HYMNS OF GENERAL PRAYER AND PRAISE, AND FOR THE INTRODUCTION AND CLOSE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
The Lord's Day Morning.
1 AGAIN the Lord of life and light
Awakes the kindling ray,
Unseals the eyelids of the morn,
And pours increasing day.
2 O what a night was that, which wrapp'd
The heathen world in gloom!
O what a sun, which broke, this day,
Triumphant from the tomb!
3 This day be grateful homage paid,
And loud hosannas sung;
Let gladness dwell in every heart,
And praise on every tongue.
4 Ten thousand differing lips shall join
To hail this welcome morn,
Which scatters blessings from its wings
To nations yet unborn.
5 Jesus, the friend of human kind,
Was crucified and slain!
Behold, the tomb its prey restores!
Behold, he lives again!
6 And while his conquering chariot wheels
Ascend the lofty skies,
Broken beneath his powerful cross,
Death's iron sceptre lies.
God's Sovereign Dominion.
1 ALMIGHTY GOD! thy powerful word
From nothing, all things brought;
Earth, seas, and skies, by thee their Lord,
With matchless skill were wrought.
2 By thee preserved, the whole remains
A proof of power divine;
And all, which this great whole contains,
By sovereign right is thine.
3 Sun, moon, and stars, thy views fulfil;
Through thee each planet rolls;
Earth, seas, and skies, obey thy will;
Thy power the world controls.
4 Thou over all art Lord supreme;
All else from thee derive;
No being can dispute thy claim,
Nor independent live.
5 To thee, and thee alone, we bow,
To thee alone would live;
All that we have to thee we owe,
Ourselves to thee we give.
6 Accept what now, with faith and love,
We to thy will resign;
And let thy grace preserve, improve,
And perfect, what is thine.
3. s. M.
Praise to the Creator.
ALMIGHTY Maker, God!
How wondrous is thy name!
Thy glories how diffused abroad
Through all creation's frame!
Nature in every dress
Her humble homage pays;
And finds a thousand ways to express
Thine undissembled praise.
My soul would rise and sing
To her Creator too :
Fain would my tongue adore my King,
And pay the homage duc.
In joy, O let me spend
The remnant of my days!
And oft to God, my soul ascend
In grateful songs of praise!
The Christian Sabbath.
1 ANOTHER Six days work is done,
Another sabbath is begun :
Improve, my soul! the sacred rest,
And learn for ever to be blessed.
2 This day may our devotions rise
As grateful incense, to the skies;
May heaven that peace divine bestow,
Which none, but they who feel it, know.
3 This holy calm within the breast,
Prepares for that eternal rest,
Which for the sons of God remains ;--
The end of cares, the end of pains.
4 With joy, great God, thy works we view,
In varied scenes, both old and new;
With praise we think on mercies past,
In hope, we future mercies taste.
5 In holy duties let the day,
In holy pleasures, pass away:
How sweet this sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of that which ne'er shall end!
God our Shepherd and Guardian. Ps. xxiii.
1 As the good shepherd gently leads
His wandering flocks to verdant meads,
Where winding rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the flowery landscape flow;
2 So God, the guardian of my soul,
Does all my erring steps control:
When lost in sin's perplexing maze,
He brings me back to virtue's ways.
3 Though I should journey through the plains
Where death in all his horror reigns,
My steadfast heart no ill shall fear,
For thou, my God! art with me there.
4 Thine ever-watchful providence
Is my support and my defence:
With thee I am of all possessed,
And in thy favour, fully blessed.
5 O bounteous God! my future days Shall be devoted to thy praise; And in thy house, thy sacred name And wondrous grace shall be my theme. + Pope's Collection.
Commencement of Public Worship.
1 Ar the portals of thy house,
Lord! we leave our mortal cares;
Nobler thoughts our souls engage,
Songs of praise and fervent prayers:
Pure and contrite hearts alone,
Find acceptance at thy throne.
2 Hapless men, whose footsteps stray
From the temple of the Lord!
Teach them Zion's heavenly way,
To their feet thy light afford:
Let the world united join,
To extol thy love divine.
Praise from all Mankind. Ps. c.
1 BEFORE Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations! bow with sacred joy;
Know that the Lord is God alone;
He can create, and he destroy.
2 His sovereign power, without our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us men;
And when like wandering sheep we strayed,
He brought us to his fold again.
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