3 The vices of the mind he heals,
And cures the pains that nature feels,
Redeems the soul from death, and saves
Our wasting life from threatening graves.
4 Our youth decayed, his power repairs;
His mercy crowns our growing years;
He satisfies our mouth with good,
And fills our hopes with heavenly food.
5 He sees the oppressor and the oppressed,
And often gives the sufferers rest;
But will his justice more display
In the last great rewarding day.
1 FATHER! to thy kind love we owe
All that is fair and good below;
Bestower of the health that lies
On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes!
2 Giver of sunshine and of rain!
Ripener of fruits on hill and plain!
Fountain of light, that, rayed afar,
Fills the vast urns of sun and star!
3 Who send'st thy storms and frosts to bind
The plagues that rise to waste mankind;
Then breathest o'er the naked scene
Spring gales, and life, and tender green.
4 Yet deem we not that thus alone
Thy mercy and thy love are shown;
For we have learned, with higher praise,
And holier names, to speak thy ways.
5 In woe's dark hour, our kindest stay!
Sole trust when life shall pass away!
Teacher of hopes that light the gloom
Of death, and consecrate the tomb!
6 Patient, with headstrong guilt to bear;
Slow to avenge, and kind to spare;
Listening to prayer, and reconciled
Full quickly to thy erring child!
1 FATHER and Friend! thy light, thy love,
Beaming through all thy works, we see;
Thy glory gilds the heavens above,
And all the earth is full of thee.
2 Thy voice we hear, thy presence feel,
Whilst thou, too pure for mortal sight,
Involved in clouds, invisible,
Reignest the Lord of life and light.
3 We know not in what hallowed part
Of the wide heavens thy throne may be;
But this we know, that where thou art,
Strength, wisdom, goodness, dwell with thee.
4 And through the various maze of time,
And through the infinity of space,
We follow thy career sublime,
And all thy wondrous footsteps trace.
5 Thy children shall not faint nor fear,
Sustained by this delightful thought,
Since thou, their God, art everywhere,
They cannot be where thou art not.
1 GREAT God! in vain man's narrow view Attempts to look thy nature through; Our laboring 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 And yet 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 truth, and still
Press on to know and do thy will.
The Good Providence of God.
1 GREAT Source of unexhausted good,
Who giv'st us health, and friends, and food,
And peace, and calm content!
Like fragrant incense to the skies,
Let songs of grateful praises rise,
For all thy blessings lent.
2 Through all the dangers of the day,
Thy providence attends our way,
To guard us and to guide;
Thy grace directs our wandering will,
And warns us, lest seducing ill
Allure our souls aside.
3 Thy smiles, with a reviving light,
Cheer the long, darksome hours of night,
And gild the thickest gloom;
Thy watchful love, around our bed,
Doth softly, like a curtain, spread,
And guard the peaceful room.
4 To thee, our lives, our all, we owe,
Our peace and sweetest joys below,
And brightest hopes above;
Then let our lives and all that 's ours,
Our souls and all our active powers,
Be sacred to thy love.
God just and wise in afflicting.
1 IF Providence to try my heart,
Afflictions should prepare,
To God submissive may I bend,
And keep me from despair.
2 Whate'er he orders must be just;
Then let me kiss the rod,
Nor, poorly sunk, at all distrust
The goodness of my God.
3 The mind to which I owe my own,
To guide this mind is wise;
And he, to whom my faults are known,
The fittest to chastise.
4 Then, till life's latest sands are run,
O teach me, Power Divine,
Still to reply, Thy will be done,
Whate'er becomes of mine.
Divine Goodness in Affliction.
1 GREAT Ruler of all nature's frame,
We own thy power divine;
We hear thy breath in every storm,
For all the winds are thine.
2 Wide as they sweep their sounding way,
They work thy sovereign will;
And, awed by thy majestic voice,
Confusion shall be still.
3 Thy mercy tempers every blast
To those who seek thy face;
And mingles, with the tempest's roar,
The whispers of thy grace.
4 Those gentle whispers let me hear,
Till all the tumult cease;
And gales of Paradise shall lull
My weary soul to peace.
Trust in Him at all Times.
1 GOD's power directs the rushing wind,
Or tips the bolt with flame;
His goodness breathes in every breeze,
And warms in every beam.
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