3 To God, all nature owes its birth;
He formed this ponderous globe of earth;
He raised the glorious arch on high,
And measured out the azure sky.
4 'Tis he who bids the tempests rise,
And rolls the thunder through the skies;
His voice the elements obey;
Wide o'er the earth extends his sway.
5 In every work and way divine,
Omnipotence and wisdom shine;
And goodness fixes still the end,
To which they all unvarying tend.
6 His power we trace on every side
0 may his wisdom be our guide;
And while we live, and when we die,
May his almighty love be nigh!
Power and Goodness of God. Ps. cvii. 31.
1 YE sons of men! with joy record
The various wonders of the Lord;
And let his power and goodness sound,
Through all your tribes, the earth around.
2 Lo! the high heavens your songs invite,-
Those spacious fields of brilliant light,
Where sun, and moon, and planets roll,
And stars, that glow from pole to pole.
3 View the broad sea's majestic plains,
And think how wide its Maker reigns:
That band remotest nations joins,
And on each wave his goodness shines.
4 But O that brighter world above,
Where lives and reigns eternal love!
Thither, my soul! with rapture soar,
There, in the land of praise, adore.
Power and Goodness of God. Ps. xxxiii.
1 YE who delight to serve the Lord,
The honours of his name record!
His sacred name for ever bless :
Where'er the circling sun displays
His rising beams, or setting rays,
Let lands and seas his power confess.
2 Justice and truth he ever loves,
And the whole earth his goodness proves;
His word its firm foundations laid;
And by the orders of his mouth,
Wide as they shine from north to south,
Were all the starry armies made.
3 He gathers the wide flowing seas,
Whose proudest waves his laws obey,
In the vast storehouse of the deep:
He spake, and gave all nature birth;
And winds, and waters, heaven, and earth,
His everlasting orders keep.
4 His goodness, equal to his power,
Loads with its blessings every hour,
And spreads the wide creation o'er:
On the whole earth his bounties rest;
Through the whole earth his name be blessed
Since all receive, let all adore.
Praise to God from his Works. Ps. cxlviii.
1 YE tribes of Adam! join
With heaven, and earth, and seas,
And offer notes divine
To your Creator's praise.
Wide as he reigns,
By every tongue,
His name be sung
In endless strains.
2 The shining worlds above
In glorious order stand,
Or in swift courses move
By his supreme command.
He spake the word,
From nothing came,
And all their frame
To praise the Lord.
3 All have obeyed his will,
Through unknown ages past,
And shall his word fulfil,
While time and nature last.
In different ways, '
His wondrous name,
His works proclaim
And speak his praise.
4 To God, the sovereign Lord,
Your joyful thanks repeat;
To him due praise afford,
As good as he is great:
Wide as he reigns,
By every tongue,
His name be sung
In endless strains.
Watts.
120. 8, 8, 6 M.
All Beings invoked to Praise God.
1 YE works of God! on him alone
In earth his footstool, heaven his throne,
Be all your praise bestowed;
Whose hand this beauteous fabric made,
Whose eye the finished whole surveyed,
And saw that all was good.
2 Ye sons of men! his praise display,
Who stamped his image on your clay,
And gave it power to move:
Where'er ye go, where'er ye dwell,
From age to age successive tell
The wonders of his love.
3 Ye spirits of the good and just,
Who on his word of promise trust,
And daily upward soar!
O let your songs his praise display
Till nature's self shall waste away,
And time shall be no more!
4 Praise him, ye meek and humble train, Who shall those heavenly joys obtain, Prepared for souls sincere!
O praise him till you take your way
To regions of eternal day,
To dwell for ever there!
HYMNS FOR PARTICULAR SUBJECTS OF DISCOURSES
Persecution and Intolerance, absurd.
1 ABSURD and vain attempt, to bind
With iron chains, the free-born mind;
To force conviction, and reclaim
The wandering, by destructive flame!
2 Bold arrogance, to snatch from heaven
Dominion not to mortals given ;
O'er conscience to usurp the throne,
Accountable to God alone!
3 Our blessed Master's law of love
Does no such cruelties approve;
Mild as himself, his doctrine wields
No arms but those persuasion yields.
4 By proofs divine, and reasons strong,
It draws the willing soul along;
And conquests to his church acquires
By eloquence, which heaven inspires.
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