2 Thy bounty bids the infant year,

From winter storms recovered, rise;
When thousand grateful scenes appear,
Fresh opening to our wondering eyes.
3 The new delight how great, to see

The earth in vernal beauty dressed,
While in each herb, and flower, and tree,
Thy opening bounty shines confessed!
4 Aloft, full beaming, reigns the sun,
And light and genial heat conveys;
And, while he leads the seasons on,
From thee derives his quickening rays.

5 Indulgent God, from every part

Thy plenteous blessings largely flow;
We see; we taste; let every heart
With grateful love and duty glow.

105

C. M.

WATTS.

The Goodness of God. Ps. 145.

1 SWEET is the memory of thy grace,
My God, my heavenly King;
Let age to age thy righteousness
In sounds of glory sing.

2 God reigns on high, but not confines
His goodness to the skies;

Through the whole earth his bounty shines,
And every want supplies.

3 With longing eyes thy creatures wait
On thee for daily food;

Thy liberal hand provides their meat,
And fills their mouths with good.

4 How kind are thy compassions, Lord!
How slow thine anger moves!

But soon he sends his pardoning word
To cheer the souls he loves.

5 Creatures, with all their endless race,
Thy power and praise proclaim ;
But saints, that taste thy richer grace,
Delight to bless thy name.

106

L. M.

WATTS.

Blessing God for his Goodness. Ps. 103.

1 BLESS, O my soul, the living God;
Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad;
Let all the powers within me join
In work and worship so divine.

2 Bless, O my soul, the God of grace;
His favors claim thy highest praise;
Why should the wonders he hath wrought
Be lost in silence and forgot?

3 The vices of the mind he heals,

And cures the pains that nature feels, Redeems the soul from hell, and saves Our wasting life from threatening graves. 4 Our youth decayed his power repairs; His mercy crowns our growing years; He satisfies our mouth with good, And fills our hopes with heavenly food. 5 He sees the oppressor and the oppressed, And often gives the sufferers rest, But will his justice more display In the last, great, rewarding day.

6 Let the whole earth his power confess;
Let the whole earth adore his grace;
The Gentile with the Jew shall join
In work and worship so divine.

107

L. M. 6 L.

WATTS.

Praise to God for his Goodness and Truth. Ps. 146. 1 I'LL praise my Maker with my 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.

2 Why should I make a man my trust?
Princes must die, and turn to dust;
Vain is the help of flesh and blood;
Their breath departs, their pomp, and power,
And thoughts, all vanish in an hour,
Nor can they make their promise good.

3 Happy the man whose hopes rely
On Israel's God; he made the sky,

And earth, and seas, with all their train; His truth forever stands secure ; He saves the oppressed, he feeds the poor, And none shall find his promise vain.

4 'The Lord hath eyes to give the blind; The Lord supports the sinking mind;

He sends the laboring conscience peace; He helps the stranger in distress, The widow and the fatherless,

And grants the prisoner sweet release.

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.

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.

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.