84

The Lord our Shepherd.
Ps. xxiii.

2 He leads me to the place

Where heavenly pasture grows,
Where living waters gently pass,
And full salvation flows.

3 If e'er I go astray,

He doth my soul reclaim;

And guides me, in His own right way,
For His most holy name.

4 While He affords His aid,

I cannot yield to fear;

Tho' I should walk thro' death's dark shade,
My Shepherd's with me there.

5 In spite of all my foes,

Thou dost my table spread;

My cup with blessings overflows,
And joy exalts my head.

6 The bounties of Thy love

Shall crown my following days;
Nor from Thy house will I remove,
Nor cease to speak Thy praise.

85

Rev. Isaac Watts. (1674-1748.) 1719.

The Heavenly Shepherd.
Ps. xxiii.

I WHILE my Redeemer's near,
My shepherd and my guide,
I bid farewell to anxious fear;
My wants are all supplied.

2 To ever fragrant meads,

Where rich abundance grows, His gracious hand indulgent leads, And guards my sweet repose.

I My God, permit my tongue
This joy, to call Thee mine;
And let my early cries prevail
To taste Thy love divine.

2 My thirsty, fainting soul
Thy mercy doth implore;
Not travellers in desert lands
Can pant for water more.

3 In wakeful hours at night,
I call my God to mind;

I think how wise Thy counsels are,
And all Thy dealings kind.

4 Since Thou hast been my help,
To Thee my spirit flies;
And on Thy watchful providence
My cheerful hope relies.

5 The shadow of Thy wings

My soul in safety keeps;

I follow where my Father leads,
And He supports my steps.

Rev. Isaac Watts. 1719. ab.

87

Praise for temporal and spiritual Mercies.
Ps. cii. 1-7.

2 O bless the Lord, my soul,

Nor let His mercies lie Forgotten in unthankfulness, And without praises die.

3 Tis He forgives thy sins,

'Tis He relieves thy pain, Tis He that heals thy sicknesses, And makes thee young again.

4 He crowns thy life with love,

When ransomed from the grave; He that redeemed my soul from hell, Hath sovereign power to save.

5 He fills the poor with good;

He gives the sufferers rest:

The Lord hath judgments for the proud, And justice for th' oppressed.

6 His wondrous works and ways

He made by Moses known; But sent the world His truth and grace By His beloved Son.

His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.

3 High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of His grace

Our highest thoughts exceed. 4 His power subdues our sins, And His forgiving love, Far as the east is from the west, Doth all our guilt remove. Rev. Isaac Watts. 1719.

89

"He knoweth our Frame."
Ps. ciii. 13-18.

1 THE pity of the Lord

To those that fear His name,
Is such as tender parents feel:
He knows our feeble frame.
2 He knows we are but dust,

Scattered with every breath;
His anger, like a rising wind,
Can send us swift to death.

3 Our days are as the grass,

Or like the morning flower;
If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field,
It withers in an hour.

4 But Thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.

Rev. Isaac Watts. 1719

90

Mercies of God recounted.

2 Unnumbered comforts to my soul Thy tender care bestowed, Before my infant heart conceived

From whom those comforts flowed.

3 When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

4 Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful heart

That tastes those gifts with joy.

5 Through every period of my life

Thy goodness I'll pursue;
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.

6 Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I'll raise;

ab.

If Thou art with me there.

Rev. Ottiwell Heginbothom. (1744-1768.) 1766. ab

"Lord of all."

1 The Lord our God is Lord of all; His station who can find?

I hear Him in the waterfall,
I hear Him in the wind.

2 He lives, He reigns in every land,
From winter's polar snows
To where, across the burning sand,
The blazing meteor goes.

3 If in the gloom of night I shroud,
His face I cannot fly;

I see Him in the evening cloud,
And in the morning sky.

4 He smiles, we live, He frowns, we die; We hang upon His word;

BELMONT. C. M.

He rears His red right arm on high, And ruin bares the sword.

5 He bids His blasts the fields deform; Then when His thunders cease,

He paints His rainbow on the storm, And lulls the winds to peace.

Henry Kirke White. (1785-1806.) 1806. alt. From Mozart, by Jeremiah Ingalls. (1764-1838.) 1805.

2 How terrible Thy glories rise,

How bright Thine armies shine: Where is the power with Thee that vies, Or truth compared with Thine?

3 The northern pole and southern rest
On Thy supporting hand;
Darkness and day, from east to west,
Move round at Thy command.

4 Thy words the raging winds control,
And rule the boisterous deep;
Thou mak'st the sleeping billows roll,
The rolling billows sleep.

5 Justice and judgment are Thy throne,
Yet wondrous is Thy grace;
While truth and mercy, joined in one,
Invite us near Thy face.

2

To shun Thy presence, Lord, or flee

The notice of Thine eye.

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 If winged with beams of morning light,
I fly beyond the west,

Thy hand, which must support my flight, Would soon betray my rest.

5 If o'er my sins I seek to draw

The curtains of the night,

Those flaming eyes that guard Thy law Would turn the shades to light.

6 The beams of noon, the midnight hour, Are both alike to Thee:

O may I ne'er provoke that power
From which I cannot flee.

Rev. Isaac Watts. 1719. ab.

Adapted by Lowell Mason. (1792-1872.) 1825.

My heart and flesh with all their powers.

95

The All-seeing God. Ps. cxxxix.

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.

1 BLESS, O my soul, the living God,
Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad;
Let all the powers within me join
In work and worship so divine.

2 Bless, O my soul, the God of grace;
His favors claim thy highest praise:
Why should the wonders He hath wrought
Be lost in silence and forgot?

3 'Tis He, my soul, that sent His Son
To die for crimes which thou hast done;
He owns the ransom, and forgives
The hourly follies of our lives.

4 Let the whole earth His power confess;
Let the whole earth adore His grace:
The Gentile with the Jew shall join
In work and worship so divine.

Rev. Isaac Watts. 1719. ab.

DOXOLOGY.

PRAISE God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Bp. Thomas Ken (1637-1711.) 1697.