3 Should Thy altered hand restrain
The early and the latter rain,
Blast each opening bud of joy,
And the rising ear destroy;
4 Still to Thee my soul should raise
Grateful vows, and solemn praise;
And when every blessing's flown,
Love Thee,—for Thyself alone.
1 Praise, everlasting praise, be paid
To Him that earth's foundations laid!
Praise to the God whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as He please.
2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord!
Who rules His people by His word,
And there as firm as His decrees
Hath set His kindest promises.
3 Whence, then, shall doubts and fears arise?
Why trickling sorrows drown our eyes?
Slowly, alas! our mind receives
The comfort that our Maker gives.
4 O for a strong, a lasting faith,
To credit what th' Almighty saith!
T'embrace the message of His Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own!
5 Then should the earth's firm pillars shake, And all the wheels of Nature break,
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.
10 Source of good! around me spread
Ten thousand thousand blessings lie;
By night Thy mercy guards my head,
By day I feel Thee ever nigh.
2 Yet, if to taste Thy gifts were all
Thy bounteous hand bestowed on me;
No leave upon Thy name to call,
And gain access by prayer to Thee :
3 How would my spirit, sorrowing
'Mid all those gifts, have sighed to feel-
It knew not the refreshing spring,
That ceaseless flows to soothe and heal!
4 No chain to bind the wandering soul,
No link, connecting earth and heaven,
No Father's pitying, kind control,
No child, repenting and forgiven!
5 But God reveals His mercy-seat,
And beams of light the gloom dispel :
He gives-from Him the gift is sweet;
He takes away-and all is well.
6 The voice of prayer in heaven is heard! Let strength depart and comforts flee, If man may act upon that word,"Seek, and He shall be found of thee."
1 O 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:
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
5 Like flowery fields the nations stand,
Pleased with the morning light:
The flowers beneath the mower's hand
Lie withering ere 't is night.
6 O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home!
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless His name
Whose favours are divine.
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Nor let His mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.
'Tis He forgives thy sins;
'Tis He relieves thy pain;
'Tis He who 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 oppressed.
5 His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known,
But sent the world His truth and grace
By His beloved Son.
1 My soul, repeat His praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of His grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
The pity of the Lord,
To those that fear His name,
Is such as tender parents feel;
He knows our feeble frame.
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.
But Thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.
1 Lord, we adore Thy boundless grace, The heights and depths unknown Of pardon, life, and joy, and peace, In Thy beloved Son.
|