2

223

WATTS.

The Divine Being and Perfections. 1 HIGH in the heavens, eternal God, Thy goodness in full glory shines; Thy truth shall break through every cloud, That veils and darkens thy designs.

2 Forever firm thy justice stands,

As mountains their foundations keep; Wise are the wonders of thy hands;

Thy judgments are a mighty deep. 3 Thy providence is kind and large:

Both men and beasts thy bounty share: The whole creation is thy charge; But saints are thy peculiar care. 4 Life, like a fountain full and free, Springs from the presence of my Lord; And in thy light our souls shall see The glories promised in thy word. 224

Public Adoration.

WATTS.

BRYANT.

Every Good Gift from the Father. 1 FATHER, to thy kind love we owe All that is fair and good below; Bestower of the health that lies On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes!

2 Giver of sunshine and of rain!

Ripener of fruits on hill and plain!
Fountain of light, that, rayed afar,
Fills the vast urns of sun and star!

3 Who send'st thy storms and frosts to bind
The plagues that rise to waste mankind;
Then breathest, o'er the naked scene,
Spring gales, and life, and tender green.

God our Help.

WATTS.

1 OUR God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come!
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!

2 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
3 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.

4 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
Then fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

5 Our God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come,

Be thou our guard while troubles last, And our eternal home!

228

God's Condescension.

TATE & BRADY.

1 0 THOU, to whom all creatures bow
Within this earthly frame,
Through all the world how great art thou!
How glorious is thy name!

2

When heaven, thy glorious work on high,
Employs my wondering sight,-
The moon that nightly rules the sky,
With stars of feebler light,-

3 Lord, what is man, that he is blessed
With thy peculiar care!
Why on his offspring is conferred
Of love so large a share?

4 O Thou, to whom all creatures bow
Within this earthly frame,

Through all the world how great art thou! How glorious is thy name!

2

Thy people still are fed,

Who, through this weary pilgrimage, Hast all our fathers led.

Our vows, our prayers, we now present,
Before thy throne of grace:

God of our fathers! be the God
Of their succeeding race.

3 Through each perplexing path of life,
Our wand'ring footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And all we need provide.

4 O spread thy cov'ring wings around,
Till all our wand'rings cease,
And at our Father's loved abode,
Our souls arrive in peace.

233

Ceaseless Praise.

1 THE glorious armies of the sky
To thee, almighty King,
Triumphant anthems consecrate,
And hallelujahs sing.

2 But still their most exalted flights
Fall vastly short of thee;

How distant then must human praise
From thy perfections be!

9:

C. M.

ZEUNER.

9:2

234

THOMPSON.

All-embracing Providence of God.

1 JEHOVAH God! thy gracious power
On every hand we see ;

O may the blessings of each hour
Lead all our thoughts to thee.

2 If, on the wings of morn, we speed
To earth's remotest bound,
Thy hand will there our footsteps lead,
Thy love our path surround.

3 Thy power is in the ocean deeps,
And reaches to the skies;
Thine eye of mercy never sleeps,
Thy goodness never dies.

4 In all the varying scenes of time,
On thee our hopes depend;
Through every age, in every clime,
Our Father and our Friend!

2 Weak mortals do themselves beguile,
When on themselves they rest;
Blind is their wisdom, vain their toil,
By thee, O Lord, unblest.

3 "T is ours the furrows to prepare,
And sow the precious grain;
'Tis thine to give the sun and air,
And send the genial rain.

4 Evil and good before thee stand,
Their mission to perform;
The sun shines bright at thy command;
Thy hand directs the storm.

5 In all our ways, we humbly own
Thy providential power;
Entrusting to thy care, alone,
The lot of every hour.

1

2

3

Providence Kind and Sure.

COLLETT.

THROUGH all the various passing scene
Of life's mistaken ill or good,
Thy hand, O God! conducts unseen
The beautiful vicissitude.

Thou givest with paternal care,
Howe'er unjustly we complain,
To each their necessary share

Of joy and sorrow, health and pain.
All things on earth, and all in heaven,
On thy eternal will depend;
And all for greater good were given,
And all shall in thy glory end.
4 Be this my care!-to all beside
Indifferent let my wishes be;
Passion be calm, and dumb be pride,
And fixed my soul, great God, on thee.