Hymns and Spiritual Songs Part 36

1 Great G.o.d, how infinite art thou!

What worthless worms are we!

Let the whole race of creatures bow And pay their praise to thee.

2 Thy throne eternal ages stood, Ere seas or stars were made; Thou art the ever-living G.o.d Were all the nations dead.

3 Nature and time quite naked lie To thine immense survey, From the formation of the sky To the great burning day.

4 Eternity with all its years Stands present in thy view; To thee there's nothing old appears, Great G.o.d, there's nothing new.

5 Our lives thro' various scenes are drawn, And vex'd with trifling cares; While thine eternal thought moves on Thine undisturb'd affairs.

6 Great G.o.d, how infinite art thou!

What worthless worms are we!

Let the whole race of creatures bow And pay their praise to thee.

Hymn 2:68.

The humble wors.h.i.+p of heaven.

1 Father, I long, I faint to see The place of thine abode, I'd leave thy earthly courts and flee Up to thy seat, my G.o.d!

2 Here I behold thy distant face, And 'tis a pleasing sight; But to abide in thine embrace Is infinite delight.

3 I'd part with all the joys of sense To gaze upon thy throne; Pleasure springs fresh for ever thence, Unspeakable, unknown.

4 [There all the heavenly hosts are seen, In s.h.i.+ning ranks they move, And drink immortal vigour in, With wonder and with love.

5 Then at thy feet with awful fear Th' adoring armies fall With joy they shrink to _nothing_ there, Before th' Eternal All.

6 There I would vie with all the host In duty and in bliss, While _less than nothing_ I could boast, And _vanity_ confess.] _[1]_

7 The more thy glories strike mine eyes, The humbler I shall lie; Thus while I sink, my joys shall rise Unmeasurably high.

_[1]_ Isaiah 40:17.

Hymn 2:69.

The faithfulness of G.o.d in his promises.

1 [Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme, And speak some boundless thing, The mighty works, or mightier name Of our eternal King.

2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness, And sound his power abroad, Sing the sweet promise of his grace, And the performing G.o.d.

3 Proclaim "salvation from the Lord "For wretched dying men;"

His hand has writ the sacred word With an immortal pen.

4 Engrav'd as in eternal bra.s.s, The mighty promise s.h.i.+nes; Nor can the powers of darkness rase Those everlasting lines.]

5 [He that can dash whole worlds to death And make them when he please, He speaks, and that almighty breath Fulfils his great decrees.

6 His very word of grace is strong As that which built the skies, The voice that rolls the stars along Speaks all the promises.

7 He said, "Let the wide heaven be spread,"

And heaven was stretch'd abroad; "Abrah'm, I'll be thy G.o.d," he said, And he was Abrah'm's G.o.d.

8 O, might I hear thine heavenly tongue But whisper, "Thou art mine;"

Those gentle words should raise my song To notes almost divine.

9 How would my leaping heart rejoice And think my heaven secure!

I trust the all-creating voice, And faith desires no more.]

Hymn 2:70.

G.o.d's dominion over the sea, Psalm 107. 23 &c.

1 G.o.d of the seas, thy thundering voice Makes all the roaring waves rejoice, And one soft word of thy command Can sink them silent in the sand.

2 If but a Moses wave thy rod, The sea divides, and owns its G.o.d: The stormy floods their Maker knew, And let his chosen armies thro'.

3 The scaly flocks amidst the sea, To thee, their Lord, a tribute pay; The meanest fish that swims the flood Leaps up, and means a praise to G.o.d.

4 [The larger monsters of the deep, On thy commands attendance keep, By thy permission sport and play, And cleave along their foaming way.

5 If G.o.d his voice of tempest rears, Leviathan lies still and fears, Anon he lifts his nostrils high, And spouts the ocean to the sky.]

6 How is thy glorious power ador'd, Amidst those watery nations, Lord!

Yet the bold men that trace the seas, Bold men, refuse their Maker's praise.

7 [What scenes of miracle they see, And never tune a song to thee!

While on the flood they safely ride, They curse the hand that smooths the tide.

8 Anon they plunge in watery graves, And some drink death among the waves: Yet the surviving crew blaspheme, Nor own the G.o.d that rescu'd them.]

9 O for some signal of thine hand!

Shake all the seas, Lord, shake the land, Great Judge, descend, lest men deny That there's a G.o.d that rules the sky.

From the 70th to the 109th Hymn, I hope the reader will forgive the neglect of the rhyme in the first and third lines of the stanza.

Hymn 2:71.

Praise to G.o.d from all creatures.

1 The glories of my Maker G.o.d, My joyful voice shall sing, And call the nations to adore Their Former and their King.

2 'Twas his right-hand that shap'd our clay, And wrought this human frame, But from his own immediate breath Our n.o.bler spirits came.

3 We bring our mortal powers to G.o.d, And wors.h.i.+p with our tongues: We claim some kindred with the skies And join th' angelic songs.