47. 8, 8, 6 Μ.
Attendance upon religious Institutions.
1 I'LL bless Jehovah's glorious name,
Whose goodness heaven and earth proclaim,
With every morning light;
And at the close of every day,
To him my cheerful homage pay,
Who guards me through the night.
2 Then in his churches to appear,
And pay my humble worship there,
Shall be my sweet employ:
The day that saw my Saviour rise,
Shall dawn on my delighted eyes
With pure and holy joy.
3 With grateful sorrow in my breast,
I'll celebrate the dying feast
Of my departing Lord;
And while his perfect love I view,
His bright example I'll pursue,
And meditate his word.
Eternal Praise for divine Goodness.
1 T'LL praise my Maker with my breath, And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers'; My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being last, Or immortality endures.
2 Happy the man whose hopes rely
On God alone: He made the sky,
And earth, and seas, with all their train;
His truth for ever stands secure ;
He saves the oppressed; he feeds the poor,
And none shall find his promise vain.
3 The Lord hath sight to give the blind;
The Lord supports the sinking mind;
He sends the contrite spirit peace:
He helps the stranger in distress,
The widow and the fatherless,
And grants the prisoner sweet release.
4 He loves the good; he knows them well;
His love their joyful lips can tell ;
Their gracious God for ever reigns :
Let every tongue, let every age,
In this exalted work engage:
Praise him in everlasting strains!
The unceasing Goodness of our heavenly Father,
1 JEHOVAH GOD! thy gracious power
On every hand we see ;
O may the blessings of each hour
Lead all our thoughts to thee.
2 If on the wings of morn we speed
To earth's remotest bound,
Thy hand will there our footsteps lead,
Thy love, our path surround.
3 Thy power is in the ocean deeps,
And reaches to the skies;
Thine eye of mercy never sleeps,
Thy goodness never dies.
4 From morn till noon, till latest eve,
The hand of God we see;
And all the blessings we receive,
Ceaseless proceed from thee.
5 In all the varying scenes of time,
On thee our hopes depend;
Through every age, in every clime,
Our Father, and our Friend!
50. 10 & 11 s. M.
The unrivalled Power and Dominion of God.
1 JEHOVAH reigns! let every nation hear, And at his footstool bow with holy fear; Let heaven's high arches echo with his name,
And the wide-peopled earth his praise proclaim; Then send it down to hell's deep glooms resounding, Through all her caves in dreadful murmurs sounding.
2 He rules with wide and absolute command,
O'er the broad ocean and the steadfast land;
Jehovah reigns, unbounded and alone,
And all creation hangs upon his throne :
He reigns alone; let no inferior nature,
Usurp, or share the throne of the Creator.
3 This earthly globe, the creature of a day,
Though built by God's right hand, must pass away;
And long oblivion creep o'er mortal things,
The fate of empires, and the pride of kings:
Eternal night shall veil their proudest story,
And drop the curtain o'er all human glory.
4 The sun himself, with gathering clouds oppressed,
Shall in his silent, dark pavilion rest;
His golden urn shall break, and useless lie,
Amid the common ruins of the sky;
The stars rush headlong in the wild commotion,
And bathe their glittering foreheads in the ocean.
5 But fixed, O God! forever stands thy throne :
Jehovah reigns, a universe alone:
The eternal fire that feeds each vital flame,
Collected, or diffused, is still the same :
He dwells within his own unfathomed essence,
And fills all space with his unbounded presence.
6 But O! our highest notes the theme debase,
And silence is our least injurious praise:
Cease, cease, your songs; the daring flight control;
Revere him in the stillness of the soul:
With silent duty meekly bend before him,
And deep, within your inmost hearts, adore him.
The Coming and Kingdom of Christ. Ps. xcviii,
1 Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
The long-predicted king;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
2 Joy to the earth; the Saviour reigns! Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow,
To earth's remotest bound.
4 Thus God displays his truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.
God kind and merciful. Ps. cxlv. 14-19.
1 LET every tongue thy goodness speak,
Thou sovereign Lord of all!
Thy strengthening hands uphold the weak,
And raise the poor that fall.
2 When sorrow bows the spirit down,
Or want assails the breast,
Thy love can smooth the invader's frown,
And give the mourner rest.
3 The Lord supports our tottering days,
And guides our giddy youth:
Holy and just are all his ways,
And all his words are truth.
4 He knows the pain his servants feel,
He hears his children cry;
And their best wishes to fulfil,
His grace is ever nigh.
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