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 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.

4 0 for a strong, a lasting faith,

To credit what th' Almighty saith! T'embrace the message of his Son, And call the joys of heaven our own! 5 Then, should the earth's old pillars shake, And all the wheels of nature break, Our steady souls would fear no more Than solid rocks when billows roar;

6 Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,

Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his power sustains.

301.

C. M.

*WATTS.

The Same.

1 BEGIN, my tongue, some heavenly theme, And speak some lofty thing;

The mighty works, or mighty name
Of our eternal King!

2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
Or sound his power abroad;

Sing the blest promise of his grace,
And the performing God.

THE GOSPEL.

3 Proclaim salvation from the Lord
To sinful, dying men;

His hand has writ the sacred word
With an immortal pen.

4 Engraved as in eternal brass
The gracious promise shines;
Nor can the powers of darkness raze
Those everlasting lines.

5 His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.

302.

C. M.

*GIBBONS.

All Nations promised to Christ.

1 FATHER, is not thy promise pledged
To thine exalted Son,

That through the nations of the earth
Thy word of life shall run?

2 'Ask, and I give the heathen lands
For thine inheritance,

And to the world's remotest shores
Thine empire shall advance.'

3 Hast thou not said, the blinded Jews
Shall their Redeemer own;
While Gentiles to his standard crowd,
And bow before his throne?

4 Are not all kingdoms, tribes, and tongues,
Beneath th' expanse of heaven,

To the dominion of thy Son,
Without exception, given?

269

302.

5 From east to west, from north to south,
Then be his name adored!

Europe, with all thy millions, shout
Hosannas to thy Lord!

6 Asia and Africa, resound

From shore to shore his fame;
And thou, America, in songs,

Redeeming love proclaim!

303.

C. M.

GIBBONS.

Universal Spread of the Gospel.

1 LORD, send thy word, and let it run,
Armed with thy Spirit's power;
Ten thousand shall confess its sway,
And bless the saving hour.

2 Beneath the influence of thy grace
The barren wastes shall rise,

With sudden greens and fruits arrayed,
A blooming paradise.

3 True holiness shall strike its root
In each regenerate heart,
Shall in a growth divine arise,
And heavenly fruits impart.

4 Peace, with her olives crowned, shall stretch

Her wings from shore to shore;

No trump shall rouse the

rage

Nor murderous cannon roar.

of war,

5 Lord, for those days we wait ;-those days Are in thy word foretold;

Fly swifter, sun and stars, and bring
This promised age of gold!

6 Amen, with joy divine, let earth's
Unnumbered myriads cry;

Amen,-with joy divine, let heaven's
Unnumbered choirs reply!

304.

8s & 7s M.

ANONYMOUS.

Prayer for the Spread of the Gospel.

1 O'ER the gloomy hills of darkness
Look, my soul, be still and gaze;
All the promises do travail
With a glorious day of grace.

2 Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness-
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light;
And from eastern coast to western,
May the morning chase the night.

3 May the glorious day approaching
On their grossest darkness flame,
And the everlasting gospel
Spread abroad thy holy name.

4 Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ;
Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting wide dominions
Multiply and still increase.

305.

THE REIGN OF CHRIST.

L. M.

WATTS.

Universal Blessings of Christ's Reign. Ps. 72.

1 JESUS shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2 Behold the islands, with their kings,
And Europe, her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at his feet.

3 There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barbarous nations at his word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.

4 Blessings abound where'er he reigns;
The prisoner leaps to loose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,

And all the sons of want are blest.

5 Where he displays his healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more;
In him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.