746.

CREATION AND PROVIDENCE.

27 L. M. Needham.

A summary View of the Creation, Gen. i.

1 LOOK up, ye saints! direct your eyes

To him who dwells above the skies;
With your glad notes his praise rehearse
Who form'd the mighty universe.

2 He spoke, and, from the womb of night,
At once sprang up the cheering light:
Him discord heard; and, at his nod,
Beauty awoke, and spoke the God.
3 The word he gave, th' obedient sun.
Began his glorious race to run:
Nor silver moon nor stars delay
To glide along the ethereal way.
4 Teeming with life,-air, earth, and sea,
Obey th' Almighty's high decree!
To every tribe he gives their food,
Then speaks the whole divinely good.
5 But to complete the wondrous plan,
From earth and dust he fashions man:
In man the last, in him the best,
The Maker's image stands confest.

6 Lord, while thy glorious works I view,
Form thou my heart and soul anew;
Here bid thy purest light to shine,
And beauty glow with charms divine.

28 C. M.

747. The Creation of Man; or, God the Searcher of the

Heart, Psalm cxxxix.

1 LORD! thy pervading knowledge strikes Through nature's inmost gloom,

And in thy circling arms I lay

A slumberer in the womb.

2 Thee will I honour, for I stand
A volume of thy skill:

Stupendous are thy works, and they
My contemplations fill!

3 Thine eye beheld me when the speck
Of entity began;

And o'er my form, in darkness fram'd,
Thy rich embroid❜ry ran:

4 Th unfashion'd mass by thee was seen; My structure, in thy book,

Was plann'd before thy curious mould
The future embryo took.

5 How precious are the streaming joys
That from thy love descend!

Would I rehearse their numbers o'er,
Where would their numbers end?
6 Not ocean's countless sands exceed
The blessings of the skies;

With night's descending shades they fall,
With morning's splendours rise.

7 'Thine awful glories round me shine,
'My flesh proclaims thy praise;
'Lord! to thy works of nature join
"Thy miracles of grace.'

748. (29) C. M. Dr. Watts's Lyric Poems.
A Song to Creating Wisdom.

1

TERNAL Wisdom, thee we praise!
Thee the creation sings!

With thy lov'd name, rocks, hills, and seas,
And heaven's high palace rings.

2 Thy hand how wide it spread the sky!
How glorious to behold!

Ting'd with a blue of heavenly dye,
And starr'd with sparkling gold.

3 Thy glories blaze all nature round,
And strike the gazing sight,

4

5

Through skies, and seas, and solid ground,
With terror and delight.

Infinite strength, and equal skill,
Shine through the worlds abroad,
Our souls with vast amazement fill,
And speak the builder, God.
But still the wonders of thy grace
Our softer passions move,

Pity divine in Jesus' face
We see, adore, and love.

749.

1

30 L. M. Dr. Doddridge.

God's Goodness to the Children of Men, Ps. cvii. 31.

YE E sons of men, with joy record

The various wonders of the Lord; And let his power and goodness sound Through all your tribes the earth around.

2 Let the high heavens your songs invite, Those spacious fields of brilliant light; Where sun, and moon, and planets roll; And stars that glow from pole to pole. 3 Sing, earth, in verdant robes array'd,Its herbs and flowers, its fruit and shade; Peopled with life of various forms,

Of fish, and fowl, and beasts, and worms. 4 View the broad sea's majestic plains, And think how wide its Maker reigns; That band remotest nations joins, And on each wave his goodness shines. 5 But, oh! that brighter world above, Where lives and reigns incarnate love! God's only Son, in flesh array'd, For man a bleeding victim made. 6 Thither, my soul, with rapture soar! There, in the land of praise, adore; The theme demands an angel's layDemands an everlasting day.

Providence.

1 THY ways, O Lord! with wise design, Are fram'd upon thy throne above,

And every dark and bending line
Meets in the centre of thy love.

2 With feeble light, and half obscure,
Poor mortals thy arrangements view;
Not knowing that the least are sure,
And the mysterious just and true.
3 Thy flock, thy own peculiar care,
Though now they seem to roam uney'd,
Are led or driven only where
They best and safest may abide.

4 They neither know nor trace the way;
But, trusting to thy piercing eye,
None of their feet to ruin stray,
Nor shall the weakest fail or die.
5 My favour'd soul shall meekly learn
To lay her reason at thy throne;
Too weak thy secrets to discern,
I'll trust thee for my guide alone.

751.

1

1L

32 C. M. Steele.

Creation and Providence.

ORD, when our raptur'd thought surveys
Creation's beauties o'er,

All nature joins to teach thy praise,
And bid our souls adore.

2 Where'er we turn our gazing eyes,
Thy radiant footsteps shine;
Ten thousand pleasing wonders rise,
And speak their source divine.

3 The living tribes of countless forms,
In earth, and sea, and air,

The meanest flies, the smallest worms,
Almighty power declare.

4 Thy wisdom, power, and goodness, Lord,
In all thy works appear:
And, O! let man thy praise record,-
Man, thy distinguish'd care!

5 From thee, the breath of life he drew;
That breath thy power maintains;
Thy tender mercy, ever new,

His brittle frame sustains.

6 Yet nobler favours claim his praise,
Of reason's light possess'd;
By revelation's brightest rays
Still more divinely bless'd.

7 Thy providence his constant guard,
When threat'ning woes impend,
Or will the impending dangers ward
Or timely succours lend.

8 On us that providence has shone
With gentle, smiling rays;,

O, may our lips and lives make known
Thy goodness and thy praise!

752.

1

33 L. M.

Providence equitable and kind, Psalm cvii.
HROUGH all the various shifting scene
Of life's mistaken ill or good,

Thy hand, O God! conducts unseen
The beautiful vicissitude.

2 Thou givest with paternal care,
Howe'er unjustly we complain,
To each their necessary share
Of joy and sorrow, health and pain.

3 Trust we to youth, or friends, or power?
Fix we on this terrestrial ball?
When most secure, the coming hour,
If thou see fit, may blast them all.
4 When lowest sunk with grief and shame,
Fill'd with affliction's bitter cup,
Lost to relations, friends, and fame,
Thy powerful hand can raise us up.
5 Thy powerful consolations cheer,
Thy smiles suppress the deep-fetch'd sigh,
Thy hand can dry the trickling tear
That secret wets the widow's eye.

6 All things on earth, and all in heaven,
On thy eternal will depend;

And all for greater good were given,
And all shall in thy glory end.

7 This be my care; to all beside
Indifferent let my wishes be;

'Passion be calm, and dumb be pride,
'And fix'd, O God, my soul on thee."

753.

34 C. M. Cowper.

The Mysteries of Providence.

1 OD moves in a mysterious way

GOD

His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.