2 Thy bounty bids the infant year,

From winter storms recovered, rise ; When thousand grateful scenes appear,

Fresh opening to our wondering eyes. 3 The new delight how great, to see

The earth in vernal beauty dressed, While in each herb, and flower, and tree,

Thy opening bounty shines confessed ! 4 Aloft, full beaming, reigns the sun,

And light and genial heat conveys; And, while he leads the seasons on,

From thee derives his quickening rays. 5 Indulgent God, from every part

Thy plenteous blessings largely flow; We see; we taste; let every heart

With grateful love and duty glow.

105
C. M.

Watts. The Goodness of God. Ps. 145. 1 SWEET is the memory of thy grace,

My God, my heavenly King ;
Let age to age thy righteousness

In sounds of glory sing.
2 God reigns on high, but not confines

His goodness to the skies;
Through the whole earth his bounty shines,

And every want supplies.
3 With longing eyes thy creatures wait

On thee for daily food ;
Thy liberal hand provides their meat,

And fills their mouths with good.

4 How kind are thy compassions, Lord !

How slow thine anger moves !
But soon he sends his pardoning word

To cheer the souls he loves.
5 Creatures, with all their endless race,

Thy power and praise proclaim ;
But saints, that taste thy richer grace,

Delight to bless thy name.

106
L. M.

WATTS. Blessing God for his Goodness. Ps. 103. 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 The vices of the mind he heals,

And cures the pains that nature feels,
Redeems the soul from hell, and saves

Our wasting life from threatening graves. 4 Our youth decayed his power repairs ;

His mercy crowns our growing years ;
He satisfies our mouth with good,

And fills our hopes with heavenly food. 5 He sees the oppressor and the oppressed,

And often gives the sufferers rest,
But will his justice more display
In the last, great, rewarding day.

6 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.

107
L. M. 6 L.

Watts.
Praise to God for his Goodness and Truth. Ps. 146.
1 I'LL praise my Maker with my breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers ; My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being, last,

Or immortality endures. 2 Why should I make a man my trust ? Princes must die, and turn to dust ;

Vain is the help of flesh and blood; Their breath departs, their pomp, and power, And thoughts, all vanish in an hour,

Nor can they make their promise good. 3 Happy the man whose hopes rely On Israel's God; he made the sky,

And earth, and seas, with all their train; His truth forever stands secure; He saves the oppressed, he feeds the poor,

And none shall find his promise vain. 4 The Lord hath eyes to give the blind; The Lord supports the sinking mind;

He sends the laboring conscience peace; He helps the stranger in distress, The widow and the fatherless,

And grants the prisoner sweet release.

5 I'll praise him while he lends me breath, And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers; My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being, last,

Or immortality endures.

108
C. M.

DODDRIDGE. The divine Bounty inspiring Gratitude. 1 OUR souls with pleasing wonder view

The bounties of thy grace
How much bestowed, how much reserved

For them that seek thy face.
2 Thy liberal hand with worldly bliss

Oft makes their cup run o'er; And in the covenant of thy love

They find diviner store. 3 Thine eyes shall read those grateful thoughts

No language can express;
Yet when our liveliest thanks we pay,

Our debts do most increase.
4 Since time's too short, all-gracious God,

To utter half thy praise, Loud to the honor of thy name

Eternal hymns we'll raise.

109
S. M.

WATTS.
Praise for spiritual and temporal Mercies. Ps. 103.
1 O, BLESS the Lord, my soul

i
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name,

Whose favors are divine.

2 0, 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 fills the poor with good ;

He gives the sufferers rest ;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,

And justice for the opprest.
5 His wondrous works and ways

He made by Moses known,
But sent the world his truth and grace

By his beloved Son.

110
S. M.

Warts.
Abounding Compassion of God. Ps. 103.
1 MY soul, repeat his praise,

Whose mercies are so great,
Whose anger is so slow to rise,

So ready to abate.
2 High as the heavens are raised

Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace

Our highest thoughts exceed.
3 His power subdues our sins,

And his forgiving love
Far as the east is from the west,

Doth all our guilt remove.