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5 I'll praise him while he lends me breath, And when my voice is lost in death,

Praise shall employ my nobler powers; My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being, last, Or immortality endures.

108

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

The divine Bounty inspiring Gratitude.

1 OUR souls with pleasing wonder view
The bounties of thy grace-

How much bestowed, how much reserved
For them that seek thy face.

2 Thy liberal hand with worldly bliss
Oft makes their cup run o'er;

And in the covenant of thy love
They find diviner store.

3 Thine eyes shall read those grateful thoughts No language can express;

Yet when our liveliest thanks we pay,
Our debts do most increase.

4 Since time's too short, all-gracious God,
To utter half thy praise,

Loud to the honor of thy name
Eternal hymns we'll raise.

109

S. M.

WATTS.

Praise for spiritual and temporal Mercies. Ps. 103.

1 O, BLESS the Lord, my soul;

Let all within me join,

And aid my tongue to bless his name,
Whose favors are divine.

2 O, bless the Lord, my soul;
Nor let his mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.

3 "Tis he forgives thy sins,
'Tis he relieves thy pain,
"Tis he that heals thy sicknesses,
And makes thee young again.

4 He fills the poor with good;
He gives the sufferers rest;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for the opprest.

5 His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known,

But sent the world his truth and grace
By his beloved Son.

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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.

WATTS.

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,

1;

Or like the morning flower;

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

6 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure,

And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.

111

L. M.

TATE & BRADY.

God's Mercy to the Righteous. Ps. 106.

1 O, RENDER thanks to God above,
The Fountain of eternal love;
Whose mercy firm through ages past
Has stood, and shall forever last.

2 Who can his mighty deeds express? -
Not only vast, but numberless;
What mortal eloquence can raise
His tribute of immortal praise?

3 Happy are they, and only they,
Who from thy judgments never stray;
Who know what's right; nor only so,
But always practise what they know.
4 Extend to me that favor, Lord,
Thou to thy chosen dost afford;
When thou return'st to set them free,
Let thy salvation visit me.

112

L. M.

J. Q. ADAMS.

Ps. 103.

1 MY soul, before thy Maker kneel;
His name let all within me bless;
"Tis he the wounded heart shall heal;
"Tis he shall comfort in distress:
My soul, his name forget not thou,
Who e'en in tender mercy frowns,
Forgives thy oft-forgotten vow,

And still thy lips with blessing crowns.

2 The Lord of mercy and of grace,
To kindness swift, to anger slow,
Not always wears a chiding face,
Not always bends the avenging bow:
Above the earth as heaven is high,
Above our crimes his mercies rise;
We sin but pardon still is nigh;
Fools-he rewards us as the wise.

3 Far distant as the adverse poles, Our sins he scatters to the wild, Pities the frailties of our souls

A father's pity for his child:

He knows our frame; our days are grass;

The fading floweret's bloom is o'er; Let but a breeze of morning pass,

The place shall never know it more.

4 But far beyond the bounds of time The mercies of the Lord are sure; Throughout eternity sublime

His truth and justice shall endure:

His grace of those who keep his law
Shall on the children's children fall;
His throne high heaven beholds with awe;
His kingdom ruleth over all.

113

C. M.

DODDRIDGE.

God's Grace.

1 HOW rich thy favors, God of grace! How' various and divine!

Full as the ocean they are poured,

And bright as heaven they shine.

2 He to eternal glory calls,

And leads the wondrous way

To his own palace, where he reigns
In uncreated day.

3 The songs of everlasting years
That mercy shall attend,

Which leads, through sufferings of an hour,
To joys that never end.

114

L. M.

Grace and Glory. Ps. 97.

WATTS.

1 THE Almighty reigns exalted high
O'er all the earth, o'er all the sky;
Though clouds and darkness veil his feet,
His dwelling is the mercy-seat.

2 Immortal light and joys unknown
Are for the saints in darkness sown;
Those glorious seeds shall spring and rise,
And the bright harvest bless our eyes.

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