2 Great is the Lord! and great his might, And all his glories infinite: His wisdom vast, and knows no bound; A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.
3 He loves the meek, rewards the just, Humbles the wicked in the dust, Melts and subdues the stubborn soul, And makes the broken spirit whole.
4 His saints are precious in his sight; He views his children with delight; He sees their hope, he knows their fear, Approves and loves his image there.
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.
26 L. M. "How unsearchable are thy judgments." Rom. 11:33.
Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb To search the starry vault profound: In vain would wing her flight sublime, To find creation's outmost bound.
2 But weaker yet that thought must prove To search thy great eternal plan-- Thy sovereign counsels, born of love Long ages ere the world began.
3 When my dim reason would demand Why that, or this, thou dost ordain, By some vast deep I seem to stand, Whose secrets I must ask in vain.
4 When doubts disturb my troubled breast, And all is dark as night to me, Here, as on solid rock, I rest; That so it seemeth good to thee.
5 Be this my joy, that evermore Thou rulest all things at thy will: Thy sovereign wisdom I adore, And calmly, sweetly trust thee still.
Father of spirits! nature's God, Our inmost thoughts are known to thee: Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word, And every private action see.
2 Could we, on morning's swiftest wings, Pursue our flight through trackless air, Or dive beneath deep ocean's springs, Thy presence still would meet us there.
3 In vain may guilt attempt to fly, Concealed beneath the pall of night: One glance from thy all-piercing eye, Can kindle darkness into light.