Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy.
5 Through every period of my life,
Thy goodness I'll pursue;

And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
6 Through all eternity, to thee
A joyful song I'll raise:
But Oh! eternity's too short
To utter all thy praise.

32.

L. M.

Song of Gratitude and Praise.

1 GOD of my life! through all my days,
I'll tune the grateful notes of praise;
The song shall wake with opening light,
And warble to the silent night.

2 When anxious cares would break my rest,
And griefs would tear my throbbing breast,
The notes of praise, ascending high,
Shall check the murmur and the sigh.

3 When death o'er nature shall prevail,
And all the powers of language fail,
Joy through my swimming eyes shall break,
And mean the thanks I cannot speak.

4 But Oh! when that last conflict 's o'er,
And I am chained to earth no more,-
With what glad accents shall I rise
To join the music of the skies.

5 Then shall I learn th' exalted strains
That echo through the heavenly plains,
And emulate, with joy unknown,
The glowing seraphs round thy throne.
88 and 78.

33.

Praise to Jehovah.

1 SAINTS! with pious zeal attending,
Now a grateful tribute raise;
Joyful songs, to heaven ascending,
Join the universal praise.

2 Round Jehovah's footstool kneeling,
Lowly bend with contrite souls;

Here his milder grace revealing, Here his wrath no thunder rolls. 3 Every secret fault confessing,

Deed unholy-thought of sin,→ Seize, Oh! seize the proffered blessing,→ Grace from God, and peace within. 4 Heart and voice with rapture swelling, Still the song of glory raise; On the theme immortal, dwelling, Join the universal praise.

34.

L. M.

Retirement and Devotion.

1 MY God! permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee;
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.

2 Why should my passions mix with earth,
And thus debase my heavenly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And let my God, my Saviour, go?

3 Call me away from flesh and sense; One sovereign word can draw me thence I would obey the voice divine,

And all inferior joys resign.

4 Be earth, with all her scenes, withdrawn; Let noise and vanity be gone;

In secret silence of the mind,
My heaven-and there my God, I find.

35.

C. M.
God, our Refuge.

1 DEAR refuge of my weary soul!
On thee, when sorrows rise,-
On thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies,

2 To thee I tell each rising grief,
For thou alone canst heal;

Thy word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel.

3 But Oh! when gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call thee mine;

The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline.

4 Hast thou not bid me seek thy face?
And shall I seek in vain ?

And can the ear of sovereign grace
Be deaf when I complain?

5 No, still the ear of sovereign grace
Attends the mourner's prayer:
Oh! may I ever find access

To breathe my sorrows there!
6 Thy mercy-seat is open still:
Here let my soul retreat;
With humble hope attend thy will,
And wait beneath thy feet.

36.

C. M.

Thirsting after Gud.

1 WHEN fainting in the sultry waste,
And parched with thirst extreme,
The weary pilgrim longs to taste
The cool refreshing stream:-
2 So longs the weary, fainting mind,
Oppressed with sins and woes,
Some soul-reviving spring to find,
Whence heavenly comfort flows.
3 Oh! may I thirst for thee, my God!
With ardent, strong desire;

And still, through all this desert road,
To taste thy grace aspire.

4 Then shall my prayer to thee ascend, A grateful sacrifice;

37.

My mourning voice wilt thou attend,
And grant me full supplies.

C. M.

God, as seen in Nature.

1 ISING th' almighty power of God, That made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad, And built the lofty skies.

2 I sing the wisdom that ordained The sun to rule the day;

The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.

3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.
4 Lord! how thy wonders are displayed,
Where'er I turn mine eye!

If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!

5 There's not a plant nor flower below,
But makes thy glories known;

And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.

6 Creatures that borrow life from thee,
Are subject to thy care;

38.

There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.

C. M.

Rejoicing in God, our Father.

1 COME, shout aloud the Father's grace, And sing the Saviour's love;

Soon shall you join the glorious theme,
In loftier strains above.

2 God, the eternal, mighty God,
To dearer names descends;

Calls you his treasure and his joy,
His children and his friends.

3 My Father, God! and may these lips
Pronounce a name so dear?

Not thus could heaven's sweet harmony
Delight my listening ear.

4 Thanks to my God for every gift
His bounteous hands bestow;
And thanks eternal for that love
Whence all those comforts flow.

L. M.

39. Perfections of God in his Government.

1 JEHOVAH reigns-his throne is high, His robes are light and majesty;

His glory shines, with beams so bright,
No mortal can sustain the sight.

2 His terrors keep the world in awe;
His justice guards his holy law;
His love reveals a smiling face;
His truth and promise seal the grace.

3 Through all his works his wisdom shines,
And baffles Satan's deep designs;
His power is sovereign to fulfill
The noblest counsels of his will.
4 And will this glorious Lord descend
To be my father and my friend?
Then let my songs with angels join:
Heaven is secure, if God be mine.

40.

C. M.
God, all in all.

1 MY God, my portion and my love,
My everlasting all!

I've none but thee in heaven above,
Or on this earthly ball.

2 What empty things are all the skies,
And this inferior clod!

There's nothing here deserves my joys
There's nothing like my God.

3 In vain the bright, the burning sun
Scatters his feeble light:

"T is thy sweet beams create my noon; If thou withdraw, 't is night.

4 How vain a toy is glittering wealth,
If once compared with thee!

Or what's my safety, or my health,
Or all my friends to me?

5 Were I possessor of the earth,
And called the stars my own,-
Without thy graces and thyself,
I were a wretch undone.

6 Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore;
Grant me the visits of thy face,

And I desire no more.