All are thy messengers, and all
Thy sacred pleasure, LORD, obey;
And all are training man to dwell,
Nearer to bliss, and nearer thee.
HOW cheerful along the gay mead,
The daisy and cowslip appear!
The flocks, as they carelessly feed,
Rejoice in the spring of the year.
The myrtles that shade the gay bowers,
The herbage that springs from the sod,
Trees, plants, cooling fruits, and sweet flowers,
All rise to the praise of my God.
Shall Man, the great Master of all,
The only insensible prove?
Forbid it, fair Gratitude's call!
Forbid it, devotion and love!
The LORD, who such wonders can raise;
And still can destroy with a nod;
My lips shall incessantly praise;
My heart shall rejoice in my GOD.
"GIVING THANKS UNTO GOD ALWAYS IN ALL
GREAT GOD! my joyful thanks to thee
Shall, like thy gifts, continual be:
In constant streams thy bounty flows,
Nor end nor intermission knows.
Thy kindness every blessing gives;
My num'rous wants thy hand relieves;
Nor can I ever, LORD, be poor,
Who live on thine exhaustless store.
If what I wish, thy will denies,
'Tis because thou art good and wise:
Afflictions, which may make me mourn,
Thou canst, thou dost, to blessings turn.
Deep, LORD, upon my thankful breast,
Let all thy favours be imprest;
That I may never more forget
The sum, or any single debt.
May I, with grateful heart, each day,
For daily gifts, my praises pay;
Delighted may I always be,
In all things to give thanks to thee!
PRAISING GOD THROUGH OUR EXISTENCE.
YES, I will bless thee, O my GOD!
Through all my mortal days;
And, to eternity prolong,
Thy wast, thy boundless praise.
In ev'ry smiling, happy hour,
Be this my sweet employ:
Thy praise refines my earthly bliss,
And doubles all my joy.
When gloomy care and keen distress
Afflict my throbbing breast,
My tears shall learn to speak thy praise,
And lull each pain to rest.
Nor shall my tongue alone proclaim
The honours of my GOD;
My life, with all its active pow'rs.
Shall spread thy praise abroad.
Not death itself shall end my song,
Tho' death will close mine eyes:
My thoughts shall then to nobler heights,
And sweeter raptures rise.
How will my happy spirit mount,
Confined in flesh no more,
Up to thy courts, where kindred minds,
In countless ranks adore!
There shall my lips, in endless praise,
Their grateful tribute pay;
The theme demands an angel's tongue,
And an eternal day,
PRAISE TO GOD IN PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY.
PRAISE to GOD, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous source of every joy,
Let thy praise our tongues employ;
For the blessings of the field,
For the stores the gardens yield,
For the vine's exalted juice,
For the gen'rous olive's use;
Flocks that whiten all the plain;
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain;
Clouds that drop their fatt'ning dews;
Suns that temperate warmth diffuse;
All that spring, with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land;
All that liberal autumn pours
From her rich o'erflowing stores;
These to thee, my GOD, we owe,
Source from whence all blessings flow,
And for these my soul shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.
Yet, should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the rip'ning ear;
Should the fig-tree's blasted shoot,
Drop her green, untimely fruit;
Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store;
Though the sick'ning flocks should fall,
And the herds desert the stall;
Should thine alter'd hand restrain
The early and the latter rain,
Blast each op'ning bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy;
Yet, to Thee my soul shall raise
Grateful vows, and solemn praise;
And when every blessing's flown,
Love thee for thyself alone..
When all thy mercies, O my God!
My rising soul surveys;
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