ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

2 We triumph in that shepherd's name,
Still watchful for our good,

Who brought the eternal covenant down,
And sealed it with his blood.

3 So may thy Spirit seal my soul,
And mould it to thy will,

That my fond heart no more may stray,
But keep thy covenant still.

4 Still may we gain superior strength,
And press with vigour on,
Till full perfection crown our hopes,
And fix us near thy throne.

THE ATTRIBUTES, WORD, WORKS, PROVIDENCE, AND CHARACTERS OF GOD.

28.

L.M.-God imperfectly known by his creatures.

1 GREAT God! in vain man's narrow view Attempts to look thy nature through: Our labouring powers with reverence own Thy glories never can be known. 2 Not the high seraph's mighty thought, Who countless years his God has sought, Such wondrous height or depth can find, Or fully trace thy boundless mind. 3 Yet, Lord, thy kindness deigns to show Enough for mortal minds to know:

While wisdom, goodness, power divine, Through all thy works and conduct shine. 4 O, may our souls with rapture trace Thy works of nature and of grace; Explore thy sacred name, and still Press on to know and do thy will!

29.

C.M.-God unsearchable. Job xi. 7, &e.

1 SHALL foolish, weak, short-sighted man,
Beyond archangels go-

The great Almighty God explain,
Or to perfection know?

2 His attributes divinely soar
Above the creature's sight,
And prostrate seraphim adore
The glorious Infinite.

3 Jehovah's everlasting days,
They cannot numbered be;
Incomprehensible the

Of thine immensity.

space

4 Thy wisdom's depths by reason's line
In vain we search to sound,

Or stretch our labouring thought to assign
Omnipotence a bound.

5 The brightness of thy glories leaves.
Description far below;

Nor man, nor angel's heart conceives
How deep thy mercies flow.

6 Thy love is most unsearchable,
And dazzles all above;

They gaze, but cannot count or tell
The treasures of thy love.

30.

L.M.-The Eternity and Immutability of God. Ps. cii. 25-28.

1 GREAT former of this various frame,

Our souls adore thine awful name!
And bow and tremble, while they praise
The ancient of eternal days.

2 Thou, Lord, with unsurpris'd survey,
Saw'st nature rising yesterday,
And, as to-morrow, shall thine eye
See earth and stars in ruin lie.

3 Beyond an angel's vision bright,
Thou dwell'st in self-existent light,
Which shines with undiminish'd ray,
While suns and worlds in smoke decay.
4 Our days a transient period run,
And change with every circling sun;
And, in the firmest state we boast,
A moth can crush us into dust.
5 But let the creatures fall around;
Let death consign us to the ground;
Let the last general flame arise,
And melt the arches of the skies;
6 Calm as the summer's ocean, we
Can all the wreck of nature see,
While grace secures us an abode,
Unshaken as the throne of God.

31.

C.M.-The Omniscience of God. Ps. xxxvii. 18.

1 TO thee, my God, my days are known,
My soul enjoys the thought;
My actions all before thy face,
Nor are my faults forgot.

2 Each secret breath devotion vents,
Is vocal to thine ear;

And all my walks of daily life
Before thine eye appear.

3 The vacant hour, the active scene,
Thy mercy shall approve;

And every pang of sympathy,
And every care of love.

4 Each golden hour of beaming light
Is guided by thy rays;

And dark affliction's midnight gloom
A present God surveys.

5 Full in thy view through life I pass,
And in thy view I die;

And when each mortal bond is broke,
Shall find my God is nigh.

6 Stripp'd of its little earthly all,
My soul in smiles shall go,
And in an heavenly heritage
Its Father's bounty know.

32.

L.M. The Omnipresence of God. 1 OH Thou, by long experience tried, Near whom no grief can long abide; My Lord, how full of sweet content I pass my years of banishment. 2 All scenes alike engaging prove, To souls impress'd with sacred love! Where'er they dwell, they dwell in thee; In heaven, in earth, or in the sea. 3 To me remains nor place nor time; My country is in every clime;

I can be calm and free from care
On any shore since God is there.

4 While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay.

5 Could I be cast where thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot;
But regions none remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.

33.

L.M.-The Wisdom of God.

1 WAIT, O my soul, thy Maker's will;
Tumultuous passions all be still!
Nor let a murmuring thought arise,
His ways are just, his counsels wise.

2 He in the thickest darkness dwells,
Performs his work, the cause conceals;
And though his footsteps are unknown,
Judgment and truth support his throne.
3 In heaven and earth, and air and seas,
He executes his wise decrees;

And by his saints it stands confest,
That what he does is ever best.
4 Then, O my soul, submissive wait,
With reverence bow before his seat;
And 'midst the terrors of his rod,
Trust in a wise and gracious God.

34.

L.M.-God the Eternal Sovereign. Ps. xciii.
1 WITH glory clad, with strength array'd,
The Lord that o'er all nature reigns,
The world's foundations strongly laid,
And the vast fabric still sustains.
2 How sure established is thy throne,
Which shall no change or period see,
For thou, O Lord, and thou alone,
Art King from all eternity.

3 The floods, O Lord, lift up their voice,
And toss their troubled waves on high:
But God above can still their noise,
And make the angry sea comply.

4 Thy promise, Lord, is ever sure,

And they that in thy house would dwell, That happy station to secure,

Must still in holiness excel.

35.

L.M.-The Greatness of God, and the meanness of the creatures.

Is. xl. 15-17.

1 YE weak inhabitants of clay,

Ye trifling insects of a day,

Low in your native dust bow down,

Before the Eternal's awful throne.

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »