4 O Lord, in all our ways we'll own
Thy providential power,
Intrusting to thy care alone
The lot of every hour.
L.M.-Providential bounties surveyed and improved. Matt. v. 45.
1 FATHER of lights, we sing thy name,
Who kindlest up the lamp of day;
Wide as he spreads his golden flame,
His beams thy power and love display.
2 Fountain of good, from thee proceed
The copious drops of genial rain,
Which thro' the hills and thro' the meads,
Revive the grass, and swell the grain.
3 Through the wide world thy bounties spread;
Yet millions of our guilty race,
Though by thy daily bounty fed,
Affront thy law, and spurn thy grace.
4 Not so may our forgetful hearts
O'erlook the tokens of thy care;
But what thy liberal hand imparts,
Still own in praise, still ask in prayer.
5 So shall our suns more grateful shine,
And showers in sweeter drops shall fall,
When all our hearts and lives are thine,
And thou, our God, enjoy'd in all.
6 Jesus, our brighter sun, arise;
In plenteous showers thy Spirit send;
Earth then shall grow a paradise,
And in the heavenly Eden end.
C.M.-The Lord's people his portion. Deut. xxxii. 9. 1 SOVEREIGN of nature, all is thine, The air, the earth, the sea;
By thee the orbs celestial shine,
And cherubs live by thee.
2 Rich in thy own essential store;
Thou call'st forth worlds at will;
Ten thousand and ten thousand more
Would hear thy summons still.
3 What treasure wilt thou then confess,
And thy own portion call?
What by peculiar right possess,
Imperial Lord of all.
4 Thine Israel thou wilt stoop to claim,
Wilt mark them out for thine;
Ten thousand praises to thy name
For goodness so divine!
5 That I am thine, my soul would boast,
And boast its claim to thee:
Nor shall God's property be lost,
Nor God be torn from me.
P.M.-The eternal God his people's refuge and support.
Deut. xxxiii. 27.
1 BEHOLD, the great eternal God
Spreads everlasting arms abroad,
And calls our souls to shelter there.
Wonders of mingled power and grace
To all his Israel he displays,
Guarded from danger and from fear.
2 Thither my feeble soul shall fly
When terrors press, and death is nigh,
And there will I delight to dwell:
On that high tower I rear my head
Serene, nor knows my heart to dread,
Amidst surrounding hosts of hell.
3 The shadow of the Almighty's wings
Composure unmolested brings,
While threatening horrors round me crowd; In vain the storms of rattling hail
The walls of this retreat assail,
And the wide tempest roars aloud.
4 In louder strains my fearless tongue
Shall warble its victorious song,
My Father's graces to proclaim;
He bears his infant offspring on
To glory radiant as his throne,
And joys eternal as his name.
C.M.-The Traveller's Hymn.
1 HOW are thy servants blest, O Lord!
How sure is their defence!
Eternal Wisdom is their guide,
Their help Omnipotence.
2 In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by thy care,
Through burning climes I pass'd, unhurt,
And breath'd in tainted air.
3 Think, O my soul! devoutly think,
How, with affrighted eyes,
Thou saw'st the wide extended deep,
In all its horrors rise.
4 Confusion dwelt on every face,
And fear in every heart;
When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs,
O'ercame the pilot's art.
5 Yet then from all my griefs, O Lord!
Thy mercy set me free;
Whilst in the confidence of
prayer,
My soul took hold on thee.
6 For though in dreadful whirls we hung, High on the broken wave,
I knew thou wert not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save.
7 The storm was laid, the winds retir'd,
Obedient to thy will;
The sea that roar'd at thy command,
At thy command was still.
8 In midst of dangers, fears, and death, Thy goodness I'll adore;
And praise thee for thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more
9 My life, if thou preserv'st my life,
Thy sacrifice shall be;
And death, if death must be my doom,
Shall join my soul to thee.
C.M.-The mystery of Providence.
1 GOD moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform,
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
L.M.-God leading his people through fire and water.
Isa. xliii. 1, 2.
1 LET Jacob to his Maker sing,
And praise his great redeeming King;
Called by a new, a gracious name,
Let Israel loud his God proclaim.
2 He knows our souls in all their fears,
And gently wipes our falling tears,
Forms trembling voices to a song,
And bids the feeble heart be strong.
3 Then let the rivers swell around,
And rising floods o'erflow the ground;
Rivers, and floods, and seas divide,
And homage pay to Israel's guide.
4 Then let the fires their rage display,
And flaming terrors bar their way,
Unburnt, unsing'd, he leads them through,
And makes the flames refreshing too.
5 The fires but on their bonds shall prey,
The floods but wash their stains away,
And grace divine new trophies raise,
Amidst the deluge and the blaze.
C.M.-The blind and weak led and supported in God's way.
Isa. xlii. 16.
1 PRAISE to the radiant source of bliss,
Who gives the blind their sight,
And scatters round their wondering eyes
A flood of sacred light.
2 In paths unknown he leads them on
To his divine abode,
And shews new miracles of grace
Through all the heavenly road.
3 The ways all rugged and perplex'd,
He renders smooth and straight,
And strengthens every feeble knee
To march to Zion's gate.
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