4.

High o'er the earth thy mercy reigns,
And reaches to the utmost sky:
Thy truth to endless years remains,
Though lower worlds dissolve and die.

5.

Be thou exalted, O my GOD!

Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.

18. C. M.

The Divine Perfections celebrated.

1.

THE glories, LORD! thy works proclaim,
Our pious wonder raise;

Thy word still more reveals thy name,
And more exalts thy praise.

2.

The numerous worlds thy hands have made,
Thy power almighty teach;
The plans thy forming wisdom laid,
Through endless ages reach.

3.

Thy righteousness maintains its throne,
Though mountains sink to dust;
Thy judgments are a deep unknown,
Yet always wise and just.

4.

Thy mercies, far beyond the rounds
Of earth and heaven, extend;

Thy truth outlives the narrow bounds
Where time and nature end.

5.

Unbounded is thy goodness, LORD!
How bright its wonders shine.!
Of present, past, and future good,
The glory all be thine.

6.

Incline us, LORD! as in thy sight,
To tread thy holy ways;
And all our noblest powers unite,
To celebrate thy praise.

19. c. M.

The Perfections of God.

1.

How shall I praise the eternal God,
That Infinite Unknown!...

Who can ascend his high abode,
Or venture near his throne ?

2.

The great Invisible-he dwells
Conceal'd in dazzling light;
But his all-searching eye reveals
The secrets of the night.

3.

Those watchful eyes which never sleep, Survey the world around:

His wisdom is a boundless deep,

Where all our thoughts are drown'd. :

4.

Speak we of strength? His arm is strong
To save, or to destroy:

To him eternal years belong,
And endless is his joy.

5.

He knows no shadow of a change,

Nor alters his decrees;

Firm as a rock his truth remains
To guard his promises.

20. L. M.

Man frail and God eternal.

1.

LORD! thou hast been thy children's GoD,
All powerful, wise, and good, and just;
In every age their safe abode,

Their hope, their refuge, and their trust.

2.

Long hadst thou reign'd ere time began;
And long thy kingdom shall endure,
When all the feeble race of man,
And time itself, shall be no more.

3.

Great Father of eternity!

How short are ages in thy sight!
A thousand years, how swift they fly,
Like one soft silent watch of night!

4.

Uncertain life, how soon it flies!

Dream of an hour, how short our bloom! Like spring's gay verdure now we rise, Cut down ere night to fill the tomb.

5.

Teach us to count our shortening days,
And with true diligence apply
Our hearts to wisdom's sacred ways,
That we may learn to live and die.

21. L. M.

God incomprehensible.

1.

GREAT GOD! in vain man's narrow view
Attempts to look thy nature through;
Our labouring 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.

Yet, LORD! thy kindness deigns to show Enough for mortal man to know;

While wisdom, goodness, power divine, Through all thy works and conduct shine.

4.

Oh may our souls with rapture trace
Thy works of nature and of grace,
Explore thy sacred name, and still
Press on to know and do thy will!

22. C. M.

Man frail and God eternal.

1.

O GOD, our help in ages past,
Our hope for those to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!

2.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth receiv'd her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

3.

Thy word commands our flesh to dust, Return ye sons of men:'

6

All nations rose from earth at first,

And turn to earth again.

4.

Like flowery fields the nations stand,
Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower's hand
Lie withering ere 'tis night.

5.

O GOD, our help in ages past,
Our hope for those to come!
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

23. L. M.

The Immutability of God.

.1.

ALL-POWERFUL, self-existent God, Who dost o'er all creation reign! Thou wast, and art, and art to come, Through all eternity the same.

2.

Fix'd and eternal as thy days,
Each glorious attribute divine,
Through ages infinite, shall still
With undiminish'd lustre shine.