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30 may these thoughts possess my breast,
'Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!
'Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.'

55. L. M. Dr. Watts.

God everywhere present.

Ps. cxxxix. 7—12.

YOULD I so false, so faithless prove,
To quit thy service and thy love,
Where, Lord, could I thy presence shun,
Or froin thy dreadful glory run?
2 If up to heav'n I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'st enthron'd in light;
Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
3 If, mounted on a morning ray,
I fty beyond the western sea,
Thy swifter hand would first arrive,
And there arrest the fugitive.

4 Or should I try to shun thy sight
Beneath the spreading veil of nigh
One glance of thine, one piercing ray
Would kindle darkness into day.
50 may these thoughts possess my breast,
'Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!

Nor let my weaker passions dare 'Consent to sin, for God is there.'

1

56. C. M. Dr. Watts. Ps. cxxxix.

IN all my vast concerns with Thee,

In vain my soul would try

To shun thy presence, Lord! or flee
The notice of thine eye.

2 Thy all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,

My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.

3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they're form'd within;

And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.

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4 O wondrous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature inde?
Within thy circling arms I lie
Beset on ev'ry side.

5 So let thy grace surround me still,
Ami like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from ev'ry ill,
Secur❜d by sov❜reign love.

57. C. M. Dr. Watts.

LORD, where shall guilty souls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?

In hell they meet thy dreadful fire,
In heav'n thy glorious throne!
? Should I suppress my vital breath,
To 'scape the wrath divine,

Thy voice would break the bars of death,
And make the grave resign.

3 If, wing'd with beams of morning-light,
"My Beyond the West,

Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.

4 If o'er my sins I think to draw
The curtains of the night,

Those flaming eyes that guard thy law
Would turn the shades to light.

5 The beams of noon, the midnight-hour,
Are both alike to thee:

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O may I ne'er provoke that pow'r
From which 1 cannot flee.

58. L. M. Dr. Doddridge.

The Immutability of God. Ps. cii. 25-28. GREAT Former of this various frame!

Our sonis adore thine awful name;
And bow and tremble while we praise
The Ancient of eternal Days.

2 Thou, Lord! with unsurpris'd survey,
Saw'st nature rising yesterday;
And as to-morrow, shall thine eye
See earth and stars in ruin lie.

D

3 Beyond an angel's vision bright,
Thou dwell'st in self-existent light;
Which shines with undiminish'd ray,
While suns and worlds in smoke decay.
4 Our days a transient period run,
And change with ev'ry circling sun;
And in the firmest state we boast,
A moth can crush us into dust.
5 But let the creatures fall around,
Let death consign us to the ground,
Let the last gen'ral flame arise
And melt the arches of the skies:
6 Calm as the summer's ocean, we
Can all the wreck of nature see,
While grace secures us an abode
Unshaken as the throne of God!

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59. L. M. Mr. Beddome.

The Justice and Goodness of God.

GREAT God, my maker, and my king!

Of thee I'll speak, of thee I'll sing;
All thou hast done, and all thou dost,
Declares thee good, proclaims thee just:
2 Thy ancient thoughts, and firm decrees,
Thy threat'nings and thy promises,
The joys of heaven, the pains of hell,
What angels taste, what devils feel.
3 Thy terrors and thine acts of grace,
Thy threat'ning rod, and smiling face,
Thy wounding and thy healing word,
Sinners undone, by grace restor❜d.
4 While these excite iny fear and joy:
While these my tuneful lips employ;
Accept, O Lord, the humble song,
The tribute of a trembling tongue.

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TY

60. C. M. Mr. Berridge.

Divine Goodness.

Y goodness, Lord, our souls confess,
Thy goodness we adore;

A spring whose blessings never fail,
A sea without a shore!

1

2 Sun, moon, and stars, thy love attest
In ev'ry golden ray:

Love draws the curtains of the night,
And love returns the day.

3 Thy bounty ev'ry season crowns
With all the bliss it yields;

With joyful clusters loads the vines,
With strength'ning grain the fields.
4 But chiefly thy compassion, Lord,
Is in the gospel seen:

There, like a sun, thy mercy shines,
Without a cloud between.

5 Pardon, acceptance, peace and joy,
Through Jesus' name are given,
He on the cross was lifted high,
That we might reign in heaven.

61. L. M. Dr. Doddridge.

The Goodness of God. Psalm xxxiv. 8, 9.

TRIUMPHANT Lord, thy goodness reigns
Through all the wide celestial plains;

And its full streams redundant flow
Down to th' abodes of men below.

2 Through nature's works its glories shine
The cares of providence are thine:
And grace erects our ruin'd frame,
A fairer temple to thy name.
3 O give to every human heart,
To taste and feel how good thon art,
With grateful love and rev'rend fear,
To know how blest thy children are.
4 Let nature burst into a song!

Ye echoing hills, the notes prolong!
Earth, sea, and stars, your anthemis raise,
All vocal with your Maker's praise.
5 Ye saints, with joy the theme pursue;
Its sweetest notes belong to you;
Chose by this condescending King,
For ever round his throne to sing.

62. C. M.

Steele.

The Goodness of God. Nahum, i. 7.
E humble souls, approach your God

1Ywith songs of sacred praise,

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.
3 He gave his Son, his only Son,
To ransom rebel worms:

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

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 Great God, to thy almighty love
What honours shall we raise?
Not all the raptur'd souls above
Can render equal praise.

63. C. M. Dr. Watts.

The Goodness of God. Psalm cxlv. 7, &c. 1 SWEET is the mem'ry of the grace, My God, my heav'nly king;

Let age to age thy righteousness
In sounds of glory sing.

2 God reigns on high, but not confines
His goodness to the skies;

Through the whole earth his bounty shines, And ev'ry want supplies.

3 With longing eyes thy creatures wait
On thee for daily food,

Thy lib'ral hand provides their meat,
And fills their inouth with good.
How kind are thy compassions, Lord,
How slow thine anger moves!
But soon he sends his pard'ning word
To cheer the souls he loves.

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