FAITH IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE.
LORD, we adore Thy vast designs,
The obscure abyss of providence,
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to pierce with mortal sense.
Through seas and storms of deep distress
We sail by faith, and not by sight;
Faith guides us in the wilderness
Through all the terrors of the night.
Dear Father, in the way we 've trod,
Our eyes Thy leading hand can view;
Still will we lean upon our God,
His arm shall bear us safely through.
THROUGH all the various shifting scene
Of life's mistaken ill or good,
Thy hand, O God! conducts, unseen,
The beautiful vicissitude.
All things on earth, and all in heaven,
On Thine eternal will depend;
And all for greater good were given,
Would man pursue the appointed end.
Indifferent let my wishes be;
Passion be calm, and dumb be pride,
And fixed my soul, great God! on Thee.
VHE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD.'
FATHER, how wide Thy glory shines,
How high Thy wonders rise!
Known through the earth by thousand signs,
By thousands through the skies.
Those mighty orbs proclaim Thy power,
Their motions speak Thy will;
And, on the wings of every hour,
We read Thy patience still.
O, may I bear some humble part
In the immortal song!
Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,
And love command my tongue.
GOD, in the high and holy place,
Looks down upon the spheres ;
Yet in His providence and grace
To every eye appears.
He bows the heavens; the mountains stand,
A highway for our God:
He walks amidst the desert-land;
'Tis Eden where He trod.
The forests in His strength rejoice;
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old, the Lord God's voice
Is heard among the trees.
In every stream His bounty flows,
Diffusing joy and wealth;
every breeze His spirit blows, -
The breath of life and health.
His blessings fall in plenteous showers
Upon the lap of earth,
That teems with foliage, fruits, and flowers,
And rings with infant mirth.
If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful beyond compare
Will Paradise be found!
GOD'S PRESENCE IN NATURE.
THOU art, O God! the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee:
Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine.
When day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of even,
And we can almost think we gaze
Through golden vistas into heaven,
Those hues that make the sun's decline
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are Thine.
When youthful spring around us breathes,
Thy spirit warms her fragrant sigh;
And every flower the summer wreathes
Is born beneath Thy kindling eye:
Where'er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine.
THERE's nothing bright, above, below,
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,
But in its light my soul can see
Some feature of the Deity.
There's nothing dark, below, above,
But in its gloom I trace Thy love,
And meekly wait the moment when
Thy touch shall make all bright again.
The heavens, the earth, where'er I look,
Shall be one pure and shining book,
Where I may read, in words of flame,
The glories of Thy wondrous name.
In darker days, and nights of storm,
Men knew Thee but to fear Thy form,
And in the reddest lightnings saw
Thine arm avenge insulted law.
In brighter days we read Thy love
In flowers beneath, in stars above;
And, in the track of every storm,
Behold Thy beauty's rainbow form.
Even in the reddest lightning's path
We see no vestiges of wrath,
But always Wisdom,-perfect Love,
From flowers below to stars above.
See, from on high sweet influence rains
On palace, cottage, mountains, plains;
No hour of wrath shall mortals fear,
For the Almighty Love is here.
THE Ocean looketh up to heaven,
As 't were a living thing;
The homage of its waves is given,
In ceaseless worshipping.
They kneel upon the sloping sand
As bends the human knee;
A beautiful and tireless band,
The priesthood of the sea.
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