2 Ye curling fountains, as ye roll Your silver waves along, Whisper to all your verdant shores The subject of my song.
3 Retain it long, ye echoing rocks The sacred sound retain, And from your hollow winding caves Return it oft again.
4 Bear it, ye winds, on all your wings, To distant climes away, And round the wide-extended world The lofty theme convey.
5 Take the glad burden of his name, Ye clouds, as you arise, Whether to deck the golden morn Or shade the evening skies.
6 Whilst we, with sacred rapture fired, The great Creator sing, And utter consecrated lays To heaven’s eternal King.
54 C. M. D. The hymn of the seasons.
The heavenly spheres to thee, O God, Attune their evening hymn; All-wise, all-holy, thou art praised In song of seraphim. Unnumbered systems, suns, and worlds, Unite to worship thee, While thy majestic greatness fills Space, time, eternity.
2 Nature, a temple worthy thee, Beams with thy light and love; Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below, Whose stars rejoice above; Whose altars are the mountain cliffs That rise along the shore; Whose anthems, the sublime accord Of storm and ocean roar.
3 Her song of gratitude is sung By spring’s awakening hours; Her summer offers at thy shrine Its earliest, loveliest flowers; Her autumn brings its golden fruits, In glorious luxury given; While winter’s silver hights reflect Thy brightness back to heaven.
55 C. H. M. The ineffable glory of God.
Since o’er thy footstool here below Such radiant gems are strewn, O, what magnificence must glow, Great God, about thy throne! So brilliant here these drops of light— There the full ocean rolls, how bright!
2 If night’s blue curtain of the sky— With thousand stars inwrought, Hung like a royal canopy With glittering diamonds fraught— Be, Lord, thy temple’s outer vail, What splendor at the shrine must dwell!
3 The dazzling sun at noonday hour— Forth from his flaming vase Flinging o’er earth the golden shower Till vale and mountain blaze— But shows, Lord, one beam of thine; What, then, the day where thou dost shine!
4 O, how shall these dim eyes endure That noon of living rays! Or how our spirits, so impure, Upon thy glory gaze! Anoint, Lord, anoint our sight, And fit us for that world of light.
56 S. M. The Lord Jehovah reigns.
The Lord Jehovah reigns, Let all the nations fear; Let sinners tremble at his throne, And saints be humble there.
2 Jesus, the Saviour, reigns; Let earth adore its Lord; Bright cherubs his attendants wait, Swift to fulfill his word.
3 In Zion stands his throne; His honors are divine; His church shall make his wonders known, For there his glories shine.
4 How holy is his name! How fearful is his praise! Justice, and truth, and judgment join In all the works of grace.
57 S. P. M. Jehovah reigns.
The Lord Jehovah reigns, And royal state maintains, His head with awful glories crowned; Arrayed in robes of light, Begirt with sovereign might, And rays of majesty around.
2 Upheld by thy commands, The world securely stands, And skies and stars obey thy word: Thy throne was fixed on high Before the starry sky: Eternal is thy kingdom, Lord!
3 Thy promises are true; Thy grace is ever new; There fixed, thy church shall ne’er remove: Thy saints, with holy fear, Shall in thy courts appear, And sing thine everlasting love.
58 7s. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Psalm 150.
Praise the Lord, his glories show, Saints within his courts below, Angels round his throne above, All that see and share his love!
2 Earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, Tell his wonders, sing his worth; Age to age, and shore to shore, Praise him, praise him, evermore!
3 Praise the Lord, his mercies trace; Praise his providence and grace— All that he for man hath done, All he sends us through his Son.
4 Strings and voices, hands and hearts, In the concert bear your parts: All that breathe, your Lord adore; Praise him, praise him, evermore!
59 7s, double. Source of being, source of light.
Source of being, source of light, With unfading beauties bright; Thee, when morning greets the skies, Blushing sweet with humid eyes; Thee, when soft declining day Sinks, in purple waves away; Thee, O Parent, will I sing, To thy feet my tribute bring!
2 Yonder azure vault on high, Yonder blue, low, liquid sky; Earth, on its firm basis placed, And with circling waves embraced; All-creating power confess, All their mighty Maker bless; Shaking nature with thy nod, Earth and heaven confess their God,