صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[ocr errors]

5 Thou giv'st the word ; thy creature, man,

Is to existence brought;
Again thou say'st, “Ye sons of men,

Return ye into nought.”
6 Thou layest them, with all their cares,

In everlasting sleep;
As with a flood thou tak'st them off,

a
With overwhelming sweep.
7 They flourish like the morning flower,

In beauty's pride arrayed ;
But, long ere night, cut down, it lies

All withered and decayed.

68

L. M.

TATE & BRADY. God's Eternity and Sovereignty. Ps. 93. 1 WITH glory clad, with strength arrayed,

The Lord that o'er all nature reigns, The world's foundations strongly laid,

And the vast fabric still sustains. 2 How surely 'stablished is thy throne !

Which shall no change or period see; For thou, O Lord, and thou alone,

Art God from all eternity. 3 The floods, O Lord, lift up their voice,

And toss the troubled waves on high ; But God above can still their noise,

And make the angry sea comply. 4 Thy promise, Lord, is ever sure,

And they that in thy house would dwell, That happy station to secure,

Must still in holiness excel.

69

C. M.

MRS. STEELE. God eternal and unchangeable. Ps. 102. 1 EARTH'S old foundations thou hast laid;

The heavens - a glorious frame ! By thy almighty hand were spread,

And speak their Maker's name.
2 Their shining wonders all shall fade,

By thy controlling power,
Changed like a vesture quite decayed ;

But thou shalt still endure.
3 Thy bright perfections, all divine,

Eternal as thy days,
Through everlasting ages shine,

With undiminished rays.
4 Thy servants' children, still thy care,

Shall own their fathers' God,
To latest times thy favor share,

And spread thy praise abroad.

70

C. M.

WATTS.

God's eternal Dominion.

1 GREAT God, how infinite art thou !

What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And

pay their praise to thee. 2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,

Ere seas or stars were 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 various scenes are drawn,

And vexed with trifling cares,
While thine eternal thought moves on

Thine undisturbed affairs.
5 Great God, how infinite art thou !

What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,

And pay their praise to thee.

71

L. M.

DODDRIDGE.

God immutable.

1 GREAT Former of this various frame,

Our souls adore thine awful name,
And bow and tremble, while they praise

The Ancient of eternal days.
2 Beyond an angel's vision bright,

Thou dwell'st in self-existent light,
Which shines with undiminished ray,

While suns and worlds in smoke decay. 3 Our days a transient period run,

And change with every circling sun;
And, in the firmest state we boast,

A moth can crush us into dust.
4 But let the creatures fall around;

Let death consign us to the ground;
Let the last general flame arise,
And melt the arches of the skies;

5 Calm as the summer's ocean, we

Can all the wreck of nature see,
While grace secures us an abode
Unshaken as the throne of God.

72
C. M.

WATTS.
God is every where. Ps. 139.
1 IN all my vast concerns with thee,

In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee

The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-surrounding sight surveys

My rising and my rest,
My public walks, my private ways,

And secrets of my breast. 50, wondrous knowledge, deep and high!

Where can a creature hide ?
Within thy circling arms I lie,

Beset on every side.
4 Should I suppress my vital breath,
To escape the wrath divine,

, Thy voice would break the bars of death,

And make the grave resign. 5 If, winged with beams of morning light,

I fly beyond the west,
Thy hand, which must support my flight,

Would soon betray my rest. 6 If o'er my sins I think to draw

The curtains of the night,
Those flaming eyes, that guard thy law,

Would turn the shades to light.

7 The beams of noon, the midnight hour,

Are both alike to thee;
O, may I ne'er provoke that Power,

From which I cannot flee!

73
L. M.

Watts. The all-seeing God. Ps. 139. 1 LORD, thou hast searched and seen me through ;

Thine eye commands, with piercing view,
My rising and my resting hours,

My heart and flesh, with all their powers. 2 Within thy circling power I stand ;

On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,

I am surrounded still with God.
3 Amazing knowledge, vast and great !

What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,

Is in the boundless prospect lost.
4 O, may these thoughts possess my breast,

Where'er I rove, where'er I rest !
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

74

L. M.

Watts.

The Same. Ps. 139.

1 COULD I so false, so faithless prove,

To quit thy service and thy love,
Where, Lord, could I thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?

« السابقةمتابعة »