4 Where'er he spreads his beams abroad, He speaks the majesty of God;
All nature joins to show his praise : Thus God in every creature shines, Bright in the book of nature's lines, But brighter in the book of grace.
HYMN 6. L. M. [#]
Voice of Nature.
1 THE spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue, ethereal sky,`
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
2 The golden sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty hand.
3 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And, nightly, to the listening earth,
Repeats the story of her birth ;-
4 While all the stars, that round her burn,
And all the planets, in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
5 What though, in solemn silence, all
Move round this dark, terrestrial ball?
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing, as they shine,
"The hand that made us is divine."
HYMN 7. L. M. [#]
Sovereign Creator.
1 BEFORE Jehovah's royal 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.
3 We'll crowd his gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise,
And earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
Shall fill his courts with sounding praise.
4 Wide as the world is his command,
Vast as eternity his love;
Firm as a rock his truth must stand,
When rolling years shall cease to move.
HYMN 8. C. M. [#]
Infinity of God.
1 GREAT GOD, how infinite art thou!
How weak and frail are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And homage pay to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere earth or heaven was made;
Thou art the ever-living God,
Were all the nations dead.
3 Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there's nothing old appears,
Great God, there's nothing new.
4 Our lives through varying scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares,
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
1 My God, thy boundless love I praise;
How bright on high its glories blaze!
How sweetly bloom below!
It streams from thine eternal throne;
Through heaven its joys forever run,
And all the earth o'erflow.
2 "Tis love that paints the purple morn,
And bids the clouds, in air upborne,
Their genial drops distil;
In every vernal beam it glows,
And breathes in every gale that blows,
And glides in every rill.
3 It robes in cheerful green the ground,
And pours its flowery beauties round,
Whose sweets perfume the gale;
Its bounties richly spread the plain,
The blushing fruit, the golden grain,
And smile on every vale.
4 But in thy word I see it shine
With grace and glories more divine,
Proclaiming sins forgiven;
There Faith, bright cherub, points the way
To realms of everlasting day,
And opens all her heaven.
HYMN 10. L. M. [#]
Majesty of God.
1 To God all nature owes its birth;
He formed this ponderous globe of earth;
He raised the glorious arch on high,
And measured out the azure sky.
2 He sits enthroned amidst the spheres,
And glory, like a garment, wears;
While boundless wisdom, power and grace,
Command our awe, invite our praise.
3 "Tis he who bids the tempests rise,
And rolls the thunder through the skies;
His voice the elements obey;
Wide o'er the earth extends his sway.
4 In every work and way divine,
Omnipotence and wisdom shine;
And goodness fixes still the end,
To which they all, unvarying, tend.
5 His power we trace on every side;
O, may his wisdom be our guide;
And while we live, and when we die,
May his almighty love be nigh.
HYMN 11. L. M. [#]
Omniscience and Omnipresence. 1 FATHER of all, omniscient Mind, Thy wisdom who can comprehend? Its highest point what eye can find, Or to its lowest depths descend? 2 If up to heaven's ethereal height, Thy prospect to elude, I rise, In splendour, there, supremely bright, Thy presence shall my sight surprise. 3 Thee, mighty God, my wondering soul, Thee, all her conscious powers adore, Whose being circumscribes the whole, Whose eyes the universe explore.
4 Thine essence fills this breathing frame It glows in every vital part, Lights up our souls with livelier flame, And feeds with life each beating heart. 5 To thee, from whom our being came, Whose smile is all the heaven we know, Inspired with this exalted theme,
To thee our grateful strains shall flow
HYMN 12. L. M. [#]
Greatness and Glory of God.
1 How great is our Creator, God,
In wisdom, majesty and might,
When he displays his power abroad,
And brings his wonders forth to light.
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