2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord,
Who rules his people by his word;
And there, as strong as his decrees,
He sets his kindest promises.
3 Each of them powerful as that sound
That bid the new-made world go round
And stronger than the solid poles
On which the wheel of nature rolls.
4 O for a strong, a lasting faith,
To credit what th' Almighty saith!
T' embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own!
5 Then, should the earth's old pillars shake.
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls would fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar;
6 Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,
Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his power sustains.
1 BEGIN, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some lofty thing;
The mighty works, or mighty name
Of our eternal King!
Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
Or sound his power abroad;
Sing the blest promise of his grace,
And the performing God.
3 Proclaim salvation from the Lord
To sinful, dying men;
His hand has writ the sacred word
With an immortal pen.
4 Engraved as in eternal brass
The gracious promise shines;
Nor can the powers of darkness raze
Those everlasting lines.
5 His very word of grace is strong
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along
Speaks all the promises.
All Nations promised to Christ.
1 FATHER, is not thy promise pledged
To thine exalted Son,
That through the nations of the earth
Thy word of life shall run?
2 Ask, and I give the heathen lands
For thine inheritance,
And to the world's remotest shores
Thine empire shall advance.'
3 Hast thou not said, the blinded Jews
Shall their Redeemer own;
While Gentiles to his standard crowd,
And bow before his throne ?
4 Are not all kingdoms, tribes, and tongues, Beneath th' expanse of heaven,
To the dominion of thy Son,
Without exception, given ?
23*
5 From east to west, from north to south,
Then be his name adored!
Europe, with all thy millions, shout
Hosannas to thy Lord!
6 Asia and Africa, resound
From shore to shore his fame; And thou, America, in songs, Redeeming love proclaim !
Uxiversal Spread of the Gospel.
1 LORD, send thy word, and let it run,
Armed with thy Spirit's power;
Ten thousand shall confess its sway,
And bless the saving hour.
2 Beneath the influence of thy grace
The barren wastes shall rise,
With sudden greens and fruits arrayed,
A blooming paradise.
3 True holiness shall strike its root
In each regenerate heart,
Shall in a growth divine arise,
And heavenly fruits impart.
4 Peace, with her olives crowned, shall stretch
Her wings from shore to shore;
No trump shall rouse the rage of war,
Nor murderous cannon roar.
5 Lord, for those days we wait;-those days
Are in thy word foretold;
Fly swifter, sun and stars, and bring
This promised age of gold!
6 Amen, with joy divine, let earth's
Unnumbered myriads cry;
Amen, with joy divine, let heaven's
Unnumbered choirs reply!
Prayer for the Spread of the Gospel.
1 O'ER the gloomy hills of darkness
Look, my soul, be still and gaze;
All the promises do travail
With a glorious day of grace.
2 Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness-
Grant them, Lord, the glorious light;
And from eastern coast to western,
May the morning chase the night.
3 May the glorious day approaching
On their grossest darkness flame,
And the everlasting gospel
Spread abroad thy holy name.
4 Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel;
Win and conquer, never cease;
May thy lasting wide dominions
Multiply and still increase.
L. M.
Universal Blessings of Christ's Reign. Ps. 72.
1 JESUS shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 Behold the islands, with their kings,
And Europe, her best tribute brings;
From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at his feet.
3 There Persia, glorious to behold,
There India shines in eastern gold;
And barbarous nations at his word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.
4 Blessings abound where'er he reigns;
The prisoner leaps to loose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.
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