Thy mercies let my heart record
In songs of grateful praise.
2 In life's first dawn, my tender frame
Was thy indulgent care,
Long ere I could pronounce thy name,
Or breathe the infant prayer.
3 When reason with my stature grew,
Now weak her brightest ray!
How little of my God I knew!
How apt from thee to stray!
4 Around my path what dangers rose!
What snares o'erspread my road;
No power could guard me from my foes,
But my preserver, God.
5 When life hung trembling on a breath, "Twas thy unceasing love
That sav'd me from impending death,
And bade my fears remove.
6 Lord, when this mortal frame decays,
And every weakness dies,
Complete the wonders of thy grace,
And raise me to the skies.
HYMN DCCXXI.
Mercy to the Penitent.
1 OPPREST with fear, opprest with grief,
To God I breath'd my cry:
His mercy brought divine relief,
And wip'd my tearful eye.
2 His mercy chas'd the shades of death, And snatch'd me from the grave:
may his praise employ that breath
Which mercy deigns to save!
3 Come, O ye saints! your voices raise
To God in grateful songs;
And let the mem'ry of his grace
Inspire your hearts and tongues.
4 Her deepest gloom when sorrow spreads
And light and hope depart;
His smile celestial morning sheds,
And joy revives the heart.
5 Then let my utmost glory be
To raise thy honours high;
Nor let my gratitude to thee
In guilty silence die.
6 To thee, my gracious God! I raise
My thankful heart and tongue:
O be thy goodness and thy praise
My everlasting song!
HYMN DCCXXII.
The Example of Christ. 1 John ii. 6.
1 AND is the gospel peace and love?
So let our conversation be;
The serpent blended with the dove,
Wisdom and meek simplicity.
2 Whene'er the angry passions rise, And tempt our thoughts or tongues to strife,
On Jesus let us fix our eyes,
Bright pattern of the Christian life!
3 O how benevolent and kind!
How mild! how ready to forgive!
Be his the temper of our mind,
And his the rules by which we live.
4 To do his heav'nly Father's will,
Was his employment and delight :
Humanity and holy zeal
Shone thro' his life divinely bright!
5 Dispensing good where'er he came,
The labours of his life were love:
If then we love our Saviour's name,
Let his divine example move.
6 But ah, how blind! how weak we are,
How frail! how apt to turn aside!
Lord, we depend upon thy care,
And ask thy spirit for our guide!
HYMN DCCXXIII.
The Voice of Nature.
1 THERE is a God, all nature speaks, Thro' earth, and air, and seas, and skies, See, from the clouds his glory breaks, When the first beams of morning rise!
2 The rising sun, serenely bright,
O'er the wide world's extended frame,
Inscribes, in characters of light
His mighty Maker's glorious name.
3 Diffusing life, his influence spreads,
And health and plenty smile around :
And fruitful fields, and verdant meads,
Are with a thousand blessings crown'd.
4 Almighty goodness, pow'r divine,
The fields and verdant meads display;
And bless the hand which made them
shine,
With various charms profusely gay.
5 For man and beast, here daily food
In wide diffusive plenty grows;
And there, for drink, the crystal flood
In streams sweet winding gently flows.
6 The flow'ry tribes, all blooming rise,
Above the faint attempts of art:
Their bright, inimitable dyes
Speak sweet conviction to the heart.
7 Ye curious minds who roam abroad,
And trace creation's wonders o'er!
Confess the footsteps of the God,
And bow before him, and adore.
HYMN DCCXXIV.
A Hymn for the Spring.
1 WHILE beauty clothes the fertile vale And blossoms on the spray,
And fragrance breathes in every gale,
How sweet the vernal day!
2 How kind the influence of the skies
Soft showers, with blessings fraught,
Bid verdure, beauty, fragrance rise,
And fix the roving thought.
3 0 let my wandering heart confess,
With gratitude and love,
The bounteous hand that deigns to bless
The garden, field, and grove.
4 That bounteous hand my thoughts adore, Beyond expression kind,
Hath sweeter, nobler gifts in store,
To bless the craving mind.
5 Inspir❜d to praise, I then shall join
Glad nature's cheerful song;
And love and gratitude divine
Attune my joyful tongue.
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