2 By His mighty fiat made,
Heaven confess'd the sovereign Lord;
All His hosts His voice obeyed,
Sprang from nothing at His word.
He commands the sea to stand,
Drawn into a hanging heap;
In the hollow of His hand
Treasures up the boundless deep.
3 HIM let all the nations fear,
Him let all the world obey,
Earth's inhabitants revere,
Humbly own His awful sway.
Spake the Lord, and it was done,
He the earth's foundations laid,
By His providence alone
God sustains the world He made.
4 Lo! the Lord's all-seeing eye
Watches over them for good,
Humbly who on Him rely,
Trust Him both for life and food:
He from death their souls retrieves,
He in death sustains His own,
While to Him our spirit cleaves,
Hangs for help on Him alone.
LEST be our everlasting Lord, Our Father, God, and King! Thy sovereign goodness we record, Thy glorious power we sing.
2 By Thee the victory is given; The majesty divine,
And strength, and might, and earth, and heaven,
And all therein, are Thine.
3 The kingdom, Lord, is Thine alone,
Who dost Thy right maintain,
And, high on Thine eternal throne,
O'er men and angels reign.
4 Riches, as seemeth good to Thee,
Thou dost, and honour, give;
And kings their power and dignity
Out of Thy hand receive.
5 Thou hast on us the
grace bestowed
Thy greatness to proclaim;
And therefore now we thank our God,
And praise Thy glorious name.
6 Thy glorious name and nature's powers
Thou dost to us make known;
And all the Deity is ours,
Through Thy incarnate Son.
heart is fix'd, O God, my heart
Is fix'd to triumph in Thy grace :
(Awake, my lute, and bear a part :)
My glory is to sing Thy praise,
Till all Thy nature I partake,
And bright in all Thine image wake.
2 Thee will I praise among Thine own;
Thee will I to the world extol,
And make Thy truth and goodness known;
Thy goodness, Lord, is over all;
Thy truth and grace the heavens transcend;
Thy faithful mercies never end.
3 Be Thou exalted, Lord, above
The highest names in earth or heaven ;
Let angels sing Thy glorious love,
And bless the Name to sinners given;
All earth and heaven their King proclaim;
Bow every knee to Jesu's name!
4 Thee, Jesus, King of kings, and Lord
Of lords, I glory to proclaim;
From age to age Thy praise record,
That all the world may learn Thy Name;
And all shall soon Thy grace adore,
When time and sin shall be no more.
From the German of E. LANGE.
GOD, Thou bottomless abyss,
Thee to perfection who can know ?
O height immense! What words suffice
Thy countless attributes to show?
2 Unfathomable depths Thou art!
O plunge me in Thy mercy's sea;
Void of true wisdom is my heart,-
With love embrace and cover me!
3 (While Thee, all-infinite, I set
By faith before my ravish'd eye,
My weakness bends beneath the weight;
O'erpower'd I sink, I faint, I die.)
4 Eternity Thy fountain was,
Which, like Thee, no beginning knew ;
Thou wast ere time began his race,
Ere glow'd with stars the ethereal blue.
5 Greatness unspeakable is Thine,
Greatness, whose undiminish'd ray,
When short-lived worlds are lost, shall shine
When earth and heaven are fled away.
6 Unchangeable, all-perfect Lord,
Essential life's unbounded sea,
What lives and moves, lives by Thy word;
It lives, and moves, and is from Thee!
7 Thy parent-hand, Thy forming skill,
Firm fix'd this universal chain;
Else empty, barren darkness still
Had held his unmolested reign.
8 Whate'er in earth, or sea, or sky,
Or shuns, or meets the wandering thought,
Escapes or strikes the searching eye,
By Thee was to perfection brought!
9 High is Thy power above all height;
Whate'er Thy will decrees is done :
Thy wisdom, equal to Thy might,
Only to Thee, O God, is known!
10 Heaven's glory is Thy awful throne,
Yet earth partakes Thy gracious sway:
Vain man thy wisdom folly own,
Lost is thy reason's feeble ray.
11 What our dim eye could never see,
Is plain and naked to Thy sight
What thickest darkness veils, to Thee
Shines clearly as the morning light.
12 In light Thou dwell'st; light that no shade, No variation, ever knew ;
Heaven, earth, and hell, stand all display'd,
And open to Thy piercing view.
From the German of E. LANGE.
THOU, true and only God, lead'st forth
The' immortal armies of the sky; Thou laugh'st to scorn the gods of earth, Thou thunderest, and amazed they fly! 2 With downcast eye the' angelic choir Appear before Thy awful face;
Trembling they strike the golden lyre,
And through heaven's vault resound Thy praise.
3 In earth, in heaven, in all Thou art ;
The conscious creature feels Thy nod,
Whose forming hand on every part
Impress'd the image of its God.
4 Thine, Lord, is wisdom, Thine alone :
Justice and truth before Thee stand:
Yet, nearer to Thy sacred throne,
Mercy withholds Thy lifted hand.
5 Each evening shows Thy tender love,
Each rising morn Thy plenteous grace;
Thy waken'd wrath doth slowly move,
Thy willing mercy flies apace!
6 To Thy benign, indulgent care,
Father, this light, this breath we owe :
And all we have, and all we are,
From Thee, great Source of Being, flow.
7 Parent of Good, Thy bounteous hand
Incessant blessings down distils,
And all in air, or sea, or land,
With plenteous food and gladness fills.
8 All things in Thee live, move, and are ;
Thy power infused doth all sustain ;
Even those Thy daily favours share,
Who thankless spurn Thy easy reign.
9 Thy sun, Thou bidst his genial ray
Alike on all impartial pour;
To all, who hate or bless Thy sway,
Thou bidst descend the fruitful shower.
10 Yet while, at length, who scorn'd Thy might
Shall feel Thee a consuming fire,
How sweet the joys, the crown how bright,
Of those who to Thy love aspire!
11 All creatures praise the eternal Name!
Ye hosts that to His court belong,
Cherubic choirs, seraphic flames,
Awake the everlasting song!
12 Thrice Holy! Thine the kingdom is,
The power omnipotent is Thine;
And when created nature dies,
Thy never-ceasing glories shine.
C.M. S. WESLEY, Jun. 1736.
AIL, Father, whose creating call
Unnumber'd worlds attend;
Jehovah, comprehending all,
Whom none can comprehend!
2 In light unsearchable enthroned,
Whom angels dimly see;
The fountain of the Godhead own'd,
And foremost of the Three.
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