6 Before thy face thy church shall live,
And on thy throne thy children reign;
This dying world shall they survive,
And the dead saints be raised again.
Ver. 1-7. The Divine Goodness.
1 BLESS, O my soul, the living God;
Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad;
Let all the powers within me join
In work and worship so divine.
2 Bless, O my soul, the God of grace;
His favors claim thy highest praise;
Why should the wonders he hath wrought
Be lost in silence, and forgot?
3 'Tis he, my soul, that sent his Son
To die for crimes which thou hast done;
He owns the ransom, and forgives
The hourly follies of our lives.
4 The vices of the mind he heals,
And cures the pains that nature feels;
Redeems the soul from hell, and saves
Our wasting life from threatening graves.
5 Our youth decayed his power repairs;
His mercy crowns our growing years:
He satisfies our mouth with good,
And fills our hope with heavenly food.
6 He sees the oppressor and the oppressed,
And often gives the sufferers rest;
But will his justice more display
In the last great rewarding day.
7 His power he showed by Moses? hands,
And gave to Israel his commands;
But sent his truth and mercy down
To all the nations by his Son.
8 Let the whole earth his power confess;
Let the whole earth adore his grace;
The Gentile with the Jew shall join
In work and worship so divine.
Ver. 8-18. God's tender Mercy to his People. HE Lord, how wondrous are his ways! How firm his truth! how large his grace! He takes his mercy for his throne,
And thence he makes his glories known.
2 Not half so high his power hath spread
The starry heavens above our head,
As his rich love exceeds our praise,
Exceeds the highest hopes we raise.
3 Not half so far has nature placed
The rising morning from the west,
As his forgiving grace removes
The daily guilt of those he loves.
4 How slowly doth his wrath arise!
On swifter wings salvation flies;
And if he lets his anger burn,
How soon his frowns to pity turn!
5 Amidst his wrath compassion shines;
His strokes are lighter than our sins;
And while his rod corrects his saints,
His ear indulges their complaints.
6 So fathers their young sons chastise,
With gentle hands and melting eyes;
The children weep beneath the smart,
And move the pity of their heart.
7 The mighty God, the wise and just,
Knows that our frame is feeble dust;
And will no heavy loads impose,
Beyond the strength that he bestows.
8 He knows how soon our nature dies,
Blasted by every wind that flies;
Like grass we spring, and die as soon,
As morning flowers that fade at noon.
9 But his eternal love is sure
To all the saints, and shall endure;
From age to age his truth shall reign,
Nor children's children hope in vain.
Ver. 1-7. Spiritual and temporal Mercies.
OH bless the Lord, my soul;
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name,
Whose favors are divine.
Oh 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 that heals thy sicknesses,
And makes thee young again.
4 He crowns thy life with love,
When ransomed from the grave;
He that redeemed my soul from hell,
Hath sovereign power to save.
5 He fills the poor with good;
He gives the sufferers rest;
The Lord hath judgment for the proud,
And justice for th' oppressed.
His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known;
But sent the world his truth and grace,
By his beloved Son.
Ver. 8-18. Mercy in the midst of Judgment.
1 MY soul, repeat His praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
2 God will not always chide;
And when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
3 High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
4 His power subdues our sins;
And his forgiving love
Far as the east is from the west
Doth all our guilt remove.
5 The pity of the Lord
To those that fear his name,
Is such as tender parents feel;
He knows our feeble frame.
6 He knows we are but dust,
Scattered with every breath;
His anger, like a rising wind,
Can send us swift to death.
7 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.
8 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.
Ver. 19-22. God's universal Dominion.
HE Lord, the sovereign King,
Hath fixed his throne on high;
O'er all the heavenly world he rules,
And all beneath the sky.
2 Ye angels, great in might,
And swift to do his will,
Bless ye the Lord, whose voice ye hear,
Whose pleasure ye fulfill.
3 Let the bright hosts who wait
The orders of their King,
And guard his churches when they pray,
Join in the praise they sing.
4 While all his wondrous works,
Through his vast kingdom, show Their Maker's glory, thou, my soul, Shalt sing his graces too.
104 God glorious in Creation and Providence. 1 MY soul, thy great Creator praise:
When clothed in his celestial rays,
He in full majesty appears,
And like a robe his glory wears.
Note. This Psalm may be sung to a different metre
by adding the following two lines to every stanza, viz.
Great is the Lord; what tongue can frame
An equal honor to his name?
2 The heavens are for his curtains spread;
Th' unfathomed deep he makes his bed;
Clouds are his chariot, when he flies
On winged storms across the skies.
3 Angels, whom his own breath inspires,
His ministers, are flaming fires;
As swift as thought their armies move,
To bear his vengeance or his love.
4 The world's foundations by his hand
Are poised, and shall for ever stand;
He binds the ocean in his chain,
Lest it should drown the earth again.
5 When earth was covered with the flood,
Which high above the mountains stood ;
He thundered, and the ocean fled,
Confined to its appointed bed.
6 The swelling billows know their bound,
And in their channels walk their round;
Yet thence conveyed by secret veins,
They spring on hills, and drench the plains
7 He bids the crystal fountains flow,
And cheer the valleys as they go;
Tame heifers there their thirst allay,
And for the stream wild asses bray.
8 From pleasant trees which shade the brink,
The lark and linnet light to drink;
Their songs the lark and linnet raise,
And chide our silence in his praise.
9 God from his cloudy cistern pours
On the parched earth enriching showers;
The grove, the garden, and the field,
A thousand joyful blessings yield.
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