Page images
PDF
EPUB

19.

L. M. 61. T. MOORE.

God the Life and Light of the World.
1 THOU art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from thee.
Where'er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are thine.
2 When day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of even,
And we can almost think we gaze
Through golden vistas into heaven,
Those hues that make the sun's decline
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are thine.

3 When night, with wings of starry gloom,
O'ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plume
Is sparkling with unnumbered eyes,
That sacred gloom, those fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord, are thine.

4 When youthful Spring around us breathes,
Thy spirit warms her fragrant sigh;
And every flower the Summer wreaths
Is born beneath thy kindling eye.
Where'er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are thine.

20. L. M. WATTS.

Greatness of God.

1 My God, my King, thy various praise
Shall fill the remnant of my days;
Thy grace employ my humble tongue,
Till death and glory raise the song.

2 The wings of every hour shall bear
Some thankful tribute to thine ear;
And every setting sun shall see
New works of duty done for thee.

3 Thy truth and justice I'll proclaim;
Thy bounty flows, an endless stream;
Thy mercy swift; thine anger slow,
But dreadful to the stubborn foe.

4 Thy works with sovereign glory shine,
And speak thy majesty divine;
Let every realm with joy proclaim
The sound and honor of thy name.

[blocks in formation]

1 GREAT GOD, in vain man's narrow view Attempts to look thy nature through; Our laboring powers with reverence own Thy glories never can be known.

2 Not the high seraph's mighty thought,
Who countless years his God has sought,
Such wondrous height or depth can find,
Or fully trace thy boundless mind.

3 And yet thy kindness deigns to show
Enough for mortal minds to know;
While wisdom, goodness, power divine,
Through all thy works and conduct shine.

4 O, may our souls with rapture trace
Thy works of nature and of grace;
Explore thy sacred truth, and still
Press on to know and do thy will.

22.

L. M.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALMS.

God knows our Hearts and Ways.

1 FATHER of spirits! nature's God!
Our inmost thoughts are known to thee;
Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word,
And every private action see.

2 Could we on morning's swiftest wings
Pursue our flight through trackless air,
Or dive beneath deep ocean's springs,
Thy presence still would meet us there.
3 In vain may guilt attempt to fly,
Concealed beneath the pall of night;
One glance from thy all-piercing eye
Can kindle darkness into light.

4 Search thou our hearts, and there destroy Each evil thought, each secret sin,

And fit us for those realms of joy
Where nought impure shall enter in.

[blocks in formation]

1. ETERNAL and immortal King,

Thy peerless splendors none can bear;
But darkness veils seraphic eyes,
When God with all his glory 's there.

2 Yet faith can pierce the awful gloom, The great Invisible can see,

And with its tremblings mingle joy,
In fixed regard, great God, to thee.

3 Then every tempting form of sin,
Shamed in thy presence, disappears;
And all the glowing, raptured soul
The likeness it contemplates wears.
4 O, ever conscious to my heart,
Witness to its supreme desire,
Behold, it presseth on to thee,

For it hath caught the heavenly fire..
5 This one petition would it urge-
To bear thee ever in its sight;

In life, in death, in worlds unknown,
Its only portion and delight.

[blocks in formation]

Omniscience and Omnipresence of God.

1 LORD, thou hast searched and seen me through; Thine eye commands, with piercing view, My rising and my resting hours,

My heart and flesh, with all their powers.

2 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;

He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.

3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.

4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.

5 O, may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

25. C. M. 61.

God is every where.

CONDER.

1 BEYOND, beyond the boundless sea,
Above that dome of sky,

Farther than thought itself can flee,
Thy dwelling is on high;
Yet dear the awful thought to me,
That thou, my God, art nigh.

2 We hear thy voice when thunders roll
Through the wide fields of air ;`
The waves obey thy dread control;
Yet still thou art not there.
Where shall I find Him, O my soul,
Who yet is every where?

3 O, not in circling depth, or height,
But in the conscious breast;

Present to faith, though veiled from sight, There does his spirit rest.

O, come, thou Presence Infinite,

And make thy creature blest.

[blocks in formation]

Abounding Compassion of God.

1 My soul, repeat his praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.

« PreviousContinue »