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19. c. M.

The Perfections of God.

OW shall I praise the eternal God,
That Infinite unknown!

Who can ascend his high abode,

Or venture near his throne?

2 The great Invisible-he dwells
Conceal'd in dazzling light;
But his all-searching eye reveals
The secrets of the night.

3 Those watchiul eyes which never sleep,
Survey the world around;
His wisdom is a boundless deep,
Where all our thoughts are drowned.

4 Speak we of strength? His arm is strong
To save, or to destroy;
To him eternal years belong,

And endless is his joy,

5 He knows no shadow of a change,
Nor alters his decrees;

Firm as a rock his truth remains,
To guard his promises.

20. L. M.

Man Frail and God Eternal.

1 LORD! thou hast been thy children's GOD, All-powerful, wise, and good, and just;

In every age their safe abode,

Their hope, their refuge, and their trust.

2 Long hadst thou reign'd, ere time began;
And long thy kingdom shall endure,
When all the feeble race of man,
And time itself shall be no more.

3 Great Father of eternity!

How short are ages in thy sight!
A thousand years, how swift they fly,
Like one soft silent watch of night!

4 Uncertain life, how soon it flies!

Dream of an hour, how short our bloom!
Like spring's gay verdure now we rise,
Cut down ere night to fill the tomb.

5 Teach us to count our shortening days,
And with true diligence apply

Our hearts to wisdom's sacred ways,
That we may learn to live and die.

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21. L. M.

God incomprehensible.

REAT GOD! in vain man's narrow view Attempts to look thy nature through ; Our labouring powers with reverence own Thy glories never can be known. 2 Not the high seraph's mighty thought, Who countless years his GoD has sought, Such wondrous height or depth can find, Or fully trace thy boundless mind.

3 Yet, LORD! thy kindness deigns to show Enough for mortal man to know;

While wisdom, goodness, power divine, Through all thy works and conduct shine. 4 Oh may our souls with rapture trace Thy works of nature or of grace, Explore thy sacred name, and still Press on to know and do thy will!

22. C. M.

Man frail and God eternal.
GOD! our help in ages past,
Our hope for those to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!

2 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art GoD,
To endless years the same.

3 Thy word commands our flesh to dust,

Return, ye sons of men!'

All nations rose from earth at first,

And turn to earth again.

4 Like flowery fields the nations stand,
Pleased with the morning light;

The flowers beneath the mower's hand,
Lie withering ere 'tis night.

5 O GOD! our help in ages past,
Our hope for those to come;

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Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

23. L. M.

The Immutability of God.
ALL-POWERFUL, self-existent GOD!

Who dost o'er all creation reign;
Thou wast, and art, and art to come,
Through all eternity the same.

2 Fix'd and eternal as thy days,
Each glorious attribute divine,
Through ages infinite, shall still
With undiminished lustre shine.

3 Fountain of being! Source of good!
Immutable thou dost remain ;

Nor can the shadow of a change,
Obscure the glories of thy reign.

4 Earth may with all her powers dissolve,
If such the great Creator's will;
But thou for ever art the same:
I AM is thy memorial still.

24. c. M.

The Divine Perfections unchangeable.

1 THROUGH endless years thou art the same,

O thou eternal God!

Ages to come shall know thy name,

And spread thy praise abroad.

2 The strong foundations of the earth
Of old by thee were laid;

By thee the shining worlds on high
With matchless skill were made.

3 Soon shall this goodly frame of things,
Form'd by thy powerful hand,
Be like a vesture laid aside,
And changed at thy command.
4 But thy perfections, all divine,
Eternal as thy days,

Through everlasting ages shine
With undiminished rays.

5 Thy servants' children, still thy care,
Shall own their fathers' GOD,

To latest time thy favour share,
And spread thy praise abroad.

The Foreknowledge and Providence of God. ET the whole race of creatures lie, Abased before the LORD: Whate'er his powerful hand has form'd, He governs by a word.

2 Ten thousand ages ere the skies
Were into motion brought,

All the long years and worlds to come,
Stood present to his thought.

3 If light attend the course I go,
'Tis he provides the rays;

And 'tis his hand which hides the sun
If darkness clouds my days.

4 Trusting his wisdom and his love,
I would not wish to know

What, in the book of his decrees,
Awaits me here below.

5 Be this alone my fervent prayer,

Whate'er my lot shall be,

Or joys or sorrows,-may they form My soul for heaven and thee! 26. c. M.

God omnipresent.

1 N 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.

3 My thoughts lie open to the LORD,
Before they're form'd within;

And ere my lips pronounce the word.
He knows the sense I mean.

4 Oh wondrous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling power I lie,
Beset on every side.

5 The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to thee:

Oh may I ne'er offend that power,
From which I cannot flee !

27. L. M.

God omnipresent.

1 LORD! thou hast search'd 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 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my GoD distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.