4 Thus to the parents and their seed
Shall thy salvation come,
And numerous households meet at last
In one eternal home.
1 SINCE Jesus freely did appear
To grace a marriage feast,
O Lord, we ask thy presence here,
To make a wedding guest.
2 Upon the bridal pair look down,
Who now have plighted hands;
Their union with thy favor crown,
And bless the nuptial bands.
3 With gifts of grace their hearts endow,
Of all rich dowries best;
Their substance bless, and peace bestow,
To sweeten all the rest.
4 In purest love their souls unite,
That they, with Christian care,
May make domestic burdens light,
By taking mutual share.
5 On every soul assembled here,
Oh make thy face to shine;
Thy goodness more our hearts can cheer,
Than richest food or wine.
EIGN this union to approve,
And confirm it, God of love:
Bless thy servants-on their head
Now the oil of gladness shed;
In this nuptial bond to thee
Let them consecrated be.
2 In prosperity be near,
To preserve them in thy fear;
In affliction let thy smile
All the woes of life beguile;
And when every change is past,
Take them to thyself at last.
1 SEE, gracious God, before thy throne Thy mourning people bend;
'Tis on thy sovereign grace alone Our humble hopes depend.
2 Tremendous judgments from thy hand
Thy dreadful power display;
Yet mercy spares this guilty land,
And still we live to pray.
3 What numerous crimes increasing rise,
Through this apostate land!
What land so favored of the skies,
Yet thoughtless of thy hand?
4 How changed, alas, are truths divine,
For error, guilt, and shame!
What impious numbers, bold in sin,
Disgrace the Christian name!
5 Oh, turn us, turn us, mighty Lord,
By thy resistless grace:
Then shall our hearts obey thy word,
And humbly seek thy face.
RIGHTEOUS God, thou Judge supreme, We tremble at thy dreadful name, And all our crying sins we own In dust and tears before thy throne. 2 On thee, our guardian God, we call, Before thy throne of grace we fall And is there no deliverance there And must we perish in despair?
3 See, we repent, we weep, we mourn;
To our forsaken God we turn;
Oh spare our guilty country, spare
The church which thou hast planted here.
4 We plead thy grace, indulgent God;
We plead thy Son's atoning blood;
We plead thy gracious promises;
And are they unavailing pleas?
5 These pleas, presented at thy throne,
Have brought ten thousand blessings down
On guilty lands in helpless wo;
Let them prevail to save us too.
1 INDULGENT Sovereign of the skies,
And wilt thou bow thy gracious ear?
While feeble mortals raise their cries,
Wilt thou, the great Jehovah, hear?
2 How shall thy servants give thee rest,
Till Zion's mouldering walls thou raise;
Till thy own power shall stand confessed,
And make Jerusalem a praise?
3 For this, a lowly, suppliant crowd
Here, in thy sacred temple, wait:
For this we lift our voices loud,
And call and knock at mercy's gate.
4 On all our souls let grace descend,
Like heavenly dew, in copious showers;
That we may call our God our friend,
That we may hail salvation ours.
5 Then shall each age and rank agree
United shouts of joy to raise ;
And Zion, made a praise by thee,
To thee shall render back the praise.
1 PRAISE to the Lord, who bows his ear
Propitious to his people's prayer;
And, though deliverance long delay,"
Answers in his well-chosen day.
2 Lord, may thy goodness cause our land,
Preserved by thy almighty hand,
The tribute of its love to bring
To thee, our Saviour and our King.
3 So shall each public temple raise
A song of triumph to thy praise;
And every peaceful private home
To thee a temple shall become.
4 Still be it our supreme delight
To walk as in thy awful sight;
And in thy precepts and thy fear,
Till life's last hour, to persevere.
570 Praise for Divine Goodness.
TERNAL source of every joy,
Well may thy praise our lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,
Whose goodness crowns the circling year.
2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
The sun is taught by thee to rise,
And darkness when to vail the skies.
3 The flowery spring at thy command
Perfumes the air, adorns the land;
The summer rays with vigor shine,
To raise the corn, and cheer the vine.
4 Thy hand, in autumn, richly pours
Through all our coasts redundant stores :
And winters, softened by thy care,
No more the face of horror wear.
5 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise;
And be the grateful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade.
6 Here in thy house shall incense rise,
As circling sabbaths bless our eyes,
Till to those lofty heights we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.
1 PRAISE to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days;
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let thy praise our tongues employ.
2 For the blessings of the field,
For the stores the gardens yield,
For the joy which harvests bring,
Grateful praises now we sing.
3 All that Spring, with bounteous hand,
Scatters o'er the smiling land,
All that liberal autumn pours
From her rich, o'erflowing stores,—
4 These, great God, to thee we owe-
Source whence all our blessings flow;
And for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise.
1 T HY praise, O Lord, our thankful songs renew,
Thy mercies we with grateful hearts review, Thy glorious works of wisdom, power, and grace, Thy sovereign blessings to our favored race; The ruling God our peace and freedom prove, And the glad tidings of forgiving love.
2 While from thy hand our rulers take their
Give them thy greatness humbly to adore,
With hearts sincere to hold a righteous sway,
Bid justice triumph, and the proud obey,
Defend the poor, debasing bribes disdain,
Avenge bold wrongs,nor wield the sword in vain.
3 Teach them that greatness, power, and place are thine,
Gifts from thy hand, bestowed for ends divine:
Rulers, thy stewards, to mankind are given,
To shower the good,and build the cause of heaven;
From thee a rich reward the faithful know;
The faithless hasten to distinguished wo.
4 Thou art the Judge; thy sceptre rules the skies; At thy command the just to glory rise;
Thy fearful vengeance guilty wretches share, Drink the last dregs, and plunge in deep despair; To thy great name our raptured songs shall raise A humble tribute of immortal praise. Dwight.
HE icy chains that bound the earth
Are now dissolved and gone;
Waked by the sun, the blooming spring
Puts her new livery on.
2 My soul, in every scene admire
The wisdom and the power;
Behold thy God in every plant,
In every opening flower.
3 Yet in his word the God of grace
More clearly writes his name;
The wonders of redeeming love
My noblest song shall claim.
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