Lord! I confess with humble shame,
My offerings scarce deserve the name.
Fain would my labouring heart devise
To bring some nobler sacrifice :
It sinks beneath the mighty load:
What shall I render to my God?
To him I consecrate my praise,
To him the remnant of my days;
Yet what at best can I pretend,
Worthy such gifts from such a Friend?
In deep abasement, Lord, I see
My ignorance and poverty:
Enrich my soul with grace divine,
And make it worthier to be thine.
Praising God through the Whole of our Existence.
GOD of my life! through all its days,
My grateful powers shall sound thy praise;
The song shall wake with opening light,
And cheer the silent hours of night.
When anxious cares would break my rest,
And griefs would tear my throbbing breast,
Thy tuneful praises, rais'd on high,
Shall check the murmur and the sigh.
When death o'er nature shall prevail,
And all its powers of language fail,
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break,
And mean the thanks I cannot speak.
But oh when that last conflict's o'er,
And I am chain'd to earth no more,
With what glad accents shall I rise
To join the music of the skies.
The cheerful tribute will I give,
Long as a deathless soul can live :
A work so sweet, a theme so high,
Demands and crowns eternity.
Grateful Acknowledgement of God's constant Goodness.
GREAT Source of unexhausted good,
Who giv'st us health, and friends, and food,
And peace and calm content!
Like fragrant incense, to the skies,
Let songs of grateful praises rise,
For all the blessings lent.
Through all the dangers of the day,
Thy providence attends our way,
To guard us and to guide;
Thy grace directs our wandering will,
And warns us lest seducing ill
Allure our souls aside.
Thy smiles, with a reviving light,
Cheer the long darksome hours of night,
And gild the thickest gloom;
Thy watchful love, around our bed,
Doth softly like a curtain spread,
And guard the peaceful room.
To thee our lives, our all we owe,
Our peace and sweetest joys below,
And brighter hopes above:
Then let our lives, and all that's ours,
Our souls, and all our active powers,
Be sacred to thy love.
Thus, gracious Father, thee we praise;
And while our feeble songs we raise
To bless thee and adore,
Some spark of heavenly fire impart,
And teach each humble, grateful heart,
To bless and love thee more.
Thanksgiving for Social and Spiritual Blessings.
HOMAGE pay to God above-
God whose nature all is love!
In his praise your breath employ-
Gracious Source of every joy!
Those who led our early youth
In the paths of love and truth;
All who with affection's glow
Share our joys and griefs below;
All who e'er our wants redress'd,
Or felt with sympathizing breast ;-
All are blessings from above;
All are thine, thou God of love!
All our hopes of life and heaven,
Through thy grace alone are given;
Bliss eternal, pure, divine-
Every gift, O God! is thine.
Homage thus to thee we bring,
Of all good exhaustless Spring!
In thy praise our hearts employ,
Gracious Source of every joy!
Grateful Retrospect of the Changes of Life.
UNCHANG'D, O Lord, thro' changing years,
The purpose of thy love appears :
In life's successive plan we trace
A Father's care, a Father's grace.
In life's fair morn, how bright the ray
That beams on childhood's flowery way!
The guiltless joy that fills its breast,
In every act and look express'd.
And lo! in fair succession rise
Youth's brilliant hopes and eager joys,
And manhood's toil, and virtue's aim,
And pure affection's genial flame.
Nor less the bliss, as strength decays,
In peace, and hope, and silent praise,
And faith, that burns with brighter ray,
As life's vain prospects fade away.
Thy love, O God, that crowns our days,
In heaven renew'd, we hope to praise;
And as its circling ages flow,
Prolong the bliss begun below.
WHEN all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
Oh how shall words, with equal warmth,
The gratitude declare,
That glows in my enraptur'd heart!
But thou can'st read it there.
Unnumber'd comforts, gracious God!
'Thy tender care bestow'd,
Before my infant heart conceiv'd
From whom those comforts flow'd.
Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
Which tastes those gifts with joy.
Through every period of my life,
Thy goodness I'll pursue;
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
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Through all eternity, to thee
A joyful song I'll raise :
But oh! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.
Giving Thanks to God always in all Things.
GOD of my life! my thanks to thee,
Should, like thy gifts, continual be:
In constant streams thy bounty flows,
Nor end, nor intermission knows.
Thy kindness all my comforts gives;
My numerous wants thy hand relieves ;
Nor can I ever, Lord, be poor,
Who live on thine exhaustless store.
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If what I wish thy will denies,
I'll own thy dealings good and wise:
Afflictions which may make me mourn,
Thou canst, thou dost, to blessings turn.
Deep, Lord, upon my thankful breast,
Let all thy favours be imprest,
may never more forget
The sum, or any single debt.
Dispose me, each returning day,
For daily gifts my thanks to pay;
And, though thy gifts withdrawn should be, In all things to give thanks to thee.
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