317.-C.M.

Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite.

COME seraph, lend your heavenly tongue,
Or harp of golden string,
That I may raise a lofty song
To our eternal King.

Thy names, how infinite they be,
Great Everlasting One!
Boundless thy might and majesty,
And unconfined thy throne.

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

Thine essence is a vast abyss,

Which angels cannot sound, An ocean of infinities

Where all our thoughts are drowned.

The mysteries of creation lie

Beneath enlightened minds; Thoughts can ascend above the sky, And fly before the winds;

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

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

318.-C.M.

The Lord God merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.

THY goodness, Lord, our souls confess,
Thy goodness we adore;

A spring whose blessings never fail,
A sea without a shore.

Sun, moon and stars, thy love attest
In every cheerful ray;

Love draws the curtains of the night,
And love restores the day.

Thy bounty every season crowns
With all the bliss it yields;
With joyful clusters bend the vines,
With harvests wave the fields.

But chiefly thy compassions, Lord,
Are in the gospel seen;

There, like the sun, thy mercy shines
Without a cloud between.

319.-8.7.4.

Praise ye the Lord.

PRAISE, my soul, the King of heaven; To his feet thy tribute bring: Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, Who like me his praise should sing? Praise Him! praise Him!

Praise the everlasting King!

Praise Him for his grace and favour,
To our fathers in distress:
Praise Him, still the same for ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless :
Praise Him praise Him!
Glorious in his faithfulness !

Father-like He tends and spares us :
Well our feeble frame He knows ;
In his hands He gently bears us
Rescues us from all our foes:
Praise Him praise Him!
Widely as his mercy flows!

Angels, help us to adore Him,

Ye behold Him face to face :

Sun and Moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space,

Praise Him! praise Him!
Praise with us the God of grace.

320.-78.

All thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord! and thy saints shall bless Thee.

HARK, my soul, how every thing
Strives to serve our bounteous King:
Each a double tribute pays,

Sings its part and then obeys.

Nature's chief and sweetest quire
Him with cheerful notes admire ;
Chanting every day their lauds,
While the grove their song applauds.

Though their voices lower be,
Streams have too their melody;
Night and day they warbling run,
Never pause, but still sing on.

All the flowers that gild the spring
Hither their still music bring;
If heaven bless them, thankful they
Smell more sweet and look more gay.

Only we can scarce afford

This short office to our Lord:
We, on whom his bounty flows,

All things gives and nothing owes.

Wake, for shame, my sluggish heart,
Wake, and gladly sing thy part:
Learn of birds, and springs and flowers,
How to use thy nobler powers.

Call whole nature to thy aid,
Since 'twas He whole nature made :
Join in one eternal song,
Who to one God all belong.

321.-L.M.

God most high.

O GOD, thou fathomless abyss;
Thee to perfection who can know ?
O height immense! what words suffice.
Thy countless attributes to show?

Unchangeable, all-perfect Lord,

Essential life's unbounded sea! What lives and moves, lives by thy word; It lives and moves, and is from Thee.

Whate'er in earth, or sea, or sky,

Or shuns, or meets, the wandering thought, Escapes or strikes, the searching eye, By Thee was to perfection brought.

High is thy power above all height;
Whate'er thy will decrees is done :
Thy wisdom, equal to thy might,
Only to Thee, O God, is known!

What our dim eye could never see,
Is plain and naked to thy sight;
What thickest darkness veils, to Thee
Shines clearly as the morning light.