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Sun, moon, and stars Thy love declare,
In every golden ray;

Love draws the curtains of the night,
And love brings back the day.

Thy bounty every season crowns,
With all the bliss it yields;
With joyful clusters loads the vines,
With strengthening grain, the fields.

But chiefly Thy compassion, Lord,
In loving hearts is seen;
There, like a sun, Thy mercy shines,
Without a cloud between.

301.

THE BENEFICENCE OF GOD.

L. M.

GOD of the universe, whose hand
Hath sown with suns the fields of
space,
Round which, obeying Thy command,
Unnumbered worlds fulfil their race!

How vast the region where Thy will
Existence, form, and order gives,
Pleased the wide cup with joy to fill,
For all that grows, and feels, and lives.

Lord! while we thank Thee, let us learn
Beneficence to all below:

They praise Thee best whose bosoms burn Thy gifts on others to bestow.

302.

EVERY GOOD GIFT FROM THE FATHER.

L. M.

FATHER, to Thy kind love we owe
All that is fair and good below;
Bestower of the health that lies
On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes!
Giver of sunshine and of rain!
Ripener of fruits on hill and plain!
Fountain of light, that, rayed afar,
Fills the vast urns of sun and star!

Who send'st Thy storms and frosts to bind
The plagues that rise to waste mankind;
Then breathest, o'er the naked scene,
Spring gales, and life, and tender green.

Yet deem we not that thus alone,
Thy mercy and Thy love are shown;
For we have learned, with higher praise,
And holier names, to speak Thy ways.

In woe's dark hour, our kindest stay!
Sole trust when life shall pass away!
Teacher of hopes that light the gloom
Of death, and consecrate the tomb!

303.

HE SENDETH SUN AND RAIN.

L. M.

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.

Fountain of good! from Thee proceed
The copious drops of genial rain,
Which o'er the hill and through the mead
Revive the grass and swell the grain.

O, may not our forgetful hearts
O'erlook the tokens of Thy care;
But what Thy liberal hand imparts,
Still own in praise, still ask in prayer!

So shall our suns more grateful shine,
And showers in sweeter drops shall fall,
When all our hearts and lives are Thine,
And Thou, O God! enjoyed in all.

304.

THE SOURCE OF GOOD.

C. P. M.

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 praise arise,
For all Thy 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 brightest hopes above;
Then let our lives, and all that's ours,
Our souls, and all our active powers,
Be sacred to Thy love.

305.

'I WILL SING OF THY POWER AND THY MERCY.'

C. M.

OUR Father, God! Thy gracious power
every hand we see ;

On

O, may the blessings of each hour
Lead all our thoughts to Thee!

If, on the wings of morn, we speed
To earth's remotest bound,
Thy hand will there our footsteps lead,
Thy love, our path surround.

Thy power is in the ocean deeps,
And reaches to the skies;
Thine eye of mercy never sleeps,
Thy goodness never dies.

From morn till noon, till latest eve,
The hand of heaven we see;
And all the blessings we receive
Proceed, O God! from Thee.

In all the varying scenes of time,
On Thee our hopes depend;
Through every age, in every clime,
Our Father, and our Friend!

306.

THE CONSTANCY OF GOD'S LOVE.

C. M.

FAITHFUL, O Lord! Thy mercies are,
A rock that cannot move;
A thousand promises declare
Thy constancy of love.

Throughout the universe it reigns
Unalterably sure;

And, while the truth of God remains,
His goodness must endure.

HIS PROVIDENCE.

307.

'HIS TENDER MERCIES ARE OVER ALL.'

L. M.

OUR God is good; in every place
His love is known, His help is found;
His mighty arm and tender grace
Bring good from ills that hem us round.

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