4 Tempests and storms that sweep the sky,
And cataracts sublime;
Volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes
That waste the torrid clime:
5 Vast caverns deep, and cloud-topt hills,
Huge mountains rude and bare,
Terrific rocks and swelling waves-
Thy grandeur all declare.
6 Through all creation's widest range
The hand of heav'n is near:
Where'er I wander in the world,
Lo! GOD is present there.
62. C. M. NEW SELECTION.
Protection and praise.
ET songs of praise from all below
To thee, O GOD! ascend,
Whose bounties unexhausted flow,
Whose mercies know no end.
But chief by them that debt be paid,
Midst dangers circling round,
Who still in thy almighty aid
Have some protection found.
3 The wand'ring exile, doom'd to stray
O'er many a desart wide;
Who fearless takes his lonely way,
With GOD his guard and guide :-
4 The mariner, who tempts the sea
When storms impending low'r,
Or tempests rage-yet trusts in thee,
And owns thy mighty pow'r :-
The wretch who, press'd by countless woes
That no cessation see,
Still bids his steadfast hope repose,
Almighty LORD! on thee :-
All, all shall join to bless thy name,
Whose heav'nly aid they prove;
As all have felt, let all proclaim
Thy boundless pow'r, and love.
63. P. M. MERRICK.
Supplication to the searcher of hearts.
HEAR me,
LORD! to thee I call
And prostrate at thy footstool fall :
O LORD, my pray'r propitious hear,
And bow to my request thine ear!
eSearcher of hearts! my thoughts review; With kind severity pursue
Through each disguise thy servant's mind,
Nor leave one stain of guilt behind.
To thee my inmost heart is known:
Regard me from thy lofty throne;
Nor e'er to my desiring eye
Thy presence, heav'nly LORD, deny !
64. L.M. MERRICK.
Divine justice the refuge of the righteous.
IET not the sight thy heart dismay,
If man's proud offspring thou survey With growing wealth encircl'd round, Or mark his house with honours crown'd.
2 Think not his treasures, at his end, Shall with him to the grave descend, Or the vain pomp that strikes thy view, Thro' death's dark shade its lord pursue. 3 Strict justice, LORD, supports thy throne, And her decrees and thine are one: Thy balance, mightiest judge! assume, Pass on the impious race their doom. 4.0 let thy terrors, scatter'd wide, Correct them, till each son of pride, By thee convinc'd, his weakness scan, And, humbl'd, own himself but man. 65. L.M. MERRICK.
The just judgment of GOD.
HE LORD, th' almighty monarch, spake,. And bade the earth the summons take, Far as his eye the realms survey
Of rising and declining day.
2 Reveal'd from Sion's sacred bound
The seat with matchless beauty crown'd,
Our GoD his course shall downward bend,
Nor silent to his work descend.
3 Heav'n from above shall hear his call
And thou, the vast terrestrial ball !
While man's whole race their judge shall
In countless throngs before his seat.
4 Th' applauding heav'ns the changeless doom,
While GOD the balance shall assume,
In full memorial shall record,
And own the justice of their LoRD. 66. L.M. WATTS.
Hppocrisy detected and exposed.
HE LORD, the judge, his churches
Let hypocrites attend and fear,
Who place their hope in rites and forms,
But make not faith nor love their care.
2 They dare rehearse his awful name
With lips of falsehood and deceit;
A friend or brother they defame,
And sooth and flatter those they hate.
3 They watch to do their neighbours wrong,
Yet dare to seek their maker's face;
They take his cov'nant on their tongue
But break his laws, abuse his grace.
4 And while his judgments long delay,
They grow secure and sin the more,
They think he sleeps as well as they,
And put far off the evil hour.
5 O dreadful hour, when GoD draws near,
And sets their crimes before their eyes!
Anguish their guilty souls shall tear,
And no deliv'rer dare to rise.
67. L. M.
The Lord's prayer.
KIND parent of the human race! Benignant, as in power supreme! The heav'n of heav'ns thy dwelling place, Whence unexhausted mercies stream.
2 Thy name, mysterious and sublime,
On ev'ry lip instinctive hung,
And hallow'd through remotest time,
In reverential strains be sung.
3 Thy kingdom, thy paternal sway,
That vice and misery controuls,
Thy spirit through th' empyreal way,
Descend on our responsive souls.
4 Thy will, or soothing or severe,
Benevolent, though couch'd in storms,
As in thy heav'n, be welcom'd here,
With cheerfulness, in all its forms.
5 Thy creatures, lost if thou refrain
Protection in the path they tread;
Let thy kind providence sustain,
And nourish with their daily bread.
6 Be all our sins, deep source of shame,
By the sweet lamp of mercy found,
As, cherishing the gentle flame,
We breathe forgiveness all around.
7 Let not temptation's specious snare
To rank offence our souls intice;
Be human frailty still thy care;
Reclaim us from habitual vice.
For thine the heav'nly kingdom, thine
Omnipotence and majesty
Exulting in this truth divine,
All glory we ascribe to thee!
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