And bid the choral song ascend

To celebrate our God. . 160. C. M.

COWPER.
Purposes of God developed by his Providence.
1 GOD moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform ;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.
2 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;

The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break

With blessings on your head.
3 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust him for his grace ;
Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.
4 His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour ;
The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.
5 Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain. 161.

L. M. SPIRIT OF THE Psalms.

Eternity of God.
I ERE mountains reared their fornis sublime,

. Or heaven and earth in order stood,
Before the birth of ancient time,

From everlasting thou art God. 2 A thousand ages, in their flight,

With thee are as a Meeting day ;
Past, present, future, to thy sight

At once their various scenes display.

life and with the to spend

3 But our brief life 's a shadowy dream,

A passing thought, that soon is o'er,
That fades with morning's earliest beam,

And fills the musing mind no more. 4 To us, O Lord, the wisdom give

Each passing moment so to spend,
That we at length with thee may live,

Where life and bliss shall never end. 162. C. M.

Watts.
Foreknowledge and Providence of God. .
1 LET the whole race of creatures lie

Abased before the Lord !
Whate'er his powerful hand has formed,

He governs with a word.
2 Ten thousand ages ere the skies

Were into motion brought,
All the long years and worlds to come

Stood present to his thought.
3 There's not a sparrow, nor a worm,

O’erlooked in his decrees :
He raises monarchs to a throne,

Or sinks, with equal ease.
4 If light attend the course we go,

'Tis he provides the rays ;
And 't is his hand that hides the sun,

If darkness cloud our days.
5 Trusting thy wisdom, God of love!

We would not wish to know
What, in the book of thy decrees,

Awaits us here below.
6 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 !

163. C. M.

WATTS.
God is everywhere.
1 IN all my vast concerns with thee,

In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee

The notice of thine eye.
2 Thine all-surrounding sight surveys

My rising and my rest ;
My public walks, my private ways,

And secrets of my breast.
3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,

Before they ’re formed within ;
And, ere my lips pronounce the word,

He knows the sense I mean.
4 0, wondrous knowledge, deep and high !

Where can a creature hide ?
Within thy circling arms I lie,

Beset on every side.
5 So let thy grace surround me still,

And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,

Secured by sovereign love.
164.
L. M.

WATTS Perfections and Providence of God. 1 HIGH in the heavens, Eternal God !

Thy goodness in full glory shines ;
Thy truth shall break through every cloud

That veils and darkens thy designs. 2 For ever firm thy justice stands,

As mountains their foundations keep ;
Wise are the wonders of thy hands;

Thy judgments are a mighty deep. 3 Thy providence is kind and large ;

Both man and beast thy bounty share;

The whole creation is thy charge,

But saints are thy peculiar care. 4 My God ! how excellent thy grace,

Whence all our hope and comfort springs ! The sons of Adam in distress

Fly to the shadow of thy wings. 5 Life, like a fountain, rich and free,

Springs from the presence of my Lord ;
And in thy light our souls shall see

The glories promised in thy word. 165. L. M. 6L. MONTGOMERY.

God good and omniscient.
1 HOW precious are thy thoughts of peace,

O God ! to me, — how great the sum !
New every morn, they never cease ;

They were, they are, and yet shall come,
In number and in compass more

Than ocean's sand, or ocean's shore.
2 Search me, O God! and know my heart;

Try me, my secret soul survey ;
And warn thy servant to depart

From every false and evil way :
So shall thy truth my guidance be,

In life and immortality. 166. C. M.

The Ways of God inscrutable.
1 THY way, O God! is in the sea ;

Thy paths I cannot trace,
Nor comprehend the mystery

Of thine unbounded grace.
2 Here the dark veils of Aesh and sense

My captive soul surround;
Mysterious deeps of providence

My inward thoughts confound.

3 As, through a glass, I dimly see

The wonders of thy love,
How little do I know of thee,

Or of the joys above!
4 Though but in part I know thy will,

I bless thee for the sight :
When will thy love the whole reveal

In glory's clearer light ?
5 In rapture shall I then survey

Thy providence and grace ;
And spend an everlasting day

In wonder, love, and praise. 167. 8 & 7s. M.

BOWRING. God is Love. 1 GOD is love ; his mercy brightens

All the path in which we rove;
Bliss he wakes and woe he lightens ;

God is wisdom, God is love.
2 Chance and change are busy ever ;

Man decays, and ages move ;
But his mercy waneth never ;

God is wisdom, God is love.
3 E'en the hour that darkest seemeth

Will his changeless goodness prove ;
From the gloom his brightness streameth ;

God is wisdom, God is love.
4 He with earthly cares entwineth

Hope and comfort from above :
Everywhere his glory shineth ;

God is wisdom, God is love.
168.
C. M.

GIBBONS.
Goodness of God.
I THY goodness, Lord, our souls confess;

Thy goodness we adore ;