4 How kind are thy compassions, Lord,
How slow thine anger moves!
But soon he sends his pard'ning word
To cheer the souls he loves.
5 Creatures, with all their endless race,
Thy pow'r and praise proclaim;
But saints who taste thy richer grace,
Delight to bless thy name.
UR souls with pleasing wonder view
The bounties of thy grace;
How much bestow'd, how much reserv'd
For those that seek thy face.
2 Thy lib'ral hand with worldly bliss
Oft makes their cup run o'er;
And in the cov'nant of thy love
They find diviner store.
3 Here mercy hides their num'rous sins;
Here grace their souls renews;
Here hope, and love, and joy, and peace
Their heav'nly beams diffuse.
4 But oh! what treasures yet unknown
Are lodg'd in worlds to come!
If these th' enjoyments of the way,
How happy is their home!
5 And what shall wretched man reply?
Or how such goodness own?
But 'tis our joy that, Lord, to thee
Thy servants' hearts are known.
6 Since time's too short, all gracious God,
To utter half thy praise;
Loud to the honour of thy name
Eternal hymns we'll raise.
36 God's mercy great and eternal.
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
God will not always chide;
And, when his wrath is felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
3 High as the heav'ns are rais'd
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
His grace subdues our sins,
And his forgiving love
Far as the east is from the west
Doth all our guilt remove.
The pity of the Lord,
To those who 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.
E sons of men, in sacred lays
Attempt the great Creator's praise;
But who an equal song can frame?
What verse can reach the lofty theme?
2 He sits enthron'd amidst the spheres,
And glory like a garment wears;
While boundless wisdom, pow'r, and grace
Command our awe, transcend our praise.
3 Before his throne a shining band
Of cherubs and of seraphs stand;
Ethereal spirits, who in flight
Outstrip the rapid speed of light.
4 To God all nature owes its birth;
He form'd this pond'rous globe of earth,
He rais'd the glorious arch on high,
And measur'd out the azure sky.
5 In all our Maker's grand designs
Omnipotence with wisdom shines;
His works, through all this wondrous frame,
Bear the great impress of his name.
6 Rais'd on devotion's lofty wing,
Let us his high perfections sing;
O let his praise employ our tongue,
While list'ning worlds applaud the song!
MID the splendors of thy state,
My God, thy love appears
With the soft radiance of the moon
Among a thousand stars.
2 Nature through all her ample round
Thy boundless power proclaims,
And in melodious accent speaks
The goodness of thy names.
3 Thy justice, holiness, and truth,
Our solemn awe excite;
But the sweet charms of sov'reign grace
O'erwhelm us with delight.
4 Sinai, in clouds and smoke and fire,
Thunders thy dreadful name;
But Sion sings, in melting notes,
The honors of the Lamb.
5 In all thy doctrines and commands,
Thy counsels and designs,
In ev'ry work thy hands have fram'd,
Thy love supremely shines.
6 Angels and men the news proclaim
Through earth and heav'n above,
The joyful, the transporting news,
That God, the Lord, is love!
Let all mankind their tribute bring; All that have breath, your voices raise In songs of never-ceasing praise.
2 The spacious earth on which we tread, And wider heav'ns stretch'd o'er our head, A large and solemn temple frame
To celebrate its Builder's fame.
3 Here the bright sun, that rules the day,
As through the sky he makes his way,
To all the world proclaims aloud
The boundless sov'reignty of God.
4 When from his courts the sun retires,
And with the day his voice expires,
The moon and stars adopt the song,
And through the night their praise prolong.
5 The list'ning earth with rapture hears
Th' harmonious music of the spheres,
And all her tribes the notes repeat,
That God is wise, and good, and great.
6 But man, endow'd with nobler powers,
His God in nobler strains adores;
His is the gift to know the song,
As well as sing with tuneful tongue.
TERNAL and immortal King!
Thy peerless splendors none can bear, But darkness veils seraphic eyes, When God with all his glory's there.
2 Yet faith can pierce the awful gloom,
The great Invisible can see;
And with its tremblings mingle joy,
In fix'd regards, great God! to thee.
3 Then ev'ry tempting form of sin,
Aw'd by thy presence, disappears;
And all the glowing, raptur'd soul
The likeness, it contemplates, wears.
4 0 ever present to my heart!
Witness to its extreme desire;
Behold it presses on to thee,
For it hath caught the heav'nly fire.
5 This one petition would I urge:
To bear thee ever in my sight!
In life, in death, in worlds unknown,
My only portion and delight.
OFFICES OF FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT.
The doctrine and use of the Trinity.
ATHER of glory! to thy name
Immortal praise we give;
Who dost an act of grace proclaim,
And bid us rebels live.
2 Immortal honour to the Son
Who makes thine anger cease; Our lives he ransom'd with his own, And died to make our peace.
3 To thine almighty Spirit be
Immortal glory giv'n,
Whose influ'nce brings us near to thee,
And trains us up for heav'n.
4 Let men, with their united voice,
Adore th' eternal God,
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