24 7's.

1

Praise to God in adversity.

PART 2.

BARBAULD.

YET should rising whirlwinds tear
From its stem the rip'ning ear;
Should the fig tree's blasted shoot
Drop her green untimely fruit;

2 Should the vine put forth no more,
Nor the olive yield her store;
Tho' the sick'ning flocks should fall,
And the herds desert the stall:

3 Should thine alter'd hand restrain
Th' early and th' latter rain :
Blast each op'ning bud of joy,
And the rising year destroy:

>4 Yet to thee our souls should raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise;
And, when ev'ry blessing's flown,
Love thee-for thyself alone!

25

1

L. M. God exalted above all praise.

WATTS'S LYRICS.

ETERNAL power! whose high abode

Becomes the grandeur of a God; Infinite length beyond the bounds Where stars revolve their little rounds.

2 The lowest step beneath thy seat
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet;
In vain the tall Archangel tries
To reach thine height with wond'ring eyes.
3 Dazzled with glory, while he sings,
He hides his face behind his wings;
And ranks of shining thrones around
Fall worshipping, and spread the ground.

4 Lord, what shall earth and ashes do?
We would adore our maker too!
From sin and dust to thee we cry,
The GREAT, the HOLY, and the HIGH.

5 Earth from afar has heard thy fame,
And worms have learn'd to lisp thy name;
But oh, the glories of the mind.

Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.

26

8.7. Ebenezer, or grateful praise.

ROBINSON.

1 COME, thou fount of every blessing!
Tune my heart to sing thy praise!
Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise;
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above:
Praise the mount-O fix me on it,
Mount of God's unchanging love!

2 Here I raise my Eben-Ezer,
Hither by thy help I'm come;
And I hope by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home:

Jesus sought me, when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fold of God,
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interpos'd his precious blood.

3 0! to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrain'd to be!
Let that grace, now like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to thee!
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love,
Here's my heart-O take and seal it!
Seal it from thy courts above!

27

L. M. Universal Praise. PARNELL.

1 THE sun that walks his airy way,

To light the world, and give the day; The moon that shines with borrow'd light, The stars that gild the gloomy night;

2 The seas that roll unnumber'd waves,
The wood that spreads its shady leaves;
The field whose ears conceal the grain,
The yellow treasure of the plain.—

3 The whole of these, and all I see, Ought to be sung, and sung by me: They speak their maker as they can, But want and ask, the tongue of man.

28

L. M. Universal Praise.

HARMONIA SACRA.

1 PRAISE to the God who arch'd the sky, Is the high note that wakes my tongue :

Praise to the God who reigns on high,
Shall be the cadence of my song.

2 Celestial worlds your Maker's name
Resound through ev'ry shining coast;
Our God a greater praise will claim,
When he unfolds his glories most.

3 Angels that his commission bear,
And ye that wait around his throne,
Next in the tuneful work appear,
And send your lofty honours down.

Monarchs, who hold imperial sway,
By leave from heav'n's eternal king,
Some with the millions that obey
Your nod, and your Creator sing.

Let youth of ev'ry sex and rank,
Exulting in the bloom of life,

Their God for all his blessings thank,
And join the loud harmonious strife.

3 Hoary in holiness, the sage,

With grateful songs should meet his death And infants in their tender age,

Should lisp their God with joyful breath.

From clime to clime, from shore to shore, Be the Almighty God ador'd;

He made the nations by his pow'r, And sways them with his sov'reign word, 8 At once, let nature's ample round, To God the vast thanksgiving raise; His high perfection knows no bound, But fills th' immensity of space.

INCARNATION OF CHRIST.

29

7's.

Christmas Advent.

HARK! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new born king!

BOYCE