Praise for Providence and Grace.
1 My soul, praise the Lord, speak good of his name:
His mercies record, his bounties proclaim ;-
To God, their Creator, let all creatures raise
The song of thanksgiving, the chorus of praise!
2 Though hid from man's sight God sits on his throne,
Yet here by his works their author is known:
The world shines a mirror its Maker to show,
And heaven views its image reflected below.
3 Those agents of power-fire, water, earth, skyAttest the dread might of God, the Most High, Who rides on the whirlwind, while clouds veil his form,
Who smiles in the sunbeam, or frowns in the storm.
4 By knowledge supreme, by wisdom divine,
God governs this earth with gracious design;
O'er beast, bird, and insect his providence reigns,
Whose will first created, whose love still sustains.
5 And man, his last work, with reason endued, Who, falling through sin, by grace is renewedTo God, his Creator, let man ever raise
The song of thanksgiving, the chorus of praise.
Praise to the God of Nature. Ps. 136.
1 LET us with a joyful mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind-
For his mercies shall endure
Ever faithful, ever sure.
2 Let us sound his name abroad,
For of gods he is the God:
He by wisdom did create
Heaven's expanse, and all its state;
3 Did the solid earth ordain
How to rise above the main ;
Did by his commanding might
Fill the new-made world with light;
4 Caused the golden-tressed sun
All the day his course to run;
And the moon to shine by night
'Mid her spangled sisters bright.
5 All things living he doth feed:
His full hand supplies their need.
Let us therefore warble forth
His high majesty and worth.
6 He his mansion hath on high,
'Bove the reach of mortal
And his mercies shall endure
Ever faithful, ever sure.
Praise for Providence and Grace. Ps. 138.
1 WITH all our hearts, with all our powers,
We praise the Lord, whose bounteous hand
Unnumbered gifts profusely showers
On every nation, every land.
2 We praise him in his sacred fane;
We praise him midst the assembled throng; -
Nor will a gracious God disdain
The tribute of our earthly song.
3 We praise him for his faithful love,
We praise him for his blessed Son,
Who died for man, who reigns above
With God, the high and holy One.
1 THOU, who reign'st enthroned above!
Thou, in whom we live and move!
Thou, who art most great, most high!
God, from all eternity!
2 O, how sweet, how excellent
'Tis, when hearts and tongues consent-
Grateful hearts and joyful tongues—
Hymning thee in tuneful songs!
3 When the morning paints the skies,
When the stars of evening rise,
We thy praises will record,
Sovereign Ruler! mighty Lord!
4 Decks the spring with flowers the field Harvest rich doth autumn yield ?— Giver of all good below!
Lord! from thee these blessings flow.
5 Sovereign Ruler! mighty Lord!
We thy praises will record;
Giver of these blessings! we
Pour the grateful song to thee.
Praise for Creation and Providence. Ps. 186
1 LIFT your voice, and joyful sing
Praises to your heavenly King,
For his mercies far extend,
And his bounty knows no end.
2 Honor pay to heaven's high Lord,
And his wondrous deeds record;
Through the various realms of earth
Praise him, all of human birth-
3 Him whose wisdom, throned on high,
Built the mansions of the sky,
And the orbs that gild the pole
Bade through boundless ether roll-
4 Him who o'er this earthly ball
Looks with equal eye on all,
And to every thing which lives
Rich supplies of blessings gives.
5 To the great, eternal King,
Raise your voice, and joyful sing,
For his mercies wide extend,
And his bounty knows no end.
Praise to the God of Nature and Grace.
1 YE sons of men, with joy record
The various wonders of the Lord,
And let his power and goodness sound
Through all your tribes the earth around.
2 Let the high heavens your songs invite,-
Those spacious fields of brilliant light
Where sun, and moon, and planets roll,
And stars, that glow from pole to pole.
3 Sing, earth, in verdant robes arrayed,
Its herbs and flowers, its fruits and shade;-
Peopled with life of various forms,
Of fish, and fowl, and beasts, and worms.
4 View the broad sea's majestic plains,
And think how wide its Maker reigns:
That band remotest nations joins,
And on each wave his goodness shines.
5 But, O, that brighter world above,
Where lives and reigns incarnate love,-
God's only Son, in flesh arrayed,
For man a bleeding victim made!
6 Thither, my soul, with rapture, soar;
There, in the land of praise, adore.
The theme demands an angel's lay-
Demands an everlasting day.
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