The Bounties of Providence acknowledged.
1 FATHER of lights! we sing thy name,
Who kindlest up the lamp of day;
Wide as he spreads his golden flame,
His beams thy power and love display.
2 Fountain of good! from thee proceeds,
In copious drops, the genial rain,
Which o'er the hills, and through the meads,
Revives the grass, and swells the grain.
3 Through the wide world thy bounties spread ;
Yet thousands of our guilty race,
Though by thy daily bounty fed,
Affront thy law, reject thy grace.
4 Not so may our forgetful hearts
O'erlook the tokens of thy care;
But what thy liberal hand imparts,
Still own in praise, still ask in prayer.
5 So shall our suns more grateful shine,
And showers in richer drops shall fall,
When all our hearts and lives are thine,
And thou, O God! enjoyed in all.
Praise in fruitful and in barren Seasons.
1 PRAISE to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let thy praise our tongues employ:
2 For the blessings of the field,
For the stores the gardens yield,
For the vine's exalted juice,
For the generous olive's use.
3 Flocks that whiten all the plain,
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain,
Clouds that drop their fattening dews,
Suns that temperate warmth diffuse;
4 All that spring, with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land;
All that liberal autumn pours
From her rich, o'erflowing stores ; —
5 These to thee, our God, we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow;
And for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.
6 Yet should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the ripening ear;
Should the fig-tree's blasted shoot
Drop her green, untimely fruit;
7 Should thine altered hand restrain
Th' early and the latter rain,
Blast each opening bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy;
8 Still to thee our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise;
And, when every blessing's flown,
Love thee for thyself alone.
1 GOD of the year! with songs of praise
And hearts of love, we come to bless
Thy bounteous hand, for thou hast shed
Thy manna o'er our wilderness.
In early spring-time thou didst fling
O'er earth its robe of blossoming;
And its sweet treasures, day by day,
Rose quickening in thy blessed ray.
2 And now they whiten hill and vale,
And hang on every vine and tree,
Whose pensile branches, bending low,
Seem bowed in thankfulness to thee.
The earth, with all its purple isles,
Is answering to thy genial smiles;
And gales of perfume breathe along,
And lift to thee their voiceless song.
3 God of the seasons! thou hast blest
The land with sunlight and with showers,
And plenty o'er its bosom smiles
To crown the sweet autumnal hours;
Praise-praise to thee! Our hearts expand
To view these blessings of thy hand,
And on the incense-breath of love
Ascend to their bright home above.
1 GREAT God! at whose all-powerful call
At first arose this beauteous frame,-
By thee the seasons change, and all
The changing seasons speak thy name.
2 Thy bounty bids the infant year
From winter storms recovered rise;
When thousand grateful scenes appear,
Fresh opening to our wondering eyes.
3 O how delightful 'tis to see
The earth in vernal beauty drest! While in each herb, and flower, and tree, Thy blooming glories shine confest! 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 Around us, in the teeming field, Stands the rich grain, or purpled vine: At thy command they rise, to yield The strengthening bread, or cheering wine. 6 Indulgent God! from every part Thy plenteous blessings largely flow; We see we taste-let every heart With grateful love and duty glow.
The Seasons of the Year. Ps. 147.
1 WITH songs and honors sounding loud,
Address the Lord on high;
Over the heavens he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.
2 He sends his showers of blessings down
To cheer the plains below;
He makes the grass the mountains crown,
And corn in valleys grow.
3 His steady counsels change the face
Of the declining year;
He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.
4 His hoary frost, his fleecy snow
Descend and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.
5 He sends his word, and melts the snow,
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.
6 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word:
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.
1 ETERNAL Source of every joy!
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
To hail thee Sovereign of the year.
2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
By thee the sun is taught to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.
3 The flowery spring, at thy command,
Perfumes the air and paints the land
The summer suns with vigor shine
To raise the corn and cheer the vine.
4 Thy hand, in autumn, richly pours
Through all our coasts redundant stores ;
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more the face of horror wear.
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