From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.
JEHOVAH reigns, He dwells in light,
Girded with majesty and might:
The world, created by his hands,
Still on its first foundation stands.
But ere this spacious world was made,
Or had its first foundation laid,
Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Thyself the ever living God.
Like floods the angry nations rise,
And aim their rage against the skies;
Vain floods, that aim their rage so high!
At thy rebuke the billows die.
For ever shall thy throne endure,
Thy promise stands for ever sure;
And everlasting holiness
Becomes the dwellings of thy grace.
For his mercy endureth for ever.
GIVE to our God immortal praise;
Mercy and truth are all his ways:
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
Give to the Lord of lords renown,
The King of kings with glory crown;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When lords and kings are known no more.
He built the earth, He spread the sky,
And fix'd the starry lights on high;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
He fills the sun with morning light,
He bids the moon direct the night;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When suns and moons shall shine no more.
The Jews he freed from Pharaoh's hand,
And brought them to the promised land;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
He saw the Gentiles dead in sin,
And felt his pity work within;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When death and sin shall reign no more.
He sent his Son with power to save,
From guilt and darkness and the grave;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
Through this vain world He guides our feet,
And leads us to his heavenly seat;
His mercies ever shall endure,
When this vain world shall be no more.
Bless the Lord, all his works.
THE Lord, how absolute he reigns!
Let every angel bend the knee:
Sing of his love in heavenly strains,
And speak how fierce his terrors be.
High on his throne his glories dwell,
An awful throne of shining bliss
Fly through the world, O sun! and tell
How dark thy beams compared to his.
Awake, ye tempests, and his fame
In sounds of dreadful praise declare;
And the sweet whisper of his name
Fill every gentler breeze of air.
Let clouds and winds and waves agree,
To join their praise with blazing fire
Let the firm earth and rolling sea
In this eternal song conspire.
Ye flowery plains, proclaim his skill;
Valleys lie low before his eye;
And let his praise from every hill,
Rise tuneful to the neighbouring sky.
Ye stubborn oaks, and stately pines,
Bend your high branches and adore:
Praise him, ye beasts, in different strains;
The lamb must bleat, the lion roar.
Birds, ye must make his praise your theme;
Nature demands a song from you:
While the dumb fish that cut the stream,
Leap up and mean his praises too.
Mortals, can you refrain your tongue,
When nature all around you sings?
O for a shout from old and young,
From humble swains and lofty kings!
Wide as his vast dominion lies,
Make the Creator's name be known; Loud as his thunder shout his praise, And sound it lofty as his throne.
They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure.
WHAT is our God, or what his name
Nor men can learn, nor angels teach ;
He dwells concealed in radiant flame,
Where neither eyes nor thoughts can reach.
The spacious worlds of heavenly light, Compared with Him how short they fall! They are too dark, and He too bright, Nothing are they, and God is all.
He spoke the wondrous word, and lo!
Creation rose at his command:
Whirlwinds and seas their limits know,
Bound in the hollow of his hand.
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.
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.
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