchangeable as fate;
The Source of life, the Spring of springs,
His praise all heaven and nature sings.
2 Where'er we cast our eyes,
With rapture we behold,
Below, or in the skies,
Wonders that can't be told:
In nature's book, in every line,
His wisdom and perfections shine.
3 On him all worlds depend,
To him all bend the knee;
But none can comprehend
The boundless Deity.
He fills all space, lives everywhere,
Sustains the whole, makes all his care.
1 LET the whole race of creatures lie
Abased before the Lord!
Whate'er his mighty hand has formed,
He governs with a word.
2 Ten thousand ages ere the sun
Was into motion brought,
All the long years and worlds to come
Stood present to his thought.
3 If light attends the course we go,
"Tis he provides the rays;
And 'tis his hand that hides the sun,
If darkness clouds our days.
4 Trusting thy wisdom, God of love,
We would not wish to know
What, in the book of thy decrees,
Awaits us here below.
5. Be this alone our fervent prayer:
Whate'er our lot shall be,
Or joys, or sorrows, may they form
Our souls for heaven and thee.
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