228.. The Omnipresence of God.
1 LORD, thou with an unerring beam
Surveyest all my powers;
My rising steps are watch'd by thee,
By thee my resting hours.
2 My thoughts, scarce struggling into birth,
Great God are known to thee;
Abroad, at home, still I'm enclosed
With thine immensity.
3 To thee the hidden paths of life
In open view appear;
Nor steals a whisper from my lips,
Without thy listening ear.
4 Where from thy Spirit shall I stretch
The pinions of my flight;
Or where, through nature's spacious range,
Shall I escape thy sight?
5 The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to thee;
O! may I ne'er provoke that power,
From which I cannot flee.
229. The glorious Majesty of God.
1 BLEST be our everlasting Lord,
Our Father, God, and King;
Thy sov'reign goodness we record,
Thy glorious power we sing.
2 By thee, the victory is given,
The majesty divine;
And strength, and might, and earth, and
heaven,
And all therein are thine.
3 The kingdom, Lord, is thine alone,
Who dost thy right maintain;
And high on thine eternal throne,
O'er men and angels reign.
4 Riches as seemeth good to thee,
Thou dost, and honour give;
And kings their power and dignity
Out of thy hand receive.
5 Thou hast on us the grace bestow'd,
Thy greatness to proclaim,
And therefore now we thank our God,
And praise thy glorious name.
6 Thy glorious Name, and Nature's powers, Thou dost to us make known;
And all the Deity is ours,
Through thy incarnate Son.
230. God as manifested in reference to his Creatures.
1 I GIVE immortal praise,
To God the Father's love,
For all my comforts here,
And better hopes above;
He sent his own eternal Son,
To die for sins that man had done.
2 To God the Son belongs,
Immortal glory too,
Who bought us with his blood,
From everlasting woe;
And now he lives, and now he reigns,
And sees the fruit of all his pains.
3 To God the Spirit's name,
Immortal worship give,
Whose new-creating power
Makes the dead sinner live;
His work completes the great design,
And fills the soul with joy divine.
Almighty God! to thee
Be endless honours done,
The undivided Three,
And the mysterious One:
Where Reason fails with all her powers,
There Faith prevails and love adores.
1 HOLY and reverend is the name
Of our eternal King;
Thrice holy Lord the angels cry,
Thrice holy let us sing.
2 Heaven's brightest lamps with Him compared,
How mean they look and dim!
The fairest angels have their spots,
When once compared with him.
3 Holy is He in all his works,
And truth is his delight;
But sinners, and their wicked ways,
Shall perish from his sight.
4 The deepest reverence of the mind
Pay, O my soul, to God;
Lift with thy hands a holy heart
To his sublime abode.
5 With sacred awe pronounce his name,
Whom words nor thoughts can reach ;
A broken heart shall please him more
Than the best forms of speech.
6 Thou holy God! preserve my soul
From all pollution free;
The pure in heart are thy delight,
And they thy face shall see.
The Counsels of God unsearchable.
1 CAN creatures to perfection find
Th' eternal uncreated mind?
Or can the largest stretch of thought
Measure and search his nature out?
2 'Tis high as heaven, 'tis deep as hell,
And what can mortals know or tell;
His glory spreads beyond the sky,
And all the shining worlds on high.
3 God is a King of power unknown,
Firm are the orders of his throne;
If he resolves, who dare oppose,
Or ask him why? or what he does?
4 He wounds the heart, and he makes whole,
He calms the tempest of the soul;
When he shuts up in long despair,
Who can remove the heavy bar?
5 He gave the vaulted heaven its form,
The crooked serpent, and the worm;
He breaks the billows with his breath,
And smites the sons of pride to death.
6 These are a portion of his ways,
But who shall dare approach his face?
Who can endure his light, or stand
To hear the thunders of his hand?
The Providence of God supreme.
1 KEEP silence, all created things,
And wait your Maker's nod;
My soul stands trembling while she sings
The honours of her God.
2 Chain'd to the throne a volume lies,
With all the fates of men;
Each angel here his rule descries,
Drawn by th' eternal pen.
3 His providence unfolds the book,
And makes his counsels shine;
Each opening leaf and every stroke,
Fulfils some deep design.
4 Here he exalts neglected worms,
To sceptres and a crown;
And there the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down.
5 My God, I would not long to see
My fate with curious eyes;
What gloomy lines are writ for me,
Or what bright scenes may rise.
6 In thy fair book of life and grace,
O may I find my name
Recorded in some humble place,
Beneath my Lord the Lamb.
The Providence of God wise and good.
1 GOD moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sov'reign will.
3 Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break,
In blessings on your head.
4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
1 YE humble souls approach your God,
With songs of sacred praise;
For he is good, immensely good,
And kind are all his ways.
2 All nature owns his guardian care,
In him we live and move;
But nobler benefits declare
The wonders of his love.
3 He gave his Son, his only Son,
To ransom rebel worms;
'Tis here he makes his goodness known,
In its diviner forms.
4 To this dear refuge, Lord, we come,
'Tis here our hope relies;
A safe defence, a peaceful home,
When storms of trouble rise.
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