HYMNS

SELECTED

FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS.

HYMN 1. L. M. Old Hundred. [*]
Being of God. Ps. civ.

• 1 THERE is a God-all nature speaks,

Through earth, and air, and sea, and skies;

• See, from the clouds his glory breaks,
When the first beams of morning rise!
-2 The rising sun, serenely bright,
O'er the wide world's extended frame,
Inscribes, in characters of light,
His mighty Maker's glorious name.
o 3 The flowery tribes all blooming rise,
Above the weak attempts of art;

• The smallest worms, the meanest flies,
Speak sweet conviction to the heart.
-4 Ye curious minds, who roam abroad,
And trace creation's wonders o'er,
e Confess the footsteps of the God ;-
a Bow down before him—and adore.

1

HYMN 2. C. M.

STEELE.

Tunbridge. [b]

Goodness of God. Nahum i. 7.
YEwith blen so of sarred praise,
E humble souls, approach your God,

For he is good, immensely good,

And kind are all his ways.

2 All nature owns his guardian care; In him we live and move;

• But nobler benefits declare

The wonders of his love.

e 3 He gave his Son, his only Son, To ransom rebel worms;

'Tis here he makes his goodness known, In its divinest forms.

e 4 To this dear refuge, Lord, we come; 'Tis here our hope relies:

• A safe defence, a peaceful home, When storms of trouble rise.

-5 Thine eye beholds, with kind regard, The souls who trust in thee;

Their humble hope thou wilt reward,

With bliss divinely free.

o 6 Great God, to thy almighty love
What honours shall we raise ?
Not all the raptured songs above
Can render equal praise.

STEELE.

HYMN 3. C. M. Mitcham. Arundel. [*]

1

God the Creator.

ETERNAL Wisdom, thee we praise,

Thee the creation sings;

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

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

-Tinged with a blue of heavenly dye,
And starred with sparkling gold.

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

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

4 Infinite strength, and equal skill, Shine through the worlds abroad; e Our souls with vast amazement fill, And speak the builder-God.

-5 But still the wonders of thy grace

с

Our softer passions move;

Pity divine in Jesus' face,

We see, adore, and love.

WATTS.

HYMN 4. C. M. Bedford. [*]
Sovereignty and Dominion of God.

a 1 KEEP silence--all created things,
And wait your Maker's nod;

My soul stands trembling while she sings
The honours of her God.

e 2 Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown,
Hang on his firm decree;

He sits on no precarious throne,

Nor borrows leave To BE.

3 Chained to his throne a volume lies, With all the fates of men ;

With every angel's form and size,
Drawn by th' eternal pen.

-4 His providence unfolds the book,
And makes his counsels shine;
Each opening leaf, and every stroke,
Fulfills some deep design.

5 (Here he exalts neglected worms,
To sceptres and a crown;

And there, the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down.

6 Not Gabriel asks the reason why,
Nor God the reason gives;
Nor dares the favourite angel pry
Between the folded leaves.)

e 7 My God, I would not long to see
My fate, with curious eyes;
What gloomy lines are writ for me,
Or what bright scenes may rise.

-8 In thy fair book of life and grace,
O may I find my name,

Recorded in some humble place,
Beneath my Lord--the Lamb.

1

WATTS.

HYMN 5. L. P. M. St. Helen's. [*]
GOD's Name proclaimed. Ex. xxxiv. 6—8.

ATTEND, my soul, the voice divine,

And mark what beaming glories shine
Around thy condescending God!
To us-to us, he still proclaims,
e His awful, his endearing names;
Attend, and sound them all abroad

d 2" Jehovah I, the sovereign Lord,
"The mighty God, by heaven adored,
"Down to the earth my footsteps bend
"My heart the tenderest pity knows,
"Goodness, full-streaming, wide o'erflows,
"And grace and truth shall never end.
3" My patience long can crimes endure,
"My pardoning love is ever sure,

"When penitential sorrow mourns;
"To millions, through unnumbered years,
"New hope and new delight it bears;

"Yet wrath against the sinner burns."

o 4 Make haste, my soul, the vision meet,
e All prostrate at thy Sovereign's feet,

And drink the tuneful accents in:
o Speak on, my Lord, repeat the voice,
Diffuse these heart-expanding joys,
Till heaven repeat the rapturous scene.

HYMN 6. C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Colchester. [*]

Adam; or, The Fall of Man. Gen. iii.

10 How much did God bestow!
N man, in his own image made,

The whole creation homage paid,
And owned him lord below.

o 2 He dwelt in Eden's garden, stored
With sweets for every sense;

And there, with his descending Lord,
He walked in confidence.

e 3 But oh! by sin how quickly changed!
His honour forfeited;

His heart, from God and truth estranged,
His conscience, filled with dread.

-4 Now from his Maker's voice he flies,
Which was before his joy:

And thinks to hide amidst the trees,
From an all-seeing eye.

5 Compelled to answer to his name,—
With stubbornness and pride,

He cast on God himself the blame,
Nor once for mercy cried.

• 6 But grace, unasked, his heart subdued,
And all his guilt forgave:

By faith the promised SEED he viewed,
And felt the power to save.

NEWTON.

HYMN 7. H. M. Allerton. [*]

Types of the Messiah. Heb. iv. 2.

SRAEL in ancient days

Not only had a view

Of Sinai in a blaze,

But learned the gospel too:

The types and figures were a glass,

In which they saw the Saviour's face.

2 The paschal sacrifice,

And blood-besprinkled door,-
Seen with enlightened eyes,

And once applied with power,
Would teach the need of other blood,
To reconcile an angry God.

3 The lamb, the dove, set forth
His perfect innocence,

Whose blood of matchless worth
Should be the soul's defence:
For he who can for sin atone,
Must have no failings of his own.

4 The scape-goat, on his head,
The people's trespass bore;
And to the desert led,

Was to be seen no more :

In hin our Surety seemed to say, d" Behold, I bear your sins away.'

5 Dipped in his fellow's blood,
The living bird went free:
The type, well understood,
Expressed the sinner's plea-

e Described a guilty soul enlarged,
And by a Saviour's death discharged.
O 6 Jesus, I love to trace,

Throughout the sacred page,
The footsteps of thy grace,

The same in every age!

-O grant that I may faithful be

To clearer light vouchsafed to me!

COWPER.

HYMN 8. 7s.

Redeeming Love. [*]

Birth of the Saviour.

ARK! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King!

"Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
"God and sinners reconciled!"

2 Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

4 Veiled in flesh-the Godhead see,
Hail th' incarnate Deity;