2 The whole creation still records,
Unto this very day,
That thou art God, the Lord of lords;
Thee all things must obey.
1 THE heavenly spheres, to thee, O God,
Attune their evening hymn;
All wise, all holy, thou art praised,
In song of seraphim!
Unnumbered systems, suns and worlds,
Unite to worship thee,
While thy majestic greatness fills
Space, time, eternity.
2 Nature, a temple worthy thee,
That beams with light and love;
Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below,
Whose stars rejoice above,
Whose altars are the mountain cliffs
That rise along the shore;
Whose anthems, the sublime accord
Of storm and ocean roar;
3 Her song of gratitude is sung
By spring's awakening hours;
Her summer offers at thy shrine
Its earliest, loveliest flowers;
Her autumn brings its ripened fruits,
In glorious luxury given;
While winter's silver heights reflect
Thy brightness back to heaven.
4 On all thou smil'st; and what is man
Before thy presence, God;
A breath, but yesterday inspired,
To-morrow but a clod.
That clod shall mingle in the vale,
But, kindled, Lord, by thee,
The spirit to thy arms shall spring,
To life, to liberty.
“Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showetÀ
1 THE heavens, O Lord! thy power proclaim,
And the earth echoes back thy name;
Ten thousand voices speak thy might,
And day to day, and night to night,
Utter thy praise-thou Lord above!
Thy praise, thy glory, and thy love.
2 And nature with its countless throng,
And sun, and moon, and planets' song,
And every flower that light receives,
And every dew that tips the leaves,
And every murmur of the sea
Tunes its sweet voice to worship Thee.
3 Thy name thy glories they rehearse,
Great Spirit of the universe;
Sense of all sense, and soul of soul,
Nought is too vast for thy control;
The meanest and the mightiest share
Alike thy kindness and thy care.
Consider the lilies of the field; — behold the fowls of the
1 Lo! the lilies of the field!
How their leaves instruction vield!
Hark to nature's lesson given
By the blessed birds of heaven!
Every bush and tufted tree
Warbles trust and piety:
Children, banish doubt and sorrow,-
God provideth for the morrow.
2 One there lives, whose guardian eye
Guides our earthly destiny;
One there lives, who, Lord of all,
Keeps his children lest they fall:
Pass we, then, in love and praise,
Trusting him, through all our days,
Free from doubt and faithless sorrow,-
God provideth for the morrow.
Religious Influences of Nature.
1 GOD of the fair and open sky!
How gloriously above us springs
The tented dome, of heavenly blue,
Suspended on the rainbow's rings!
Each brilliant star, that sparkles through
Each gilded cloud that wanders free
In evening's purple radiance, gives
The beauty of its praise to thee
2 God of the rolling orbs above,
Thy name is written clearly bright
In the warm day's unvarying blaze,
Or evening's golden shower of light:
For every fire that fronts the sun,
And every spark that walks alone
Around the utmost verge of heaven,
Were kindled at thy burning throne.
3 God of the world, the hour must come,
And nature's self to dust return;
Her crumbling altárs must decay;
Her incense-fires shall cease to burn;
But still her grand and lovely scenes
Have made man's warmest praises flow
For hearts grow holier as they trace
The beauty of the world below.
"Day unto day uttereth speech."
1 THE heavens declare his glory,
Their Maker's skill the skies:
Each day repeats the story,
And night to night replies.
Their silent proclamation
Throughout the earth is heard;
The record of creation,
The page of nature's word.
2 There, from his bright pavilion,
Like eastern bridegroom clad,
Hailed by earth's thousand million,
The sun sets forth; right glad,
His glorious race commencing,
The mighty giant seems;
Through the vast round dispensing
His all-pervading beams.
3 So pure, so soul-restoring
Is truth's diviner ray;
A brighter radiance pouring
Than all the pomp of day:
The wanderer surely guiding,
It makes the simple wise;
And evermore abiding,
Unfailing joy supplies.
The Visible World a Shadow of the Invisible. 1 I PRAISED the earth in beauty seen, With garlands gay of various green; I praised the sea, whose ample field Shone glorious as a silver shield; And earth and ocean seemed to say, "Our beauties are but for a day."
2 I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled
On wheels of amber and of gold;
I praised the moon, whose softer eye
Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky
And moon and sun in answer said,
"Our years are told when we must fade."
3 O God, O, good beyond compare !
If thus thy meaner works are fair,
If thus thy bounties gild the span
Of sinful earth and mortal man,
How glorious must thy mansion be
Where thy redeemed shall dwell with thec
1 THE turf shall be my fragrant shrine;
My temple, Lord, that arch of thine,
My censor's breath the mountain airs
And silent thoughts my only prayers.
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