II. GOD.
71.
L. M.
Lange.
The Most High God.
1 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!
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 existence brought.
2 High is Thy power above all height,
Whate’er Thy will decrees is done;
Thy wisdom, holiness and might
Can by no finite mind be known.
What our dim eyes could never see,
Is plain and naked in Thy sight;
What thickest darkness veils, to Thee
Shines clearly as the morning light;
3 Thine, Lord, is holiness, alone:
Justice and Truth before Thee stand:
Yet, nearer to Thy sacred throne,
Love ever dwells at Thy right hand.
And to Thy love and ceaseless care,
Father! this light, this breath, we owe;
And all we have, and all we are
From Thee, great Source of Life! doth flow.
72.
7s.
M. Gaskell.
The All-Seeing God.
1 Mighty God! the first, the last!
What are ages, in Thy sight,
But as yesterday when past,
Or a watch within the night?
2 All that being ever knew,
Far, far back, ere time had birth,
Stands as clear within Thy view
As the present things of earth.
3 All that being e’er shall know
On, still on, through farthest years,
All eternity can show,
Bright before Thee now appears.
4 In Thine all-embracing sight,
Every change its purpose meets,
Every cloud floats into light,
Every woe its glory greets.
5 Whatsoe’er our lot may be,
Calmly in this thought we’ll rest,—
Could we see as Thou dost see,
We should choose it as the best.
73.
8 & 7s.
M. Bowring.
God is Truth and Love.
1 God is love; His mercy brightens
All the path in which we move;
Bliss He wakes, and woe He lightens;
God is wisdom, God is love.
2 Chance and change are busy ever;
Man decays, and ages move;
But His mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love.
3 E’en the hour that darkest seemeth
Will His changeless goodness prove;
From the gloom His brightness streameth;
God is wisdom, God is love.
4 He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above;
Everywhere His glory shineth;
God is wisdom, God is love.
74.
P. M.
Anonymous.
God is Love.
1 I cannot always trace the way
Where Thou, almighty One, dost move,
But I can always, always say
That God is love.
2 When fear her chilling mantle throws
O’er earth, my soul to heaven above,
As to her native home, upsprings,
For God is love.
3 When mystery clouds my darkened path,
I’ll check my dread, my doubts reprove;
In this my soul sweet comfort hath,
That God is love.
4 Yes, God is love;—a thought like this
Can every gloomy thought remove,
And turn all tears, all woes, to bliss,
For God is love.
75.
L. M.
Sterling.
Love Supreme in God.
1 O Source divine, and Life of all,
The Fount of being’s wondrous sea!
Thy depth would every heart appall,
That saw not Love supreme in Thee.
2 We shrink before Thy vast abyss,
Where worlds on worlds eternal brood;
We know Thee truly but in this,
That Thou bestowest all our good.
3 And so, ’mid boundless time and space,
O, grant us still in Thee to dwell,
And through the ceaseless web to trace
Thy presence working all things well!
4 Nor let Thou life’s delightful play
Thy truth’s transcendent vision hide;
Nor strength and gladness lead astray
From Thee, our nature’s only guide.
5 Bestow on every joyous thrill
Thy deeper tone of reverent awe;
Make pure Thy children’s erring will,
And teach their hearts to love Thy law!
76.
L. M.
*
God Known Through Love.
1 No human eyes Thy face may see;
No human thought Thy form may know;
But all creation dwells in Thee,
And Thy great life through all doth flow!
2 And yet, O strange and wondrous thought!
Thou art a God who hearest prayer,
And every heart with sorrow fraught
To seek Thy present aid may dare.
3 And though most weak our efforts seem
Into one creed these thoughts to bind,
And vain the intellectual dream,
To see and know the Eternal Mind,—
4 Yet Thou wilt turn them not aside,
Who cannot solve Thy life divine,
But would give up all reason’s pride
To know their hearts approved by Thine.
5 And Thine unceasing love gave birth
To our dear Lord, Thy holy Son,
Who left a perfect proof on earth,
That Duty, Love, and Truth are one.
6 So, though we faint on life’s dark hill,
And Thought grow weak, and Knowledge flee,
Yet Faith shall teach us courage still,
And Love shall guide us on to Thee!
77.
10s. M.
Jones Very.
God’s Fatherly Care.
1 Father! there is no change to live with Thee;
Save that in Christ I grow from day to day;
In each new word I hear, each thing I see,
I but rejoicing hasten on my way.
2 The morning comes, with blushes overspread,
And I, new-wakened, find a morn within;
And in its modest dawn around me shed,
Thou hear’st the prayer and the ascending hymn.
3 Hour follows hour, the lengthening shades descend;
Yet they could never reach as far as me.
Did not Thy love its kind protection lend,
That I, Thy child, might sleep in peace with Thee.
78.
L. M.
Bryant.
Loving-Kindness of God.
1 Father, to Thy kind love we owe
All that is fair and good below;
Bestower of the health that lies
On tearless cheeks and cheerful eyes!
2 Giver of sunshine and of rain!
Ripener of fruits on hill and plain!
Fountain of light, that rayed afar,
Fills the vast urns of sun and star!
3 Who send’st Thy storms and frosts to bind
The plagues that rise to waste mankind;
Then breathest, o’er the naked scene,
Spring gales, and life, and tender green.
4 Yet deem we not that thus alone,
Thy mercy and Thy love are shown;
For we have learned, with higher praise,
And holier names, to speak Thy ways.
5 In woe’s dark hour, our kindest stay!
Sole trust when life shall pass away!
Teacher of hopes that light the gloom
Of death, and consecrate the tomb!
79.
10s. M.
Jones Very.
God Not Afar Off.
1 Father! Thy wonders do not singly stand,
Nor far removed where feet have seldom strayed;
Around us ever lies the enchanted land,
In marvels rich to Thine own sons displayed.
2 In finding Thee are all things round us found!
In losing Thee are all things lost beside!
Ears have we, but in vain sweet voices sound,
And to our eyes the vision is denied.
3 Open our eyes that we that world may see!
Open our ears that we Thy voice may hear!
And in the spirit-land may ever be,
And feel Thy presence with us always near;
4 No more to wander ’mid the things of time,
No more to suffer death or earthly change;
But-with the Christian’s joy and faith sublime,
Through all Thy vast, eternal scenes to range.
80.
C. M.
Montgomery.
The Earth Full of God
1 God, in the high and holy place,
Looks down upon the spheres;
Yet in His providence and grace
To every eye appears.
2 He bows the heavens; the mountains stand,
A highway for our God:
He walks amidst the desert-land;
’Tis Eden where He trod.
3 The forests in His strength rejoice;
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old, the Lord God’s voice
Is heard among the trees.
4 In every stream His bounty flows,
Diffusing joy and wealth;
In every breeze His Spirit blows,—
The breath of life and health.
5 His blessings fall in plenteous showers
Upon the lap of earth,
That teems with foliage, fruits, and flowers,
And rings with infant mirth.
6 If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound,
How beautiful beyond compare
Will Paradise be found!
81.
L. M.
Pierpont.
Every Place a Temple.
1 O Thou, to whom, in ancient time,
The lyre of Hebrew bards was strung;
Whom kings adored in songs sublime,
And prophets praised with glowing tongue:
2 Not now on Zion’s height alone
Thy favored worshippers may dwell;
Nor where, at sultry noon, Thy Son
Sat weary, by the Patriarch’s well.
3 From every place below the skies,
The grateful song, the fervent prayer,—
The incense of the heart,—may rise
To heaven, and find acceptance there.
4 To Thee shall age, with snowy hair,
And strength, and beauty, bend the knee;
And childhood lisp, with reverent air,
Its praises and its prayers to Thee!
5 O Thou, to whom, in ancient time,
The lyre of prophet bards was strung,
To Thee, at last, in every clime,
Shall temples rise, and praise be sung!
82.
7s. M.
Methodist.
God Everywhere Present.
1 They who seek the throne of grace
Find that throne in every place;
If we live a life of prayer,
God is present everywhere.
2 In our sickness and our health,
In our want, or in our wealth,
If we look to God in prayer,
God is present everywhere.
3 When our earthly comforts fail,
When the woes of life prevail,
’Tis the time for earnest prayer;—
God is present everywhere.
4 Then, my soul, in every strait
To thy Father come, and wait;
He will answer every prayer;—
God is present everywhere.
83.
L. M.
Moore.
God in All.
1 There’s nothing bright, above, below,
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,
But in its light my soul can see
Some feature of the Deity.
2 There’s nothing dark, below, above,
But in its gloom I trace Thy love,
And meekly wait the moment when
Thy touch shall make all bright again.
3 The heavens, the earth, where’er I look,
Shall be one pure and shining book,
Where I may read, in words of flame,
The glories of Thy wondrous name.
84.
L. M.
Moore.
God’s Presence in Nature.
1 Thou art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee:
Where’er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine.
2 When day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of even,
And we can almost think we gaze
Through golden vistas into heaven,
Those hues that make the sun’s decline
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are Thine.
3 When night, with wings of starry gloom,
O’ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plume
Is sparkling with unnumbered eyes,
That sacred gloom, those fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord, are Thine.
4 When youthful spring around us breathes,
Thy spirit warms her fragrant sigh;
And every flower the summer wreathes
Is born beneath Thy kindling eye:
Where’er we turn, Thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine.
85.
C. M.
Whittier.
Nature’s Worship.
1 The ocean looketh up to heaven,
As ’twere a living thing;
The homage of its waves is given,
In ceaseless worshipping.
2 They kneel upon the sloping sand
As bends the human knee;
A beautiful and tireless band,
The priesthood of the sea.
3 The mists are lifted from the rills,
Like the white wing of prayer;
They kneel above the ancient hills,
As doing homage there.
4 The forest-tops are lowly cast
O’er breezy hill and glen,
As if a prayerful spirit passed
On nature as on men.
5 The sky is as a temple’s arch:
The blue and wavy air
Is glorious with the spirit march
Of messengers at prayer.
86.
L. M.
H. M. Williams.
God in Nature.
1 My God! all nature owns Thy sway;
Thou giv’st the night and Thou the day:
When all Thy loved creation wakes,
When morning, rich in lustre, breaks,
And bathes in dew the opening flower,
To Thee we owe her fragrant hour;
And when she pours her choral song,
Her melodies to Thee belong.
2 Or when, in paler tints arrayed,
The evening slowly spreads her shade,
That soothing shade, that grateful gloom,
Can, more than day’s enlivening bloom,
Still every fond and vain desire,
And calmer, purer thoughts inspire;
From earth the longing spirit free,
And lead the softened heart to Thee.
3 As o’er Thy work the seasons roll,
And soothe, with change of bliss, the soul,
O, never may their smiling train
Pass o’er the human sense in vain!
But, oft as on their charms we gaze,
Attune the wondering soul to praise;
And be the joys that most we prize
The joys that from Thy favor rise!
87.
L. M.
Wreford.
God in His Works and Word.
1 God of the ocean, earth, and sky,
In Thy bright presence we rejoice;
We feel Thee, see Thee ever nigh,
And gladly hear Thy gracious voice.
2 We feel Thee in the sunny beam;
We see Thee walk the mountain waves;
We hear Thee in the murmuring stream,
And when the tempest wildly raves.
3 God on the lonely hills we meet,
God, in the vale and fragrant grove,
While birds and whispering winds repeat,
That God is there,—the God of love.
4 We meet Thee in the pensive hour
When wearied nature sinks to rest;
When dies the breeze, and sleeps the flower
And peace is given to every breast.
5 We see Thee when, at eve, afar
We upward lift our wondering sight,
We see Thee in each silent star
That glorifies the gloom of night.
6 But better still, and still more clear,
Thee in Thy holy Son we see;
There Thy own glorious words we hear,
And learn the way to heaven and Thee.
88.
L. M.
Fox’s Hymns.
The Great Temple.
1 Though wandering in a stranger-land,
Though on the waste no altar stand,
Take comfort! thou art not alone,
While Faith hath marked thee for her own.
2 Wouldst thou a temple? look above,—
The heavens stretch over all in love;
A book? for thine evangel scan
The wondrous history of man.
3 And though no organ-peal be heard,
In harmony the winds are stirred;
And there the morning stars upraise
Their ancient songs of deathless praise.
89.
L. M.
W. H. Burleigh.
The Heavens Declare the Glory of God.
1 Not only doth the voiceful day
Thy loving kindness, Lord! proclaim,
But night, with its sublime array
Of worlds, doth magnify Thy name.
Yea, while adoring seraphim
Before Thee bend the willing knee,
From every star a choral hymn
Goes up unceasingly to Thee.
2 Day unto day doth utter speech,
And night to night Thy voice makes known;
Through all the earth, where thought may reach,
Is heard the glad and solemn tone;
And worlds, beyond the farthest star
Whose light hath reached a human eye,
Catch the high anthem from afar,
That rolls along immensity.
90.
L. M.
Bulfinch.
Voice of God in the Soul.
1 Hath not thy heart within thee burned
At evening’s calm and holy hour,
As if its inmost depths discerned
The presence of a loftier power?
2 Hast thou not heard ’mid forest glades,
While ancient rivers murmured by,
A voice from forth the eternal shades,
That spake a present Deity?
3 And as, upon the sacred page,
Thine eye in rapt attention turned
O’er records of a holier age,
Hath not thy heart within thee burned?
4 It was the voice of God that spake
In silence to thy silent heart;
And bade each worthier thought awake,
And every dream of earth depart.
5 Voice of our God, O, yet be near!
In low, sweet accents, whisper peace;
Direct us on our pathway here,
Then bid in heaven our wanderings cease.
91.
C. M.
Jones Very.
The Light from Within.
1 I saw on earth another light
Than that which lit my eye
Come forth, as from my soul within,
And from a higher sky.
2 Its beams still shone unclouded on,
When in the distant west
The sun I once had known had sunk
Forever to his rest.
3 And on I walked, though dark the night,
Nor rose his orb by day;
As one to whom a surer guide
Was pointing out the way.
4 ’Twas brighter far than noonday’s beam,
It shone from God within;
And lit, as by a lamp from heaven,
The world’s dark track of sin.
92.
7s. M.
Anonymous.
Silent Worship.
1 Wouldst thou in thy lonely hour
Praises to the Eternal pour?
I will teach thy soul to be
Temple, hymn, and harmony.
2 Sweeter songs than poets sing
Thou shalt for thine offering bring;
Softly murmured hymns, that dwell
In devotion’s deepest cell.
3 Know that music’s holiest strain
Loves to linger, loves to reign,
In that calm of quiet thought
Which the passions trouble not.
4 Wouldst thou in thy lonely hour
Praises to the Eternal pour?
Thus thy soul may learn to be
Temple, hymn, and harmony.
93.
7 & 6s. M.
Methodist.
Quiet Worship.
1 Open, Lord, mine inward ear,
And bid my heart rejoice;
Bid my quiet spirit hear
The comfort of Thy voice;
Never in the whirlwind found,
Or where earthquakes rock the place,
Still and silent is the sound,
The whisper of Thy grace.
2 From the world of sin, and noise,
And hurry, I withdraw;
For the small and inward voice
I wait with humble awe;
Silent am I now and still,
Will not in Thy presence move;
To my waiting soul reveal
The secret of Thy love!
94.
C.M.
Cowper.
Retirement.
1 Far from the world, O Lord! I flee,
From strife and tumult far;
From scenes where sin is waging still
Its most successful war.
2 The calm retreat, the silent shade,
With prayer and praise agree;
And seem by Thy sweet bounty made,
For those who follow Thee.
3 There, if Thy presence cheer the soul,
And grace her mean abode,
O, with what peace, and joy, and love,
She communes with her God!
4 There, like the nightingale, she pours
Her solitary lays;
Nor asks a witness of her song,
Nor thirsts for human praise.
5 Author and Guardian of my life,
Sweet source of light divine,
And,—all harmonious names in one,—
My Father! Thou art mine!
95.
C. M.
H. M. Williams.
Habitual Devotion.
1 While Thee I seek, protecting Power!
Be my vain wishes stilled;
And may this consecrated hour
With better hopes be filled.
2 Thy love the powers of thought bestowed;
To Thee my thoughts would soar;
Thy mercy o’er my life has flowed;
That mercy I adore!
3 In each event of life, how clear
Thy ruling hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,
Because conferred by Thee.
4 In every joy that crowns my days,
In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
Or seek relief in prayer.
5 When gladness wings my favored hour,
Thy love my thoughts shall fill;
Resigned, when storms of sorrow lower,
My soul shall meet Thy will.
6 My lifted eye, without a tear,
The gathering storm shall see;
My steadfast heart shall know no fear;
That heart shall rest on Thee!
96.
P. M.
Moore.
The Heart’s Prayer.
1 As, down in the sunless retreats of the ocean,
Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see,
So, deep in my soul, the still prayer of devotion,
Unheard by the world, rises, silent, to Thee,
My God! silent, to Thee,—
Pure, warm, silent, to Thee.
2 As still to the star of its worship, though clouded,
The needle points faithfully o’er the dim sea,
So, dark when I roam, in this wintry world shrouded,
The hope of my spirit turns, trembling, to Thee,
My God! trembling, to Thee,—
True, sure, trembling, to Thee.
97.
7 & 6s. M.
Anonymous.
Pray Without Ceasing.
1 Go when the morning shineth,
Go when the noon is bright,
Go when the eve declineth,
Go in the hush of night;
Go with pure mind and feeling,
Put earthly thoughts away,
And, in God’s presence kneeling,
Do thou in secret pray.
2 Remember all who love thee,
All who are loved by thee;
Pray, too, for those who hate thee,
If any such there be;
Then for thyself, in meekness,
A blessing humbly claim,
And blend with each petition
Thy great Redeemer’s name.
3 Or, if ’tis e’er denied thee
In solitude to pray,
Should holy thoughts come o’er thee
When friends are round thy way,
E’en then, the silent breathing
Thy spirit lifts above
Will reach His throne of glory,
Where dwells eternal love.
4 O, not a joy or blessing
With this can we compare,—
The grace our Father gives us
To pour our souls in prayer:
Whene’er thou pin’st in sadness,
On Him who saveth, call!
Remember, in thy gladness,
His love who gave thee all.
98.
7s. M.
Mrs. Hemans.
All Must Pray.
1 Child, amidst the flowers at play,
While the red light fades away;
Mother, with thine earnest eye,
Ever following silently;
2 Father, by the breeze of eve
Called thy daily toil to leave;
Pray! ere yet the dark hours be,
Lift the heart, and bend the knee!
3 Traveller in the stranger’s land,
Far from thine own household band;
Mourner, haunted by the tone
Of a voice from this world gone;
4 Captive, in whose narrow cell
Sunshine hath not leave to dwell;
Sailor, on the darkening sea,
Lift the heart, and bend the knee!
5 Ye that triumph, ye that sigh,
Kindred by one holy tie,
Heaven’s first star alike ye see;
Lift the heart, and bend the knee!
99.
C. M.
Montgomery.
What is Prayer?
1 Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed,
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.
2 Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.
3 Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
4 Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heaven with prayer.
5 Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice
Returning from his ways;
While angels in their songs rejoice,
And cry, “Behold, he prays!”
6 In prayer, on earth, the saints are one;
They’re one in word and mind;
When with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.
7 O Thou by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hast trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray!
100.
L. M.
Hart.
Prayer the Life of the Soul.
1 Prayer is to God the soul’s sure way;
So flows the grace he waits to give;
Long as they live should Christians pray;
They learn to pray when first they live.
2 If pain afflict, or wrongs oppress,
If cares distract, or fears dismay,
If guilt deject, if sin distress,
In every need, still watch and pray.
3 ’Tis prayer supports the soul that’s weak,
Though poor and broken be its word;
Pray if thou canst, or canst not, speak;
The breathings of the soul are heard.
4 Depend on Him; thou shalt prevail;
Make all thy wants and wishes known;
Fear not, His mercy will not fail;
Ask but in faith, it shall be done.
101.
C. M.
Anonymous.
Silent Prayer.
1 Sweet is the prayer whose holy stream
In earnest pleading flows;
Devotion dwells upon the theme,
And warm and warmer glows.
2 Faith grasps the blessing she desires,
Hope points the upward gaze;
And love, untrembling love, inspires
The eloquence of praise.
3 But sweeter far the still, small voice,
Heard by no human ear,
When God hath made the heart rejoice,
And dried the bitter tear.
4 Nor accents flow, nor words ascend;
All utterance faileth there;
But listening spirits comprehend,
And God accepts the prayer.