1

HYMN LXVII.

God Supreme and Self-sufficient.

WHAT

WATTS' LYRICS.

WHAT is our God, or what his name,
Nor men can learn, nor angels teach;

He dwells conceal'd in radiant flame,

Where neither eyes, nor thoughts, can reach.

2 The spacious worlds of heavenly light,
Compar'd with him, how short they fall!
They are too dark, and he too bright,
Nothing are they, and God is all!

3 He spake the wonderous word, and lo,
Creation rose at his command:
Whirlwinds and seas their limits know,
Bound in the hollow of his hand.

4 There rests the earth, there roll the spheres,
There nature leans, and feels her prop:
But his own self-sufficience bears

The weight of his own glories up.

5 The tide of creatures ebbs and flows, Measuring their changes by the moon; No ebb his sea of glory knows,

His age

is one eternal noon,

6 Then fly, my song, an endless round!
The lofty tune let angels raise;
All nature dwell upon the sound-
But we can ne'er fulfil the praise.

THE

HYMN LXVIII.

Sovereignty and Grace.

WATTS' LYRICS.

HE Lord, how fearful is his name!
How wide is his command!

Nature with all her moving frame,
Rests on his mighty hand!

2 Immortal glory forms his throne,
And light his awful robe :
Whilst with a smile, or with a frown,
He manages the globe.

3 A word of his almighty breath
Can swell or sink the seas:

Build the vast empires of the earth,
Or break them, as he please!

4 Adoring angels round him fall
In all their shining forms,

His sovereign eye looks through them all,
And pities mortal worms.

5 His bowels to our worthless race,
In sweet compassion move:
He clothes his looks with softest grace,
And takes his title, Love!

STAN

HYMN LXIX.

God only known to himself.

WATTS' LYRICS.

TAND and adore! how glorious He
That dwells in bright eternity!
We gaze, and we confound our sight,
Plung'd in th' abyss of dazzling light!

2 Seraphs, the nearest to the throne,
Begin, and speak the Great Unknown :
Attempt the song, wind up your strings
To notes untried, and boundless things!
3 You, whose capacious powers survey
Largely beyond our eyes of clay:
Yet what a narrow portion too,

Is seen or known-or thought-by you!
4 How far your highest praises fall
Below th' immense Original!

Weak creatures we, that strive in vain,
To reach an uncreated strain!

5 Great God, forgive our feeble lays;
Sound out thine own eternal praise;
A song so vast, a theme so high,
Calls for the voice that tun'd the sky!

1

HYMN LXX.

The Infinite.

WATTS' LYRICS.

OME seraph lend your heavenly tongue,

SOME

Or harp of golden string,

That I may raise a lofty song,

To our Eternal King.

2 Thy names how infinite they be!
Great EVERLASTING ONE!
Boundless thy might and majesty,
And unconfin'd thy throne.

3 Thy glories shine of wonderous size,
And wonderous large thy grace;
Immortal day breaks from thine eyes,
And Gabriel veils is face.

4 Thine essence is a vast abyss,
Which angels cannot sound;
An ocean of infinities

Where all our thoughts are drown'd,
5 The mysteries of creation lie
Beneath enlighten'd minds;
Thoughts can ascend above the sky,
And fly before the winds;

6 Reason may grasp the massy hills,
And stretch froni pole to pole;
But half thy name our spirit fills,
And overloads our soul.

7 In vain our haughty reason swells,
For nothing's found in Thee,
But boundless inconceivables,
And vast eternity!

1

HYMN LXXI.

God exalted above all Praise.

WATTS LYRICS,

ETERNAL Power! whose high abode
Becomes the grandeur of a God;

Infinite length beyond the bounds
Where stars revolve their little rounds.

2 The lowest step beneath thy seat
Rises too high for Gabriel's feet;
In vain the tall archangel tries

To reach thine height with wondering eyes. 3 Dazzled with glory, while he sings, He hides his face behind his wings; And ranks of shining thrones around Fall worshipping, and spread the ground,

4 Lord, what shall earth and ashes do? We would adore our Maker too!

From sin and dust to thee we cry,
The GREAT, the HOLY, and the HIGH.
5 Earth from afar has heard thy fame,
And worms have learn'd to lisp thy name;
But oh, the glories of thy mind,

Leave all our soaring thoughts behind.
6 God is in heaven, and men below!
Be short our tunes-our words be few!
A sacred reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues!

HYMN LXXII.

A Song to creating Wisdom.

WATTS' LYRICS.

ETERNAL Wisdom! thee we praise,

Thee the creation sings;

With thy loud name, rocks, hills, and seas,
And heaven's high palace rings:
Thy hand, how wide it spread the sky!
How glorious to behold!

Ting'd with a blue of heavenly dye,

And starr'd with sparkling gold!

2 There thou hast bid the globes of light,
Their endless circles run;

There the pale planet rules the night,
And day obeys the sun;

The noisy winds stand ready there

Thy orders to obey;

With sounding wings they sweep the air,
To make thy chariot way.