Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy.
5 Through every period of my life,
Thy goodness I'll pursue;
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
6 Through all eternity, to thee,
A joyful song I'll raise:
But Oh! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.
HYMN 32, L. M.
Song of Gratitude and Praise.
mf 1 COD of my life! through all my days,
I'll tune the grateful notes of praise;
The song shall wake with opening light,
And warble to the silent night.
2 When anxious cares would break my rest,
And griefs would tear my throbbing breast,
The notes of praise, ascending high,
Shall check the murmur and the sigh.
3 When death o'er nature shall prevail,
And all the powers of language fail,
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break,
And mean the thanks I cannot speak.
4 But Oh! when that last conflict 's o'er,
And I am chained to earth no more,-
With what glad accents shall I rise
To join the music of the skies!
5 Then shall I learn th' exalted strains,
That echo through the heavenly plains,
And emulate, with joy unknown,
The glowing seraphs round thy throne.
HYMN 33, 8s and 7s.
Praise to Jehovah.
SAINTS! with pious zeal attending,
Now a grateful tribute raise;
Joyful songs, to heaven ascending,
Join the universal praise.
2 Round Jehovah's footstool kneeling,
Lowly bend with contrite souls;
Here his milder grace revealing,
Here his wrath no thunder rolls.
3 Every secret fault confessing,
Deed unholy-thought of sin,—
Seize! Oh! seize the proffered blessing,-
Grace from God, and peace within.
4 Heart and voice with rapture swelling
Still the song of glory raise;
On the theme immortal dwelling,
Join the universal praise.
HYMN 34, L. M.
Retirement and Devotion.
Y God! permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee;
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.
2 Why should my passions mix with earth,
And thus debase my heavenly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And let my God, my Saviour, go?
3 Call me away from flesh and sense;
One sovereign word can draw me thence;
I would obey the voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign.
4 Be earth, with all her scenes, withdrawn; Let noise and vanity be gone;
In secret silence of the mind,
My heaven-and there my God, I find.
HYMN 35, C. M.
God, our Refuge.
aff 1 DEAR refuge of my weary soul!
On thee, when sorrows rise,
On thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies.
2 To thee I tell each rising grief,
For thou alone canst heal;
Thy word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel.
3 But Oh! when gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call thee mine;
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline.
4 Hast thou not bid me seek thy face?
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace
Be deaf when I complain?
5 No, still the ear of sovereign grace
Áttends the mourner's prayer:
Oh! may I ever find access
To breathe my sorrows there!
6 Thy mercy-seat is open still;
Here let my soul retreat;
With humble hope attend thy will,
And wait beneath thy feet.
HYMN 36, C. M.
Thirsting after God.
HEN fainting in the sultry waste,
And parched with thirst extreme,
The weary pilgrim longs to taste
The cool refreshing stream:-
2 So longs the weary, fainting mind,
Oppressed with sins and woes,
Some soul-reviving spring to find,
Whence heavenly comfort flows.
3 Oh! may I thirst for thee, my God!
With ardent, strong desire;
And still, through all this desert road,
To taste thy grace aspire.
4 Then shall my prayer to thee ascend,
A grateful sacrifice;
My mourning voice wilt thou attend,
And grant me full supplies.
HYMN 37, C. M.
God, as seen in Nature.
SING th' almighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
mf 2 I sing the wisdom that ordained,
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.
3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.
4 Lord! how thy wonders are displayed,
Where'er I turn mine eye!
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
5 There's not a plant nor flower below,
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.
6 Creatures, that borrow life from thee,
Are subject to thy care;
There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.
HYMN 38, C. M.
Rejoicing in God, our Father.
shout aloud the Father's grace,
And sing the Saviour's love;
Soon shall you join the glorious theme,
In loftier strains above.
mf 2 God, the eternal, mighty God,
To dearer names descends;
Calls you his treasure and his joy,
His children and his friends.
3 My Father, God! and may these lips
Pronounce a name so dear?
Not thus could heaven's sweet harmony
Delight my listening ear.
4 Thanks to my God for every gift
His bounteous hands bestow;
And thanks eternal for that love
Whence all those comforts flow.
Perfections of God in his Government.
JEHOVAH reigns his throne is high,
His robes are light and majesty;
His glory shines, with beams so bright,
No mortal can sustain the sight.
2 His terrors keep the world in awe;
His justice guards his holy law;
His love reveals a smiling face;
His truth and promise seal the grace.
3 Through all his works his wisdom shines,
And baffles Satan's deep designs;
His power is sovereign to fulfill
The noblest counsels of his will.
4 And will this glorious Lord descend
To be my father and my friend?
Then let my songs with angels join;
Heaven is secure, if God be mine.
HYMN 40, C. M.
God, all in all.
1 MY God, my portion, and my love,
I've none but thee in heaven above,
Or on this earthly ball.
2 What empty things are all the skies,
And this inferior clod!
There's nothing here deserves my joys,-
There's nothing like my God.
3 In vain the bright, the burning sun
Scatters his feeble light;
'Tis thy sweet beams create my noon;
If thou withdraw,-'t is night.
mp 4 How vain a toy is glittering wealth, If once compared with thee!
Or what's my safety, or my health,
Or all my friends, to me?
5 Were I possessor of the earth,
And called the stars my own,
Without thy graces and thyself,
I were a wretch undone.
6 Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore;
Grant me the visits of thy face,
And I desire no more.
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