72 Manoah. C.M.
Faithfulness.
Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
And speak some boundless thing;
The mighty works or mightier name
Of our eternal King.
2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
And sound his power abroad;
Sing the sweet promise of his grace,
And the performing God.
3 His very word of grace is strong,
As that which built the skies;
The voice that rolls the stars along,
Speaks all the promises.
4 Oh, might I hear thy heavenly tongue
But whisper, "Thou art mine!"
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almost divine.
Isaac Watts.
73 Manoah. C.M.
Power.
The Lord, our God, is full of might,
The winds obey his will;
He speaks,--and, in his heavenly height,
The rolling sun stands still.
2 Rebel, ye waves, and o'er the land
With threatening aspect roar;
The Lord uplifts his awful hand,
And chains you to the shore.
3 Howl, winds of night, your force combine;
Without his high behest,
Ye shall not, in the mountain pine,
Disturb the sparrow's nest.
4 His voice sublime is heard afar,
In distant peals it dies;
He yokes the whirlwind to his car,
And sweeps the howling skies.
5 Ye nations bend--in reverence bend;
Ye monarchs, wait his nod,
And bid the choral song ascend
To celebrate your God.
H. Kirke White.
74 Manoah. C.M.
Eternity.
Great God! how infinite art thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made:
Thou art the ever-living God,
Were all the nations dead.
3 Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in thy view;
To thee there's nothing old appears--
Great God! there's nothing new.
4 Our lives through various scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares;
While thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
5 Great God! how infinite art thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow.
And pay their praise to thee.
Isaac Watts.
75 Italy. 6s & 4s.
(394) The Trinity Adored.
Come, thou Almighty King!
Help us thy name to sing,
Help us to praise;
Father all glorious!
O'er all victorious,
Come and reign over us,
Ancient of days!
2 Come, thou incarnate Word!
Gird on thy mighty sword;
Our prayer attend:
Come, and thy people bless,
And give thy word success;
Spirit of holiness,
On us descend.
3 Come, holy Comforter!
Thy sacred witness bear
In this glad hour:
Thou who almighty art,
Now rule in every heart,
And ne'er from us depart,
Spirit of power!
4 To the great One in Three,
The highest praises be,
Hence, evermore!
His sovereign majesty
May we in glory see,
And to eternity
Love and adore.
Charles Wesley, 1757.
76 All Saints. L.M.
(391) Praise to the Trinity
Blest be the Father and his love,
To whose celestial source we owe
Rivers of endless joy above,
And rills of comfort here below.
2 Glory to thee, great Son of God!
From whose dear, wounded body rolls
A precious stream of vital blood--
Pardon and life for dying souls
3 We give the sacred Spirit praise,
Who, in our hearts of sin and woe,
Makes living springs of grace arise,
And into boundless glory flow.
4 Thus, God, the Father, God, the Son,
And God, the Spirit, we adore;
That sea of life and love unknown,
Without a bottom or a shore.
Isaac Watts, 1709.
77 Elizabethtown. C.M.
(844) God Incomprehensible.
Thy way, O God! is in the sea,
Thy paths I cannot trace;
Nor comprehend the mystery
Of thine unbounded grace.
2 'Tis but in part I know thy will;
I bless thee for the sight;
When will thy love the rest reveal,
In glory's clearer light?
3 Here the dark veils of flesh and sense
My captive soul surround;
Mysterious deeps of providence
My wondering thoughts confound.
4 As through a glass I dimly see
The wonders of thy love;
How little do I know of thee,
Or of the joys above!
5 With rapture I shall soon survey
Thy providence and grace;
And spend an everlasting day
In wonder, love, and praise.
John Fawcett, 1782.
78 Elizabethtown. C.M.
(1071) Eternity of God.
O God! our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come;
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
2 Under the shadow of thy throne,
Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
4 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.
5 The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their cares and fears,
Are carried downward by the flood,
And lost in following years.
Isaac Watts, 1719.
79 Elizabethtown. C.M.
(182) Divine Perfections.
I sing th' almighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
2 I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.
3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.
4 Lord! how thy wonders are displayed
Where'er I turn mine eye!
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky.
Isaac Watts.
80 Dundee. C.M.
(21) Our Heavenly Father.
My God how wonderful thou art!
Thy majesty how bright!
How beautiful thy mercy seat,
In depths of burning light.
2 How dread are thine eternal years,
Oh, everlasting Lord!
By prostrate spirits day and night,
Incessantly adored.
3 Oh, how I fear thee, living God!
With deepest, tenderest fears,
And worship thee with trembling hope,
And penitential tears.
4 Yet I may love thee, too, O Lord!
Almighty as thou art,
For thou hast stooped to ask of me
The love of this poor heart.
5 No earthly father loves like thee,
No mother, half so mild,
Bears and forbears as thou hast done
With me, thy sinful child.
6 Father of Jesus! love's reward!
What rapture will it be,
Prostrate before thy throne to lie,
And gaze and gaze on thee.
Frederick Wm. Faber, 1849.
81 Dundee. C.M.
(848) God's Ways Not Understood.
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.
3 Ye fearful saints! fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
William Cowper, 1772.
82 Dundee. C.M.
Majesty. Ps. 18.
The Lord descended from above,
And bowed the heavens most high;
And underneath his feet he cast
The darkness of the sky.
2 On cherub and on cherubim
Full royally he rode;
And on the wings of mighty winds
Came flying all abroad.
3 He sat serene upon the floods,
Their fury to restrain;
And he, as sovereign Lord and King,
Forevermore shall reign.
Thomas Sternhold, d. 1549.
83 Triumph. L.M.
(176) The Goodness of God.
Yes, God is good; in earth and sky,
From ocean depths and spreading wood,
Ten thousand voices seem to cry,
"God made us all, and God is good."
2 The sun that keeps his trackless way,
And downward pours his golden flood,
Night's sparkling hosts all seem to sky,
In accents clear, that God is good.
3 Yes, God is good, all Nature says,
By God's own hand with speech endued;
And man, in louder notes of praise,
Should sing for joy that God is good.
4 For all thy gifts, we bless thee, Lord;
But chiefly for our heavenly food,
Thy pardoning grace, thy quickening word;
These prompt our song that God is good.
John H. Gurney.
84 Triumph. L.M.
(179) The Eternity of God.
Ere mountains reared their forms sublime,
Or heaven and earth in order stood,
Before the birth of ancient time,
From everlasting thou art God.
2 A thousand ages in their flight
With thee are as a fleeting day;
Past, present, future, to thy sight
At once their various scenes display.
3 But our brief life's a shadowy dream--
A passing thought, that soon is o'er;
That fades with morning's earliest beam,
And fills the musing mind no more.
4 To us, O Lord, the wisdom give,
Each passing moment so to spend,
That we at length with thee may live
Where life and bliss shall never end.
Isaac Watts.
85 Triumph. L.M.
(178) God Seen in nature.
There is a God--all nature speaks,
Through earth, and air, and sea, and skies;
See, from the clouds his glory breaks,
When earliest beams of morning rise.
2 The rising sun, serenely bright,
Throughout the world's extended frame,
Inscribes in characters of light
His mighty Maker's glorious name.
3 Ye curious minds, who roam abroad,
And trace creation's wonders o'er,
Confess the footsteps of your God--
Bow down before him and adore.
Anne Steele
86 Triumph. L.M.
(14) The Lord God Omnipotent.
The Lord is King; child of the dust!
The Judge of all the earth is just;
Holy and true are all his ways;
Let every creature speak his praise.
2 The Lord is King! lift up thy voice,
Oh, earth! and all ye heavens! rejoice;
From world to world the joy shall ring--
The Lord omnipotent is King.
3 The Lord is King! who then shall dare
Resist his will, distrust his care,
Or murmur at his wise decrees,
Or doubt his royal promises?
4 Oh, when his wisdom can mistake,
His might decay, his love forsake,
Then may his children cease to sing--
The Lord omnipotent is King.
Josiah Conder.
87 Faben. 8s & 7s. D.
God is Love.
God is love; his mercy brightens
All the path in which we rove;
Bliss he wakes, and woe he lightens:
God is wisdom, God is love.
Chance and change are busy ever;
Man decays and ages move;
But his mercy waneth never;
God is wisdom, God is love.
2 E'en the hour the darkest seemeth
Will his changeless goodness prove;
From the gloom his brightness streameth:
God is wisdom, God is love.
He with earthly cares entwineth
Hope and comfort from above;
Everywhere his glory shineth:
God is wisdom, God is love.
Sir John Bowring, 1825.
88 Mannheim. 8s & 7s.
(56) The Divine Glory.
Lord! thy glory fills the heaven;
Earth is with its fullness stored;
Unto thee be glory given,
Holy, holy, holy Lord.
2 Heaven is still with glory ringing,
Earth takes up the angels' cry--
"Holy, holy, holy!" singing,
"Lord of hosts! the Lord most high!"
3 Ever thus in God's high praises,
Brethren! let our tongues unite;
Chief the heart when duty raises
God-ward at his mystic rite.
Richard Mant, 1828.
89 Azmon. C.M.
(184) Creating Wisdom.
Eternal Wisdom! thee we praise,
Thee the creation sings;
With thy loved name, rocks, hills, and seas,
And heaven's high palace rings.
2 Thy hand, how wide it spread the sky!
How glorious to behold!
Tinged with a blue of heavenly dye,
And starred with sparkling gold.
3 Infinite strength and equal skill
Shine through the worlds abroad;
Our souls with vast amazement fill,
And speak the builder--God.
4 But the sweet beauties of thy grace
Our softer passions move;
Pity divine, in Jesus' face,
We see, adore, and love.
Isaac Watts, 1705.
90 Azmon. C.M.
(388) The Trinity.
Hail! holy, holy, holy, Lord,
Whom One in Three we know;
By all thy heavenly host adored,
By all thy Church below.
2 One undivided Trinity
With triumph we proclaim;
The universe is full of thee,
And speaks thy glorious name.
3 Thee, holy Father, we confess;
Thee, holy Son, adore;
And thee, the Holy Ghost, we bless,
And worship evermore.
4 Hail! holy, holy, holy Lord,
Our heavenly song shall be
Supreme, Essential One, adored
In co-eternal Thee!
C. Wesley, 1767.
Return to "The Otterbein Hymnal" Home Page
