Wake, all ye soaring throngs, and sing, To Him who shap'd your finer mould, Let man, by nobler passions sway'd, The feeling heart, the judging head In heav'nly praise employ, Spread the Creator's name around, Till heav'n's broad arch ring back the sound, The Seasons ordained by Divine Goodness. THE rolling year, Almighty Lord! Obeys thy pow'rful nod: Each season, as it silent moves, Declares the present God. Wak'd by thy voice, out steps the spring, In living green new dress'd; On hills, in vales, thro' fields and groves, The sun calls forth the summer months, The fruits with varied colours glow, Thy bounty, Lord, in autumn shines, When winter rears her hoary head, In storms and tempests, frosts and snows, The rolling year, Almighty Lord! Declares the present God. HYMN VII. (Ps. 65.) The Husbandman's Hymn. GOOD is the Lord, the heav'nly King, Who makes the earth His care; Visits the pastures every spring, And bids the grass appear. The clouds, like rivers rais'd on high, The soften'd ridges of the field The little hills, on ev'ry side, The meadows, dress'd in all their pride, N WATTS. The barren clods, refresh'd with rain, The parching grounds look green again, The various months thy goodness crowns; The bleating flocks, spread o'er the downs, HYMN VIII. ORATORIO OF ABEL. Nature calling Man to Devotion. The myrtles that shade the gay bow'rs, Shall man, the great master of all, Forbid it, fair gratitude's call, Forbid it, devotion and love! The Lord who such wonders could raise, And still can destroy with a nod, My soul shall be wrapp'd in my God. HYMN IX. The Voice of Creation. THE spacious firmament on high, And spangled heav'ns, a shining frame, Th' unwearied sun, from day to day, The work of an Almighty hand. Soon as the ev'ning shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale; Repeats the story of her birth: ADDISON. Whilst all the stars which round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole. What though in solemn silence all HYMN X. Omnipresence of God. JEHOVAH God! thy gracious pow'r On ev'ry hand we see ; O may the blessings of each hour Lead all our thoughts to thee. DR. THOMSON. If on the wings of morn we speed Thy right hand will our footsteps lead, Thy pow'r is in the ocean deeps, From morn till noon, till latest eve, In all the varying scenes of time, In ev'ry age, in ev'ry clime, HYMN XI. Events disposed by Divine Wisdom. THROUGH all the various shifting scene Thy hand, O God, conducts, unseen, Thou portion'st with paternal care, All things on earth, and all in heav'n, And all for greater good were giv'n, Would man pursue th' appointed end |