61. L. M.

Praise for temporal and spiritual Blessings.
Ps. ciii.

1 BLESS, O my soul! the living God;
Call home my 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 favours claim thy highest praise
Let not the wonders he hath wrought,
Be lost in silence and forgot.

3 The vices of the mind he heals,

And soothes the pains which nature feels:
Relieves our sicknesses, and saves

Our wasting lives from threatening graves.

4 Our youth decayed, his power renews,
Each year new acts of mercy views;
And while he present good supplies,
Bids perfect bliss in prospect rise.

5 The weak, by lawless power opprest,
May on his arm securely rest,
Who will his justice wide display
In the last great rewarding day.

6 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.

7 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.

Gratitude to the unceasing Goodness of God. 1 FATHER divine! thy gracious power On every hand we see ;

O may the blessings of each hour
Lead all our thoughts to thee.

2 If on the wings of morn, we speed
To earth's remotest bound,

Thy hand will there our footsteps lead,
Thine arm our path surround.
3 Thy power is in the ocean deeps,
And reaches to the skies;

Thine eye of mercy never sleeps,
Thy goodness never dies.

4 From morn till noon, till latest eve,
The hand of God we see ;
And all the blessings we receive,
Ceaseless proceed from thee.

5 In all the various scenes of time,
On thee our hopes depend;
In every age, in every clime,
Our Father and our Friend.

63. L. M.

The innumerable Mercies of God thankfully owned. 1 WITH glad amazement, Lord! I stand, Amidst the bounties of thy hand;

How numberless these bounties are, How rich, how various, and how fair! 2 But O what poor return I make! What lifeless thanks I pay thee back! I own with sorrow and with shame, My offerings scarce deserve the name.

3 To thee I consecrate my praise,
To thee the remnant of my days;
Yet what the best I can pretend,
Requital worthy such a Friend!
4 In deep abasement, Lord! I see
My emptiness and poverty:
Give me a likeness more divine,
And make me worthier to be thine.
5 Give me at length an angel's tongue,
That heaven may echo with my song;
The theme, too great for time, shall be
The joy of immortality.

Praise to God in Life and Death.

1 My soul shall praise thee, O my God! Through all my mortal days;

And to eternity prolong

Thy vast, thy boundless praise.
2 In each bright hour of peace and hope,
Be this my sweet employ:

Devotion heightens all my bliss,
And sanctifies my joy.

3 In all thy mercies may my soul
A Father's bounty see;

Nor let the gifts thy grace bestows,
Estrange my heart from thee.

4 When gloomy care or keen distress,
Invades my throbbing breast,

My tongue shall learn to speak thy praise,
And soothe my pains to rest.

5 Nor shall my tongue alone proclaim
The honours of my God;

My life, with all my active powers,
Shall spread thy praise abroad.
6 Through every changing stage of life,
Each bright, each clouded scene;
Give me a meek and humble mind,
Still equal and serene.

7 And though these lips shall cease to move,
Though death shall close these eyes,
Yet shall my soul to nobler heights
Of joy and transport rise.

8 Then shall my powers, in endless strains, Their grateful tribute pay;

The theme demands an angel's tongue,
And an eternal day.

God, the Author of our Comforts and Hopes.
Ps. cxvi. 8, 9.

1 GREAT Source of life! our souls confess
The various riches of thy grace;
Crowned with thy mercy, we rejoice,
And in thy praise exalt our voice.

2 By thee, the vault of heaven was spread;
By thee, the earth's foundations laid;
And all the scenes of man's abode
Proclaim a wise and gracious God.

3 Thy quickening hand restores our breath,
When trembling on the verge of death;
Gently it wipes away our tears,
And lengthens life to future years.
4 Our lives are sacred to the Lord;
Kindled by him, by him restored:
And while our hours renew their race,
May sin no more these hours disgrace!

5 So when, at length, by thee we're led
Through unknown regions of the dead,
With hope triumphant may we move
To scenes of nobler life above!

The peculiar Goodness of God to his People.
Ps. xxxi. 19.

1 WITH pleasing wonder, Lord! we view The bounties of thy grace;

How much bestowed, how much reserved
For those that seek thy face.

2 Thy liberal hand, with worldly bliss
Ŏft makes their cup run o'er ;
And in the covenant of thy love
They find diviner store.

3 Here mercy hides their numerous sins,
Here grace their souls renews;
Here hope, and love, and joy, and peace
Their heavenly beams diffuse.

4 But O what treasures yet unknown
Are stored in worlds to come!
If these th' enjoyments of the way,
How happy is their home!

5 God to eternal glory calls,

And leads the wondrous way
To his own palace, where he reigns
In uncreated day.

6 Thus love through all our being flows,
An unexhausted stream:

And shall upon thy sacred mount
Still be my ceaseless theme.