4 Wake, all ye soaring tribes, and sing;
Ye cheerful warblers of the spring,
Harmonious anthems raise
To him, who shaped your finer mould,
Who tipped your glittering wings with gold,
And tuned your voice to praise.
5 Let man---by nobler passions swayed---
The feeling heart, the judging head,
In heavenly praise employ;
Spread the Creator's name around,
Till heaven's broad arch ring back the sound,
The general burst of joy.
The Excellency of the Gospel. Ps. xix.
BEHOLD! the heavens declare
The glory of our God;
The starry firmament on high,
Proclaims his power abroad.
2. Nor can the night return,
Nor sun his beams display,
Where not their voice is heard, of God
The knowledge to convey.
3 But from his gospel beams
Instruction more divine:
There God unfolds an endless day,
There love and mercy shine.
There God reveals his laws
So perfect and so pure,
And there is taught that fear of him,
Which ever shall endure.
There he instructs the wise,
Reclaims the wandering soul,
And brings to light those hidden joys
Which all our griefs control.
Our lives, from secret faults,
From bold transgressions free;
And make our meditations, Lord!
Acceptable to thee.
The Book of Nature and Scripture. Ps. xix.
BEHOLD! the morning sun
Begins his glorious way;
His beams through all the nations run,
And life and light convey.
The darkness and the light
Still keep their course the same; While night to day, and day to night, Proclaims the Almighty's name.
In every different land,
Their general voice is known; They speak the wonders of his hand,
And orders of his throne.
4 Ye Christian lands! rejoice;
To you his word is given:
We are not left, from nature's voice, To learn the path to heaven.
His statutes and commands
He puts his gospel in our hands,
Where our salvation lies.
6 His laws are just and pure,
His truth without deceit;
His promises for ever sure,
And his rewards are great.
While with the heart and tongue,
We spread thy praise abroad,
Accept the worship and the song,
Our Father and our God!
The Divine Perfections celebrated. Ps. lvii.
1 BE THOU exalted, O our God!
Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
2 The earth, the stars, and worlds unknown,
Were formed by thy almighty word:
All things exist through thee alone;
All nature owns thee for its Lord.
3 In thee, O God! are all the springs
Of boundless love, and grace unknown:
All the rich gifts which nature brings,
Are blessings flowing from thy throne.
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 our God!
Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
Freedom from Error, Guilt, and Folly implored. Ps. xix.
1 BLESSED Instructer! from thy ways
Who can tell how oft he strays?
Save from error's growth the mind,
Leave not, Lord! one root behind.
2 Purge us from the guilt that lies
Wrapt within our heart's disguise;
Let us thence, by thee renewed,
Each presumptuous sin exclude.
3 Let our tongues, from error free,
Speak the words approved by thee:
To thine all-observing eyes,
Let our thoughts accepted rise.
4 While we thus thy name adore,
And thy healing grace implore,"
Blessed Redeemer! bow thine ear;
God, our strength! propitious hear.
The Goodness of God acknowledged in Temporal and
Spiritual Blessings. Ps. ciii.
1 BLESS, O my soul! the living God;
Call home thy thoughts that roam abroad;
Let all the powers within me join
In work and worship so divine.
2 Bless, O my soul! the God of grace;
His favours claim thy highest praise:
Let not the wonders he has wrought,
Be lost in silence and forgot.
3 The vices of the mind he heals,
And sooths the pains which nature feels;
Redeems our souls from sin, and saves
Our wasting lives from threatening graves.
4 Our youth decayed, his power repairs;
His mercy crowns our growing years;
And, while he present good supplies,
Bids endless bliss in prospect rise.
5 His power he showed by Moses' hands,
And gave to Israel his commands;
But made his truth and mercy known
To all the nations, by his Son.
6 Let the whole earth his power confess;
Let the whole earth his goodness bless:
The Gentile with the Jew shall join
In work and worship so divine.
All Nature invoked to Praise the Creator.
1 CELESTIAL worlds! your Maker's name
Resound through every shining coast:
Our God a nobler praise will claim,
Where he unfolds his glories most.
2 Stupendous globe of flaming day!
Praise him in thy sublime career;
He struck from night thy peerless ray,
Gave thee thy path, and guides thee there.
3 Ye starry lamps, to whom 'tis given
Night's sable horrors to illume!
Praise him who hung you high in heaven,
With vivid fires to gild the gloom.
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