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Man, made a king on earth to move,
Creation's noblest part,

In his own mould can daily prove
How good and great Thou art.

O, praise Him still, thou soul of mine,
And praise Him yet again;

O God our Father, praise be Thine!

Let all things say "Amen!"

CHRISTIAN F. GELLERT

Translation from the German by Rev. George Burgess

119

LIFELONG PRAISE

In God, the holy, wise, and just,
From childhood's tender years
Have I reposed, with perfect trust,
My changing hopes and fears.

From every page that time has turned,
Since that bright season fled,
Some useful lessons have I learned,
Some striking moral read.

The prize ambition keenly sought
A worthless bubble proved;

The web of gold, by av'rice wrought,
A mighty hand removed.

Oh, should my term of life exceed
Frail man's allotted days,

Until the last my prayer would plead
For strength to praise my God!

PENINA MOÏSE

120

GOD IS LOVE

God is love; His mercy brightens
All the paths in which we rove;
Bliss He wakes, and woe He lightens;
God is wisdom, God is love.

Chance and change are busy ever;
Man decays, and ages move;
But His mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love.

E'en the hour that darkest seemeth

Will His changeless goodness prove; From the gloom His brightness streameth; God is wisdom, God is love.

He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above;
Everywhere His glory shineth;
God is wisdom, God is love.

SIR JOHN BOWRING

121

THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER

Father of all, in every age,

In every clime adored

By saint, by savage, or by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord;

Thou great First Cause, least understood,
Who all my sense confined

To know but this, that Thou art good,
And I myself am blind-

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If I am right, Thy grace impart
Still in the right to stay;
If I am wrong, O teach my heart
To find the better way.

Save me alike from foolish pride,
Or impious discontent;

At aught Thy wisdom has denied,
Or aught Thy goodness lent.

Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.

This day be bread and peace my lot:

All else beneath the sun

Thou know'st if best bestowed or not;
And let Thy will be done.

To Thee-whose temple is all space;
Whose altar earth, sea, skies-
One chorus let all beings raise,

All Nature's incense rise.

ALEXANDER POPE

122

THE LORD IS NIGH

When the storm-shattered vessel is tossed by the gale,

And each billow speeds on, bearing havoc and

death,

Till the courage grows weak and the strength waxes

frail,

With the wild sky above and the wild waves be

neath;

When the young heart is crush'd 'mid its early delights,

And the soul is bowed down with a weight of

despair,

And we turn from a treacherous world, that re

quites

Our warmest heart-treasures with anguish and

care;

When the one whom we cherished turns coldly away, And we weep o'er the dream that has cheated our youth,

And mourn that no longer one love-beaming ray Will return to illumine our pathway with truth;

Then, then in our anguish we fly unto Thee,

When the false world is fading like dreams of the night,

And the idols to whom we have bended the knee Have fallen to earth and are hid from our sight.

And Thou! oh! Thou hearest the suppliant's voice, Whether tossed on the ocean, or wrecked on the

earth;

And Thy mercy can cause the sad heart to rejoice, Though surrounded by perils and storms from its

birth.

REBECCA HYNEMAN

123

THE REWARD OF CHARITY

A TALMUDIC TRADITION TURNED INTO VERSE

In Baba Bathra, on the Talmud page,
The tale is told of Benjamin, the Sage,
The almoner, who kept the revenues
Collected in the Temple for the use

Of those he loved far better than the priests,
Whose tithe-receipts were ample for their feasts.
And wisely, too, these poor-pence he bestowed,`
Regardless of the reading of the code,
Which bade him scan with diligent concern
The status of each applicant in turn.

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