Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his
grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
HYMN 126. L. M.
"Clouds and darkness are round about him."
1 LORD, we adore thy vast designs,
The obscure abyss of providence,
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to view with feeble sense.
2 Now thou array'st thine awful face
In angry frowns, without a smile;
We through the cloud believe thy grace,
Assur'd of thy compassion still.
3 Through seas and storms of deep distress
We sail by faith, and not by sight:
Faith guides us in the wilderness,
Through all the dangers of the night.
Dear Father, if thy lifted rod
Resolve to scourge us here below,
Still we must lean upon our God,
Thine arm shall bear us safely through.
HYMN 127. C. M.
Resignation to the appointments of Providence.
SINCE all the downward tracks of time
God's watchful eye surveys,
O who so wise to choose our lot,
And regulate our ways?
Good when he gives, supremely good,
Nor less when he denies;
E'en crosses from his sovereign hand
Are blessings in disguise.
Assur'd of his unchanging love,
Immeasurably kind,
To his unerring gracious will
Be every wish resign'd.
In thy fair book of life divine,
My God, inscribe my name;
There let it fill some humble place,
Beneath my Lord the Lamb.
HYMN 128. C. M.
Security of God's servants.
1 HOW are thy servants bless'd, O Lord! How sure is their defence!
Eternal wisdom is their guide,
Their help, Omnipotence.
2 In foreign realms and lands remote,
Supported by thy care,
Through burning climes they pass unhurt,
And breathe in tainted air.
In midst of dangers, fears, and deaths,
Thy goodness we'll adore:
We'll praise thee for thy mercies past,
And humbly hope for more.
Our life, while thou preserv'st that life,
Thy sacrifice shall be:
And death, when death shall be our lot,
Shall join our souls to thee.
HYMN 129. L. M.
"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness." 1 ETERNAL source of every joy, Well may thy praise our lips employ, While in thy temple we appear, Whose goodness crowns the circling year. 2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll, Thy hand supports and guides the whole; The sun is taught by thee to rise,
And darkness when to veil the skies.
3 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise;
Still be the cheerful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade.
4 Here in thy house shall incense rise,
As circling sabbaths bless our eyes,
Till to that brighter world we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.
HYMN 130. L. M.
The divine perfections celebrated.
1 MY God, my King, thy various praise,
Shall fill the remnant of my days;
Thy grace employ my humble tongue,
Till death and glory raise the
2 The wings of every hour shall bear
Some thankful tribute to thine ear,
And every setting sun shall see
New works of duty done for thee.
3 Thy truth and justice I'll proclaim;
Thy bounty flows an endless stream;
Thy mercy swift, thine anger slow,
But dreadful to the stubborn foe.
4 But who can speak thy wondrous deeds?
Thy greatness all our thoughts excceds;
Vast and unsearchable thy ways!
Vast and immortal be thy praise !
Grateful review of divine mercies.
1 WHEN all thy mercies, O my God, My rising soul surveys;
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
Thy providence my life sustain'd,
And all my wants redress'd,
When in the silent womb I lay,
And hung upon the breast.
Unnumber'd comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestow'd,
Before my infant heart conceiv'd
From whence those comforts flow'd.
When worn with sickness, oft hast thou
With health renew'd my face;
And when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Reviv'd my soul with
5 Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I'll pursue;
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
Through all eternity to thee
A joyful song I'll raise;
But O! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.
Praise to God in Christ, the source of every blessing.
COME, thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise :
Teach me some melodious measure,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Fill my soul with sacred pleasure,
While I sing thine endless love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer,
Hither by thy help I'm come;
And I trust, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home:
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.
O, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrain'd to be!
Let that grace, now, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering 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 for thy courts above!
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