119

L. M.

WATTS.

Restoring and preserving Grace. Ps. 138.
1 I'LL sing thy truth and mercy, Lord;
I'll sing the wonders of thy word:
Not all thy works and names below
So much thy power and glory show.
2 To God I cried when troubles rose;
He heard me, and subdued my foes;
He did my rising fears control,

And strength diffused through all my soul.
3 The God of heaven maintains his state,
Frowns on the proud, and scorns the great,
But from his throne descends to see
The sons of humble poverty.

4 Amidst a thousand snares I stand,
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.

120

C. M.

WATTS.

Faithfulness of God. Ps. 89.

1 MY never-ceasing songs shall show
The mercies of the Lord,
And make succeeding ages know
How faithful is his word.

2 The sacred truths his lips pronounce
Shall firm as heaven endure,
And if he speak a promise once,
The eternal grace is sure.

3 Lord God of hosts, thy wondrous ways Are sung by saints above,

And saints on earth their honors raise
To thy unchanging love.

121

C. M.

The Faithfulness of God.

WATTS.

1 BEGIN, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some boundless thing
The mighty works, or mightier name,
Of our eternal King.

2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
And sound his power abroad;
Sing the sweet promise of his grace,
And the performing God.

3 Proclaim "salvation from the Lord
For wretched, dying men;"
His hand has writ the sacred word,
With an immortal pen.

4 Engraved as on eternal brass

The mighty promise shines;
Nor can the powers of darkness raze
Those everlasting lines.

122

H. M.

DODDRIDGE.

God's Fidelity to his Promises.

1 THE promises I sing,

Which sovereign love hath spoke ;

Nor will the eternal King

His words of grace revoke:

They stand secure,
And steadfast still;
Not Zion's hill
Abides so sure.

2 The mountains melt away,
When once the Judge appears,
And sun and moon decay,
That measure mortals' years;
But still the same,

In radiant lines,
The promise shines.
Through all the flame.

123

C. M.

God holy, just, and sovereign.

WATTS.

1 HOW should the sons of Adam's race Be pure before their God!

If he contend in righteousness,

We fall beneath his rod.

2 Strong is his arm, his heart is wise;
What vain presumers dare
Against their Maker's hand to rise,
Or tempt the unequal war?

3 Mountains by his almighty wrath
From their old seats are torn;

He shakes the earth from south to north,

And all her pillars mourn.

4 He bids the sun forbear to rise,

The obedient sun forbears;

His hand with sackcloth spreads the skies, And seals up all the stars.

5 He walks upon the stormy sea,

Flies on the stormy wind;

There's none can trace his wondrous way,
Or his dark footsteps find.

124

S. M.

A holy God. Ps. 99.

1 EXALT the Lord our God,
And worship at his feet;
His nature is all holiness,
And mercy is his seat.

WATTS.

2 When Israel was his church,
When Aaron was his priest,
When Moses cried, when Samuel prayed,
He gave his people rest.

3 Oft he forgave their sins,

Nor would destroy their race;
And oft he made his vengeance known,
When they abused his grace.

4 Exalt the Lord our God,

Whose grace is still the same;
Still he's a God of holiness,
And jealous for his name.

125

L. M.

Him who is invisible.

1 ETERNAL and immortal King,

DODDRIDGE.

Thy peerless splendors none can bear;

But darkness veils seraphic eyes,

When God with all his lustre's there.

2 Yet faith can pierce the awful gloom,
The great Invisible can see,
And with its tremblings mingle joy,

In fixed regards, great God, to thee. 3 Then every tempting form of sin,

Shamed in thy presence, disappears;
And all the glowing, raptured soul
The likeness it contemplates wears.
4 O, ever-conscious to my heart,
Witness to its supreme desire,
Behold, it presseth on to thee,

For it hath caught the heavenly fire.
5 This one petition would it urge -
To bear thee ever in its sight;
In life, in death, in worlds unknown,
Its only portion and delight.

126

L. M.

God invisible.

WATTS.

1 INFINITE leagues beyond the sky The great Eternal reigns alone, Where neither wings nor souls can fly,

Nor angels climb the topless throne.

2 The Lord of glory builds his seat
Of gems insufferably bright,
And lays beneath his sacred feet
Substantial beams of gloomy night.

3 Yet, glorious Lord, thy gracious eyes
Look through and cheer us from above;
Beyond our praise thy grandeur flies;
Yet we adore, and yet we love.