4 Thine essence fills this breathing frame;
It glows in every vital part,
Lights up our souls with livelier flame,
And feeds with life each beating heart.
5 To thee, from whom our being came,
Whose smile is all the heaven we know,"
Inspired with this exalted theme,
To thee our grateful strains shall flow.
1 GREAT GOD, how infinite art thou!
How weak and frail are we !
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And homage pay to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere earth or heaven was made;
Thou art the ever-living God,
Were all the nations dead.
3 Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there s nothing old appears,
Great God, there's nothing new.
4 Our lives through varying scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares,
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
The Majesty of God.
1 THE Lord Jehovah reigns,
And royal state maintains,
His head with awful glories crowned,
Arrayed in robes of light,
Begirt with sovereign might,
And rays of majesty around.
2 Upheld by thy commands,
The world securely stands,
And skies and stars obey thy word;
Thy throne was fixed on high
Ere stars adorned the sky;
Eternal is thy kingdom, Lord.
3 Thy promises are true;
Thy grace is ever new;
There fixed, thy church shall ne'er remove;
Thy saints, with holy fear,
Shall in thy courts appear,
And sing thine everlasting love.
1 GOD is love; his mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove;
Bliss he wakes, and woe he lightens ;
God is wisdom, God is love.
2 Chance and change are busy ever;
Man decays, and ages move;
mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love.
3 E'en the hour that darkest seemeth
Will his changeless goodness prove;
From the gloom his brightness streameth;
God is wisdom, God is love.
4 He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above:
Everywhere his glory shineth;
God is wisdom, God is love.
1 THE Spirit moved upon the waves
That darkly rolled, a shoreless sea;
He spake the word, and light burst forth,
A glorious, bright immensity.
2 At his command, the mountains heaved
Their rocky pinnacles on high,
Island and continent displayed
Their desert grandeur to the sky.
3 The voice of God was heard again,
And lovely flowers and graceful trees
Appeared on every vale and plain,
And perfumes floated on the breeze.
4 The word went forth, and vast and high
The heavenly orbs gave out their light,
O'er all the earth and sea and sky;
The rulers of the day and night.
1 ABOVE, below, where'er I gaze,
Thy guiding finger, Lord, I view,
Traced in the midnight planets' blaze,
Or glist'ning in the morning dew:
Whate'er is beautiful or fair,
Is but thine own reflection there.
2 And when the radiant orb of light
Hath tipped the mountain tops with gold,
Smote with the blaze, my weary sight
Shrinks from the wonders I behold;
That ray of glory, bright and fair,
Is but thy living shadow there.
3 Thine is the silent noon of night,
The twilight eve, the dewy morn;
Whate'er is beautiful and bright,
Thy hands have fashioned to adorn.
Thy glory walks in every sphere,
And all things whisper, "God is here."
The Perfections of God.
1 How shall I praise th' eternal God,
That infinite Unknown?
Who can ascend his high abode,
Or venture near his throne ?
2 Those watchful eyes that never sleep,
Survey the world around:
His wisdom is a boundless deep,
Where all our thoughts are drowned.
3 Speak we of strength, his arm is strong,
To save or to destroy:
To him eternal years belong,
And never-ending joy.
4 He knows no shadow of a change,
Nor alters his decrees;
Firm as a rock his truth remains,
To guard his promises.
1 THE heaven of heavens cannot contain
The universal Lord;
Yet he in humble hearts will deign
To dwell and be adored.
2 Where'er ascends the sacrifice
Of fervent praise and prayer,
Or on the earth, or in the skies,
The God of heaven is there.
3 His presence is diffused abroad
Through realms, through worlds unknown; Who seek the mercies of our God Are ever near his throne.
Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God.
1 I SING the mighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
2 I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.
3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.
4 There's not a plant or flower below,
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.
1 Is there a lone and dreary hour,
When worldly pleasures lose their power?
My Father! let me turn to thee,
And set each thought of darkness free.
2 Is there a time of rushing grief,
Which scorns the prospect of relief?
My Father! break the cheerless gloom,
And bid
my heart its calm resume.
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