THE UNSEARCHABLE DECREES OF PROVIDENCE.
LORD! how mysterious are thy ways!
How blind are we! how mean our praise!
Thy steps no mortal can explore,
'Tis ours, to wonder and adore.
Great GOD! we would not ask to see
What in futurity shall be :
If light and bliss attend our days,
Then let our future hours be praise.
Is darkness and distress our share?
Then let us trust thy guardian care :
Enough for us, if love divine
At length through ev'ry cloud shall shine.
Yet this we do desire to know,
Be this our only wish below,
"That we are thine,!"-This great request Grant, bounteous GOD!-and we are blest.
THE ETERNAL DOMINION OF GOD.
GREAT GOD! how infinite art thou !
How frail and weak are we!
Let ev'ry rank of being bow,
And sing their praise to thee.
Nature and time all open lie
To thine immense survey,
From the formation of the sky,
To the last awful day.
Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there's nothing old appears;
Great GOD! there's nothing new.
Our lives thro' various scenes are drawn,
And vex'd with trifling cares,
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturb'd affairs.
Great GOD! how infinite art thou!
How frail and weak are we!
Let ev'ry rank of being bow,
And sing their praise to thee.
THE MORAL GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
TH' almighty reigns, exalted high,
O'er all the earth, o'er all the sky!
Though clouds and darkness veil his throne,
Still all his ways and truth are known.
O ye who love his holy name!
Hate ev'ry work of sin and shame:
He guards the hearts of all his friends,
And from the snares of vice defends.
Immortal light, and joys unknown,
By his almighty arm are sown :
The glorious seeds shall spring and rise,
And the bright harvest bless our eyes.
Rejoice, ye righteous! and record
The sacred honours of the LORD:
For none but he who knows his love,
Can triumph in his holiness.
JEHOVAH reigns: the king of kings Assumes his robes of glorious light: Tremble thou earth! when he appears Array'd in majesty and might.
Under his rule th' unquiet world
Shall gain stability and peace;
Of old his empire did begin,
And, like himself, can never cease.
In vain the world's rebellious pow'rs
In tumult and commotion rise,
Like troubl'd waters of the sea,
To bid defiance to the skies.
Resist not his unequall'd strength;
He's far above your angry noise;
For ev'n the sea's unruly waves
Do calmly listen to his voice.
LORD, as thy pow'r can never fail,
So all thy promises are sure:
'Tis thy perfection to be true,
And theirs that serve thee to be pure.
OUR never-ceasing songs shall show
The mercies of the LORD;
And make succeeding ages know
That faithful is his word.
The sacred truths his lips pronounce,
Shall firm as heav'n endure;
And if he make a promise once,
Th' eternal word is sure.
His cov'nant he will ne'er revoke,
But keep his word in mind;
And what eternal love hath spoke,
Eternal truth will bind.
His faithful servants shall possess
A seat above the skies;
The meanest subject of his love
Shall to that glory rise.
Great GOD of heav'n! thy wond'rous ways
Are sung in worlds above;
And men on earth their voices raise
To thine unchanging love.
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