The flocks, as they carelessly feed,.
Rejoice in the spring of the year.
2 The foliage that shades the gay bowers,
The herbage that springs from the clod,
Trees, plants, cooling fruits, and fair flow'rs,
All rise to the praise of our God.
Shall man, the great master of all,
The only insensible prove?
Forbid it fair gratitude's call,
Forbid it devotion and love.
4 The God who such wonders can raise,
Forever his name be ador'd:
Our lips shall incessantly praise,
Our hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.
The wisdom of God in his works.
1 SONGS of immortal praise belong
To thee, Almighty God;
To thee are due our heart, our tongue,
To spread thy name abroad.
2 How great the works thy hand has wrought; How glorious in our sight;
And men in ev'ry age have sought
Thy wonders with delight.
3 How most exact is nature's frame !
How wise th' Eternal Mind;
Thy counsels never change the scheme
Which thy first thoughts design'd.
4 Nature, and time, and earth, and skies,
Thy heav'nly skill proclaim;
What shall we do to make us wise,
But learn to read thy name?
5 To fear thy pow'r, to trust thy grace,
Is our divinest skill;
And he's the wisest of our race,
Who best obeys thy will.
All nations invoked to praise the Creator.
1 YE nations round the earth rejoice
Before the Lord, your sovereign King;
Serve him with cheerful heart and voice;
With all your tongues his glory sing,
2 The Lord is God! 'tis he alone
Doth life, and breath, and being, give ;
We are his work, and not our own;
The sheep that on his pastures live.
3 Enter his gates with songs of joy,
With praises to his courts repair;
And make it your divine employ
To pay your thanks and honours there.
4 The Lord is good, the Lord is kind;
Great is his grace, his mere sure;
And the whole race of man shall find
His truth from age to age endure.
An invocation to praise God our Creator.
1 LIFT your voice, and thankful sing
Praises to our heavenly King.
Be the Lord your only theme,
Who of Gods is God supreme;
For his blessings far extend,
And his mercy knows no end.
2 He asserts his just command,
By the wonders of his hand,
He whose wisdom thron'd on high,
Built the mansions of the sky;
For his blessings fa extend,
And his mercy knows no end.
3 He who bade the watery deep,
Under earth's foundation sleep;
And the orbs that guild the pole,
Through his boundless ether roll;
For his blessings far extend,
And his mercy knows no end.
4 Thou, O sun, whose powerful ray
Rules the empire of the day;
You, O moon and stars, whose light
Guilds the darkness of the night:
For his blessings far extend,
And his mercy knows no end.
5 He with food sustains, O earth,
All who claim from thee their birth;
Yield the homage that his name
From a creature's lips may claim:
For his blessings far extend,
And his mercy knows no end
HYMN XXIII.
Praise to God, our Creator and Preserver.
1 GIVE to our God immortal praise!
Mercy and truth are all his ways:
Wonders of grace to God belong;
Repeat his mercies in your song.
2 Give to the Lord of Lords renown;
The King of Kings with glory crown:
His mercies ever shail endure,
When lords and kings are known no more.
3 He built the earth; he spread the sky,
And fix'd the starry lights on high:
Wonders of grace to God belong.
Repeat his mercies in your song.
4 He fills the sun with morning light;
And bids the moon direct the night;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When suus and moons shall be no more.
5 Give to our God immortal praise, Mercy and truth are all his ways;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
6 Through this vain world he guides our feet, And leads us to his heav'nly seat;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When this vain world shall be no more.
All nature invoked to praise the Creator. 1 YE bless'd inhabitants of heaven,
To God be all our praises given;
O praise him in the realms that lie
Above the reach of mortal eye.
2 Praise him, thou sun, that round the pole
With restless course art seen to roll;
Ye moon and stars, his praise repeat;
Praise him ye heavens, his awful seat.
3 Nor let the heavens his praise confine:
O, all of earth, the chorus join!
Ye beasts, that range th' uncultur'd soil,
Or patient lend to man your toil.
4 Praise him, each bird that wings the air,
Each reptile, nurtur'd by his care;
And every wind, and every storm,
That duteous his commands perform.
5 Ye youthful bands, and virgin choir,
Each lisping babe, and hoary sire,
Wake to his name your grateful songs;
To him alone all praise belongs.
6 His glory earth's wide bounds o'erflows,
Nor higher heav'n its limit knows :
O come, your thankful voices raise,
And consecrate to him your praise.
All nature invoked to praise the Creator.
1 LET ev'ey creature join,
To praise the eternal God:
Ye heav'nly hosts, the song begin,
And sound his name abroad,
2 Thou sun with golden beams,
And moon with paler rays,
Ye starry lights, ye heav'nly flames,
Shine to your Maker's praise.
Ye vapours, when ye rise,
Or fall in show'rs of snow;
Ye thunders, murm'ring round the skies
His pow'r and glory show.
Wind, hail, and flashing fire,
Agree to praise the Lord,
When ye in dreadful storms conspire
To execute his word.
Let earth and ocean know,
They owe their Maker praise :
Praise him, ye wat'ry worlds below,
Ye natives of the seas.
Monarchs of wide command,
Praise ye th' eternal King;
Judges, adore that sovereign hand,
Whence all your honours spring.
United zeal be shown,
His wondrous fame to raise ;
God is the Lord; his name alone
Deserves our endless praise.
HYMN XXVI.
All nature invoked to praise the Creator. 10 FOR an hymn of universal praise! Its Maker's fame let ev'ry creature raise; Ye glorious angels tune the raptur'd lay Through the fair mansions of eternal day; His praise let all your shining ranks proclaim, And teach the distant worlds yoar Maker's name.
2 His glorious power, O radiant sun, display Far as thy cheering beams diffuse the day;
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