f 1

The multitude of His mercies.

WH

LAM. iii. 32.

HEN all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,

Transported with the view, I'm lost

In wonder, love, and praise.

2 O how shall words, with equal warmth,
The gratitude declare

That glows within my thankful heart?
But Thou canst read it there.

mf 3 Unnumbered comforts on my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flowed.

p 4 To all my weak complaints and cries
Thy mercy lent an ear,

Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learnt
To form themselves in prayer.

5 When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

mf 6 Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful heart
That tastes those gifts with joy.
7 Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I'll pursue;

And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.

f 8 Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I'll raise:
For O eternity's too short
To utter all Thy praise.

56

1

Joseph Addison.

Commit thy way unto the Lord.

AL

-Ps. xxxvii. 5.

LL as God wills, who wisely heeds
To give or to withhold,

And knoweth more of all my needs
Than all my prayers have told.

2 Enough, that blessings undeserved
Have marked my erring track;
That wheresoe'er my feet have swerved,
His chastening turned me back;

3 That more and more a providence
Of love is understood,

Making the springs of time and sense Sweet with eternal good;

4 That death seems but a covered way
Which opens into light,

Wherein no blinded child can stray
Beyond the Father's sight.

5 No longer forward nor behind
I look, in hope or fear;

But grateful, take the good I find,
God's blessing, now and here.
J. G. Whittier.

and in the storm.-NAHUM i. 3.

57

1

G

OD moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;

p 1

He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill

He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

5 His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain ;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
W. Cowper.

but with everlasting kindness will i have mercy on thee.-ISA. liv. 8. THE Lord hath hid His face from us,

f
mf 2 Yet, Lord, we know in doing good
Unchangeable Thou art;

The Lord hath done great things for us,
Whereby He makes us glad.

The change is in our wayward mood,
And in our faithless heart.

p 3 And if at times our sorrow makes
A cloud before Thy face,

cr

Yet through the cloud Thy glory breaks
And from the cloud Thy grace.
mf 4 And love is in the falling rain,
As in the shining hour,
And worketh from a life of pain
A life of noble power.

5 Yea, when the light is overcast,
The love doth more abound;
And every sorrow, being past,
A mercy shall be found.

6 Then help us, Lord, to walk with Thee
By faith and not by sight;

So shall we find no change in Thee,
But change of love and light.

W. C. Smith.

59

1 WITH

PSALM CXXXviii.

ITH all my powers of heart and
tongue

I'll praise my Maker in my song:
Angels shall hear the notes I raise,
Approve the song, and join the praise.

2 Angels, who make Thy Church their care,
Shall witness my devotion there;
While holy zeal directs my eyes
To Thy fair temple in the skies.

3 I'll sing Thy truth and mercy, Lord;
I'll sing the wonders of Thy word:
Not all Thy works and names below
So much Thy power and glory show.
4 Amidst a thousand snares I stand,
Upheld and guarded by Thy hand;
Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.

5 Grace will complete what grace begins,
To save from sorrows or from sins;
The work that wisdom undertakes,
Eternal mercy ne'er forsakes.

I. Watts.

60 Ask the fowls of the air, and they

1

shall tell thee.-JOB Xii. 7.

THERE'S not a bird with lonely nest,

In pathless wood or mountain crest, Nor meaner thing, which does not share, O God, in Thy paternal care.

2 Each barren crag, each desert rude,
Holds Thee within its solitude;

And Thou dost bless the wanderer there,
Who makes his solitary prayer.

3 In busy mart and crowded street,
No less than in the still retreat,
Thou, Lord, art near, our souls to bless
With all a parent's tenderness.

4 And every moment still doth bring
Thy blessings on its loaded wing:
Widely they spread through earth and sky,
And last to all eternity.

5 And we, where'er our lot is cast,
While life, and thought, and feeling last,
Through all the years, in every place,
Will bless Thee for Thy boundless grace.
Baptist W. Noel.