3 Before his throne a shining band
Of cherubs and of seraphs stand;
Ethereal spirits, who in flight
Outstrip the rapid speed of light.
4 To God all nature owes its birth;
He form'd this pond'rous globe of earth,
He rais'd the glorious arch on high,
And measur'd out the azure sky.
5 In all our Maker's grand designs
Omnipotence with wisdom shines;
His works, through all this wondrous frame,
Bear the great impress of his name.
6 Rais'd on devotion's lofty wing,
Let us his high perfections sing;
O let his praise employ our tongue,
While list'ning worlds applaud the song!
MID the splendors of thy state,
My God, thy love appears
With the soft radiance of the moon
Among a thousand stars.
2 Nature through all her ample round
Thy boundless power proclaims,
And in melodious accent speaks
The goodness of thy names.
3 Thy justice, holiness, and truth,
Our solemn awe excite;
But the sweet charms of sov'reign grace
O'erwhelm us with delight.
4 Sinai, in clouds and smoke and fire,
Thunders thy dreadful name;
But Sion sings, in melting notes,
The honors of the Lamb.
5 In all thy doctrines and commands,
Thy counsels and designs,
In ev'ry work thy hands have fram'd,
Thy love supremely shines.
6 Angels and men the news proclaim
Through earth and heav'n above, The joyful, the transporting news, That God, the Lord, is love!
A Song of praise to God.
1T God, the universal King,
Let all mankind their tribute bring; All that have breath, your voices raise In songs of never-ceasing praise.
2 The spacious earth on which we tread, And wider heav'ns stretch'd o'er our head, A large and solemn temple frame
To celebrate its Builder's fame.
3 Here the bright sun, that rules the day,
As through the sky he makes his way,
To all the world proclaims aloud
The boundless sov'reignty of God.
4 When from his courts the sun retires,
And with the day his voice expires,
The moon and stars adopt the song,
And through the night their praise prolong.
5 The list'ning earth with rapture hears
Th' harmonious music of the spheres,
And all her tribes the notes repeat,
That God is wise, and good, and great.
6 But man, endow'd with nobler powers,
His God in nobler strains adores;
His is the gift to know the song,
As well as sing with tuneful tongue.
TERNAL and immortal King!
Thy peerless splendors none can bear,
But darkness veils seraphic eyes,
When God with all his glory's there.
2 Yet faith can pierce the awful gloom,
The great Invisible can see;
And with its tremblings mingle joy,
In fix'd regards, great God! to thee.
3 Then ev'ry tempting form of sin,
Aw'd by thy presence, disappears;
And all the glowing, raptur'd soul
The likeness, it contemplates, wears.
4 0 ever present to my heart!
Witness to its extreme desire;
Behold it presses on to thee,
For it hath caught the heav'nly fire.
5 This one petition would I urge:
To bear thee ever in my sight!
In life, in death, in worlds unknown,
My only portion and delight.
OFFICES OF FATHER, SON, AND SPIRIT.
The doctrine and use of the Trinity.
1 FATHER of glory! to thy name
Immortal praise we give;
Who dost an act of grace proclaim,
And bid us rebels live.
2 Immortal honour to the Son
Who makes thine anger cease; Our lives he ransom'd with his own, And died to make our peace.
3 To thine almighty Spirit be
Immortal glory giv'n,
Whose influ'nce brings us near to thee,
And trains us up for heav'n.
4 Let men, with their united voice,
Adore th' eternal God,
And spread his honors and their joys
Through nations far abroad.
5 Let faith, and love, and duty join,
One general song to raise;
Let saints in earth and heav'n combine
In harmony and praise.
42 A song of praise to the ever-blessed Trinity. L. M.
BLESS'D be the Father and his love;
To whose celestial source we owe
Rivers of endless joy above,
And rills of comfort here below.
2 Glory to thee, great Son of God,
From whose dear wounded body rolls
A precious stream of vital blood,
Pardon and life for dying souls.
3 We give the sacred Spirit praise,
Who in our hearts of sin and wo
Makes living springs of grace arise,
And into boundless glory flow.
4 Thus God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, we adore,
That sea of life and love unknown,
Without a bottom or a shore.
43 Christian Thanksgiving. P. M. 9.8.9.8.8.8.
THAT I had a thousand voices!
A mouth to speak with thousand tongues! Then, with a heart his praise rejoices, Would I proclaim in grateful songs,
To all, wherever I might be,
What 'tis the Lord hath done for me.
2 Dear Father, endless praise I render,
For soul and body strangely join'd;
I praise thee, Guardian kind and tender,
For all the noble joys I find
So richly spread on every side, And freely for my use supplied. 3 What equal praises can I offer,
Dear Jesus, for thy mercy shown?
What pangs, my Savior, did'st thou suffer,
And thus for all my sins atone!
Thy death alone my soul could free
From Satan, to be blest with thee.
4 Honor and praise, still onward reaching,
Be thine too, Spirit of all grace,
Whose holy pow'r and faithful teaching
Give me among thy saints a place :
Whate'er of good in me may shine
Comes only from thy light divine.
5 Accept, O Lord, I now implore thee,
The feeble praise I give below:
In heav'n I better will adore thee,
When I an angel's strength shall know :
There would I lead the sacred choir,
And raise their hallelujahs high'r.
44 Praise to God as the Creator and Preserver.
EFORE Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred joy:
Know that the Lord is God alone;
He can create, and he destroy.
2 His sov'reign pow'r, without our aid,
Made us of clay, and form'd us men,
And, when like wand'ring sheep we stray'd,
He brought us to his fold again.
3 We are his people, we his care,
Our souls and all our mortal frame: What lasting honors shall we rear, Almighty Maker, to thy name!
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