6 Or should I try to shun thy sight
Beneath the sable wings of night,
One glance from thee, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darkness into day.

7 The veil of night is no disguise,
No screen from thy all-searching eyes:
Thro' midnight shades thou find'st thy way,
As in the blazing noon of day.

8 Search, try, O God, my thoughts and heart, If mischief lurks in any part;

Correct me where I go astray, ·
And guide me in thy perfect way.

109.

L. M.

WATTS.

The All-seeing God. Ps. 139.

1 LORD, thou hast searched and seen me through; Thine eye commands with piercing view My rising and my resting hours,

My heart and flesh, with all their powers. 2 My thoughts, before they are my own. Are to my God distinctly known;

He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.
3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand:
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.

4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.

5 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

110.

C. M.

WATTS.

God is everywhere. Ps. 139.

1 In all my vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try

To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.

2 Thine all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest;

My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.

3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they 're formed within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.

4 O wondrous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.

5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,

To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.

110

111.

C. M.

WATTS.

Wisdom of God in his Works. Ps. 111. .

1 SONGS of immortal praise belong To my almighty God;

He has my heart, and he my tongue.

To spread his name abroad.

2 How great the works his hand hath wrought;
How glorious in our sight!
Good men in every age have sought
His wonders with delight.

3 How most exact is nature's frame!
How wise the Eternal Mind!
His counsels never change the scheme
That his first thoughts designed.

4 Nature and time, and earth and skies,
Thy heavenly skill proclaim;
What shall we do to make us wise,
But learn to read thy name?

5 To fear thy power, to trust thy grace,
Is our divinest skill;

And he's the wisest of our race
That best obeys thy will.

112.

L. M.

WATTS.

Goodness of God to Soul and Body. Ps. 103.

1 BLESS, O my soul, the living God, Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad; Let all the powers within me join

In work and worship so divine.

2 Bless, O my soul, the God of grace;
His favors claim thy highest praise;
Why should the wonders he hath wrought
Be lost in silence and forgot?

3 The vices of the mind he heals,
And cures the pains that nature feels,
Redeems the soul from death, and saves
Our wasting life from threatening graves.
4 Our youth decayed, his power repairs;
His mercy crowns our growing years;
He satisfies our mouth with good,
And fills our hopes with heavenly food.
5 He sees the oppressor and the oppressed,
And often gives the sufferers rest;
But will his justice more display
In the last great rewarding day.

113.

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

Mercy of God to the Frailty of Man. Ps. 103. 1 LORD, we adore thy wondrous name, And make that name our trust, Which raised at first this curious frame From mean and lifeless dust.

2 Awhile these frail machines endure,
The fabric of a day;

Then know their vital powers no more,
But moulder back to clay.

3 Yet, Lord, whate'er is felt or feared,
This thought is our repose,

That He, by whom this frame was reared, Its various weakness knows.

4 Thou view'st us with a pitying eye,
While struggling with our load;
In pains and dangers thou art nigh,
Our Father, and our God.

5 Gently supported by thy love,
We tend to realms of peace;
Where every pain shall far remove,
And every frailty cease.

Abounding Compassion of God. Ps. 103

1 My soul, repeat his praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.

2 High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.

3 His power subdues our sins,
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.

4 The pity of the Lord

To those that fear his name, Is such as tender parents feel; He knows our feeble frame.

5 Our days are as the

grass,

Or like the morning flower;

If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field, It withers in an hour.