Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O BLESS the Lord, my soul !
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name,
Whose favours are divine.
O bless the Lord, my soul !
Nor let his mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.
"Tis He forgives thy sins;
'Tis He relieves thy pain;
"Tis He that heals thy sicknesses,
And makes thee young again.
He crowns thy life with love,
When ransom'd from the
grave:
He that redeemed my soul from hell,
Hath sovereign power to save.
He fills the poor with good;
He gives the sufferers rest :
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for the oppressed.
His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known;
But sent the world his truth and grace
By his beloved Son.
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.
Even the hour that darkest seemeth
Will his changeless goodness prove;
From the mist 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.
PRAISE, everlasting praise, be paid
To him that earth's foundations laid;
Praise to the God, whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please.
Praise to the goodness of the Lord,
Who rules his people by his word;
And there, as strong as his decrees,
He sets his kindest promises.
(Firm are the words his prophets give,
Sweet words on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke and spread the skies abroad.
Each of them powerful as that sound
That bade the new-made world go round;
And stronger than the solid poles
On which the wheel of nature rolls.)
Whence then should doubts and fears arise?
Why trickling sorrows drown our eyes?
Slowly, alas! our mind receives
The comfort that our Maker gives.
Oh! for a strong, a lasting faith,
To credit what the Almighty saith!
T'embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own.
Then should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.
Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,
Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his
presence with singing.
WITH one consent let all the earth
To God their cheerful voices raise;
Glad homage pay with awful mirth,
And sing before him songs of praise.
Convinced that he is God alone,
From whom both we and all proceed,
We, whom he chooses for his own,
The flock that he vouchsafes to feed.
Oh, enter then his temple gate,
Thence to his courts devoutly press,
And still our grateful hymns repeat,
And still his name with praises bless.
For he's the Lord, supremely good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth, which always firmly stood,
To endless ages shall endure.
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all
his hosts.
O GOD! we praise Thee, and confess
That Thou the only Lord
And everlasting Father art,
By all the earth adored.
To Thee all angels cry aloud
To Thee the powers on high,
Both cherubim and seraphim,
Continually do cry;
O holy, holy, holy Lord,
Whom heavenly hosts obey,
The world is with the glory filled
Of thy majestic sway.
The apostles' glorious company,
And prophets crowned with light,
With all the martyrs' noble host,
Thy constant praise recite.
The holy church throughout the world,
O Lord, confesses Thee,
That Thou the eternal Father art
Of boundless majesty.
Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
BOTH heaven and earth do worship Thee,
Thou Father of Eternity!
With splendour from thy glory spread,
Are heaven and earth replenished.
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