1 HIGH in the heavens, eternal God!
Thy goodness in full glory shines:
Thy truth shall break through every cloud
That veils or darkens thy designs.
2 For ever firm thy justice stands,
As mountains their foundations keep:
Wise are the wonders of thy hands,
Thy judgments are a mighty deep.
3 How free the riches of thy grace,
Whence all our hopes and comforts spring!
And how, in dangers and distress,
We fly to thy protecting wing!
4 Life, like a fountain rich and free,
Springs from the presence of our Lord;
And, in thy light, our souls shall see
The glories promised in thy word.
7s. & 5s. M.
Devout and Lowly Praise.
1 LORD, in heaven, thy dwelling-place,
Hear the praises of our race,
And, while hearing, let thy grace
Dews of blessing pour;
While we know, benignant King,
That the praises which we bring
Are a worthless offering,
Blessing makes it more.
2 More of truth, and more of might,
More of love, and more of light,
More of reason, and of right,
By our souls be known:
Thou canst make the humblest song
Sweet, acceptable and strong,
As the strains the angel-throng
Pours around the throne.
Divine Guidance and Protection.
1 THY ways, O Lord, with wise design,
Are framed upon thy throne above,
And every dark or bending line
Meets in the centre of thy love.
2 With feeble light, and half obscure,
Poor mortals thine arrangements view,
Not knowing that the least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.
3 Thy flock, thine own peculiar care, .
Though now they seem to roam uneyed,
Are led or driven only where
They best and safest may abide.
4 They neither know nor trace the way;
But, trusting to thy piercing eye,
None of their feet to ruin stray,
Nor shall the weakest fail, or die.
Divine Perfections celebrated.
1 THE glories, Lord, thy works proclaim,
Our pious wonder raise;
Thy word still more reveals thy name,
Ånd more exalts thy praise.
2 Thy mercies far beyond the rounds
Of earth and heaven extend;
Thy truth outlives the narrow bounds
Where time and nature end.
3 Thy righteousness maintains its throne,
Though mountains sink to dust;
Thy judgments are a deep unknown,
Yet always wise and just.
4 Unbounded is thy goodness, Lord!
How bright its wonders shine!
Of present, past, and future good,
The glory all be thine.
1 WHILST far and wide thy scattered sheep,
Great Shepherd, in the desert stray,
Thy love, by some, is thought to sleep,
Unmindful of the wanderer's way.
2 But Truth declares, They shall be found,
Wherever now they darkling roam:
Thy voice shall through the desert sound,
And summon every wanderer home.
3 Upon the darkened paths of sin,
Instead of terror's sword and flame,
Shall love descend,-for love can win
Far more than terror can reclaim.
4 And they shall turn their wandering feet,
By grace redeemed, by love controlled,
Till all at last in Eden meet,
One happy, universal fold.
1 ALMIGHTY FATHER, gracious Lord,
Kind Guardian of my days,
Thy mercies let my heart record
In songs of grateful praise.
2 In life's first dawn, my tender frame
Was thy indulgent care;
Long ere I could pronounce thy name,
Or breathe the infant prayer.
3 Each rolling year new favors brought
From thy exhaustless store;
But, O! in vain my laboring thought
Would count thy mercies o'er.
4 Lord, when this mortal frame decays,
And every weakness dies,
Complete the wonders of thy grace,
And raise me to the skies.
1 GOD is Love: his mercy brightens
All the path in which we move;
Bliss he grants, and woe he lightens:
God is Light, and God is Love.
2 Chance and change are busy ever;
Life decays, and ages move;
But his mercy waneth never:
God is Light, and God is Love.
3 E'en the hour that darkest seemeth,
Will his changeless goodness prove;
From the cloud his glory streameth:
God is Light, and God is Love.
4 He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above:
Everywhere his mercy shineth:
God is Light, and God is Love.
Superintending Providence.
1 THE Lord our God is clothed with might,
The winds obey his will;
He speaks, and in his heavenly height
The rolling sun stands still.
2 Rebel, ye waves! and o'er the land
With threatening aspect roar:
The Lord uplifts his awful hand,
And chains you to the shore.
3 Howl, winds of night! your force combine;
Without his high behest,
Ye shall not in the mountain-pine
Disturb the sparrow's nest.
4 Ye nations! bend, in reverence bend,
Ye monarchs! wait his nod,
And bid the choral song ascend
To celebrate our God.
1 FATHER! adored in worlds above,
Thy glorious name be hallowed still;
Thy kingdom come with power and love,
And earth, like heaven, obey thy will.
2 Lord! make our daily wants thy care;
Forgive the sins that we forsake:
And, as we in thy kindness share,
Let fellow-men of ours partake.
3 Evils beset us every hour;
Thy kind protection we implore:
Thine is the kingdom, thine the power;
Be thine the glory evermore!
Providence in Mystery.
1 GOD moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
3 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
4 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
5 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
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