Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 27

2 All s.p.a.ce is with thy presence crowned: Creation owns thy care; Each spot in nature's ample round, Proclaims that G.o.d is there.

3 Attuned to praise be every voice; Let not one heart be sad: Jehovah reigns! Let earth rejoice; Let all the isles be glad.

4 Then sound the anthem loud and long, In sweetest, loftiest strains; And be the burden of the song, The Lord, Jehovah, reigns!

RELIGION OF NATURE.

168. L. M. 6l. Watts.

G.o.d revealed in his Works.

1 Great G.o.d! the heavens' well ordered frame Declares the glory of thy name, There thy rich works of wonder s.h.i.+ne: A thousand starry beauties there, A thousand radiant marks appear, Of boundless skill and power divine.

2 From night to day, from day to night, The dawning and the dying light Lectures of heavenly wisdom read; With silent eloquence they raise Our thoughts to our Creator's praise, And neither sound nor language need.

3 Yet thy divine instructions run Far as the journeys of the sun: Thy light and truth are known abroad; We see thy smile in Nature's face, And in the pages of thy grace We read the glories of our G.o.d.

169. C. M. Rowe.

Praise from all Nature.

1 Begin the high, celestial strain, My raptured soul, and sing A sacred hymn of grateful praise To heaven's almighty King.

2 Ye curling fountains, as ye roll Your silver waves along, Repeat to all your verdant sh.o.r.es The subject of the song.

3 Bear it, ye breezes, on your wings, To distant climes away, And round the wide-extended world The lofty theme convey.

4 Take up the burden of his name, Ye clouds, as ye arise, To deck with gold the opening morn, Or shade the evening skies.

5 Long let it warble round the spheres, And echo through the sky; Let angels, with immortal skill, Improve the harmony;--

6 While we, with sacred rapture fired, The blest Creator sing, And chant our consecrated lays To heaven's eternal King.

170. 8s. M. Hogg.

G.o.d of Life.

1 Blessed be thy name forever, Thou of life the Guard and Giver!

Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping, Heal the heart long broke with weeping: G.o.d of stillness and of motion, Of the desert and the ocean, Of the mountain, rock and river, Blessed be thy name forever!

2 Thou who slumberest not nor sleepest, Blest are they thou kindly keepest.

G.o.d of evening's parting ray, Of midnight gloom, and dawning day-- That rises from the azure sea Like breathings of eternity; G.o.d of life! that fade shall never, Blessed be thy name forever!

171. H. M. H. Ballou, 2d.

Universal Praise.

1 Ye realms below the skies, Your Maker's praises sing; Let boundless honors rise To heaven's eternal King; O bless his name whose love extends Salvation to the world's far ends.

2 Give glory to the Lord, Ye kindreds of the earth; His sovereign power record, And show his wonders forth, Till heathen tongues his grace proclaim, And every heart adores his name.

3 'T is he the mountains crowns With forests waving wide; 'T is he old ocean bounds, And heaves her roaring tide; He swells the tempests on the main, Or breathes the zephyr o'er the plain.

4 Still let the waters roar, As round the earth they roll; His praise for evermore They sound from pole to pole.

'Tis nature's wild, unconscious song O'er thousand waves that floats along.

5 His praise, ye worlds on high, Display with all your spheres, Amid the darksome sky, When silent night appears.

O, let his works declare his name Through all the universal frame.

172. C. M. Lutheran Coll.

Goodness of G.o.d in his Works.

1 Hail, great Creator--wise and good!

To thee our songs we raise: Nature, through all her various scenes, Invites us to thy praise.

2 Thy glory beams in every star, Which gilds the gloom of night, And decks the smiling face of morn With rays of cheerful light.

3 Great nature's G.o.d! still may these scenes Our serious hours engage!

Still may our grateful hearts consult Thy works' instructive page!

4 And while, in all thy wondrous ways, Thy varied love we see: Oh, may our hearts, great G.o.d, be led Through all thy works to thee.