Ye moon and stars, array'd in softer light,
Recount his wonders to the list'ning night:
His power, ye fair expanded skies, proclaim,
Whose word produc'd the vast stupendous frame,
3 Let each adore the universal Lord:
Through ev'ry land be his great name ador'd;
While loud his praises foaming billows roar,
And seas resound his name from shore to shore ;
Ye tow'ring mountains sound his praise on high,
In joyful notes ye verdant vales reply.
Ye monarchs of the earth, your Lord adore,
To whom ye owe your delegated power;
Ye judges, his impartial law revere;
Be ev'ry sentence guided by his fear;
Let senate, prince, and people, join to raise
The grateful tribute of obedient praise.
All nature invoked to praise the Creator.
1 PRAISE the Lord, let praise employ
In his courts your songs of joy ;
Let the spacious heavens around,
Echo back the solemn sound.
2 Angels, your clear voices raise :
Him ye heav'nly armies praise;
Sun and moon, with borrow'd light;
All ye sparkling eyes of night:
3 Vapours, lightning, hail and snow;
Storms, which, where he bids you, blow;
Waters, hanging in the air;
Heav'n of heav'ns-his praise declare. 4 Let the earth his praise resound; Echoing rocks, and seas profound; Verdant vales, and mountains high; Cedars, tow'ring to the sky.
5 Princes, judges of the earth; All of high or humble birth:
Youths, and virgins, flourishing
In the beauty of your spring:
All, whom life and breath inspire,
Come and join the grateful choir:
Come, and all, with one accord,
Join to praise th' Almighty Lord.
Thanks to God, our Preserver. 1 GREAT God! to thee our grateful tongues United thanks shall raise : Inspire our hearts to tune the songs Which celebrate thy praise.
2 From thine almighty forming hand
We drew our vital pow'rs:
Our times revolve at thy command,
In all its circling hours.
3 Thy pow'r, our ever present guard,
From ev'ry ill defends;
While num'rous dangers hover round,
Our help from thee descends.
Beneath the shadow of thy wings,
How sweet is our repose!
The morning light renews the springs
From whence our comfort flows.
5 In celebration of thy praise
We will employ our breath:
And, walking stedfast in thy ways,
Will triumph over death.
HYMN XXIX.
God the guide of his servants.
1 HOW are thy servants bless'd, O Lord!
How sure is their defence !
Eternal Wisdom is their guide:
Their help, Omnipotence.
2 In foreign realms, and lands remote,
Supported by thy care:
Through burning climes they pass unhurt,
And breathe in tainted air.
3 When by the dreadful tempest born,
High on the broken wave,
They know thou art not slow to hear,
Nor impotent to save.
4 The storm is laid, the winds retire,
Obedient to thy will;
The sea that roars at thy command,
At thy command is still.
5 In midst of dangers, fears, and deaths,
Thy goodness we'll adore,
And praise thee for the mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.
HYMN XXX.
Thanks for daily protection.
1 GREAT God, how endless is thy love!
Thy gifts are ev'ry ev'ning new;
And morning mercies, from above,
Gently distil, like early dew.
2 Thou spread'st the curtains of the night,
Great Guardian of our sleeping hours!
Thy sovereign word restores the light,
And quickens all our drowsy pow'rs.
3 We yield our pow'rs to thy command;
To thee we consecrate our days;
Perpetual blessings from thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.
Thanks for mercies, temporal and spiritual 1 LORD, when our raptur'd thought surveys Creation's beauties o'er,
All nature joins to teach thy praise,
And bid our souls adore.
2 The living tribes of countless forms,
In earth, and sea, and air,
The meanest flies, the smallest worms,
Almighty pow'r declare.
3 Thy wisdom, power, and goodness, Lord, In all thy works appear;
And, O let man thy praise record,
Man thy distinguish'd care!
4 From thee the breath of life he drew ;
That breath thy pow'r maintains :
Thy tender mercy, ever new,
His brittle frame sustains..
5 Yet nobler favours claim his praise;
Of reason's light possess'd;
By revelation's brightest rays
Still more divinely bless'd.
6 Thy providence, his constant guard
When threat'ning woes impend;
Or will the impending dangers ward,
Or timely succours lend.
7 On us that Providence has shone,
With gentle smiling rays:
O let our lips and lives make known,
Thy goodness and thy paise!
HYMN XXXII.
The advantage of divine revelation. 1 WHEN Israel through the desert pass'd, A fiery pillar went before,
To guide them through the dreary waste,
And lessen the fatigues they bore.
2 Such is the glorious word of God;
"Tis for our light and guidance given;
It sheds a lustre all abroad,
And points the path to bliss and heaven.
8 It fills the soul with sweet delight,
And quickens its inactive powers;
It sets our wandering footsteps right;
Displays his love, and kindles ours.
4 Its promises rejoice the heart;
Its doctrines are divinely true;
Knowledge and pleasure it imparts ;
It comforts and instructs us too.
5 Ye favour'd lands, bless'd with this word;
Ye saints, who feel its saving power;
Unite your tongues to praise the Lord,
And his distinguish'd grace adore.
God our Shepherd.
1 OUR shepherd is the living Lord;
Now shall our wants be well supply'd ;
His providence and holy word
Become our safety and our guide.
2 In pastures where salvation grows,
He makes us feed, he makes us rest;
There living water gently flows,
And all the food's divinely blest.
3 Our wand'ring feet his ways mistake;
But he restores our soul to peace,
And leads us, for his mercy's sake,
In the fair paths of righteousness.
Amidst the darkness and the deeps,
Thou art our comfort, thou our stay;
Thy staff supports our feeble steps,
Thy rod directs our doubtful way.
5 Though we walk through the gloomy vale,
Where death and all its terrors are,
Our heart and hope shall never fail,
For God our shepherd's with us there.
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