4 For good is the Lord, inexpressibly good,
And we are the work of his hand;
His mercy and truth from eternity stood,
And shall to eternity stand.
Praise to the Author of National Blessings.
1 GREAT God, beneath whose piercing eye
The world's extended kingdoms lie,
We bow before thy heavenly throne;
Thy favoring smile upholds them all ;
Thine anger smites them, and they fall;
Thy power we see, thy greatness own. 2 To thee, with grateful hearts, we raise The tribute of exulting praise,
Our country's Guardian, Guide, and Friend; Preserved by thee for ages past,
For ages let thy kindness last,
And e'er thy sheltering care extend.
1 GREAT God, let all my tuneful powers
Awake, and sing thy mighty name :
Thy hand revolves my circling hours,
Thy hand, from whence my being came.
2 Seasons and moons, still rolling round
In beauteous order, speak thy praise ;
And years, with smiling mercy crowned,
To thee successive honors raise.
3 My life, my health, my friends, I owe
All to thy vast, unbounded love;
Ten thousand precious gifts below,
And hope of nobler joys above.
4 Thus will I sing till nature cease,
Till sense and language are no more,
And after death thy boundless grace,
Through everlasting years, adore.
Thanksgiving for National Prosperity.
1 HOW rich thy gifts, Almighty King!
From thee our public blessings spring;
Th' extended trade, the fruitful skies,
The treasures liberty bestows,
Th' eternal joys the gospel shows,
All from thy boundless goodness rise.
2 Here commerce spreads the wealthy store,
Which pours from every foreign shore;
Science and art their charms display;
Religion teaches us to raise
Our voices to our Maker's praise,
As truth and conscience point the way. 3 With grateful hearts, with joyful tongues, To God we raise united songs;
His power and mercy we proclaim;
This land through every age shall own,
Jehovah here has fixed his throne,
And triumph in his mighty name.
4 Long as the moon her course shall run,
Or man behold the circling sun,
O, still may God amidst us reign;
Crown our just counsels with success,
With peace and joy our borders bless,
And all our sacred rights maintain.
Thanksgiving for National Peace.
1 GREAT Ruler of the earth and skies,
A word of thine Almighty breath
Can sink the world, or bid it rise;
Thy smile is life, thy frown is death.
2 When angry nations rush to arms,
And rage, and noise, and tumult reign,
And war resounds its dire alarms,
And slaughter dyes the hostile plain ; 3 Thy sovereign eye looks calmly down,
And marks their course, and bounds their power. Thy law the angry nations own,
And noise and war are heard no more.
4 Then peace returns with balmy wing;
Sweet peace! with her what blessings fled! Glad plenty laughs, the valleys sing,
Reviving commerce lifts her head.
5 Thou good, and wise, and righteous Lord!
All move subservient to thy will;
Both peace and war await thy word,
And thy sublime decrees fulfil.
6 To thee we pay our grateful songs;
Thy kind protection still implore:
O, may our hearts, and lives, and tongues,
Confess thy goodness, and adore.
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.
2 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 blesséd ray.
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.
4 Praise, praise to thee!
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.
OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE YEAR.
1 WHILE, with ceaseless course, the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here;
Fixed in an eternal state,
They have done with all below;
We a little longer wait,
But how little none can know.
2 As the wingéd arrow flies,
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts and leaves no trace behind;
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream :
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise ;
All below is but a dream.
3 Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live,
With eternity in view;
Bless thy word to old and young;
Fill us with a Saviour's love ;
When our life's short race is run,
May we dwell with thee above.
A Song for the opening Year.
1 GREAT God, we sing that mighty hand
By which supported still we stand;
The opening year thy mercy shows;
Let mercy crown it till its close.
2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still we are guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed,
By his unerring counsel led.
3 With grateful hearts the past we own;
The future- - all to us unknown
We to thy guardian care commit,
And peaceful leave before thy feet.
4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
Be thou our joy, and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.
5 When death shall close our earthly songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our Helper, God, in whom we trust,
In brighter worlds our souls shall boast.
New Year. Prayer for a Blessing.
1 NOW, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal,
And make thy glory known;
Now let us all thy presence feel,
And soften hearts of stone.
2 From all the guilt of former sin
May mercy set us free ;
And let the year we now begin,
Begin and end with thee.
3 Send down thy spirit from above,
That saints may love thee more,
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