5 I hear thy word with love,
And I would fain obey;
Send thy good Spirit from above
To guide me, lest I stray.
6 O who can ever find
The errors of his ways?
Yet, with a bold presumptuous mind,
I would not dare transgress.
7 Warn me of every sin,
Forgive my secret faults,
And cleanse this guilty soul of mine,
Whose crimes exceed my thoughts.
8 While with my heart and tongue
I spread thy praise abroad,
Accept the worship and the song,
My Saviour and my God.
Psalm 19:3. L. M.
The books of nature and of scripture compared;
or, The glory and success of the gospel.
1 The heavens declare thy glory, Lord,
In every star thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold thy word
We read thy name in fairer lines.
2 The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days thy power confess;
But the blest volume thou hast writ
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.
3 Sun, moon, and stars convey thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So when thy truth begun its race,
It touch'd and glanc'd on every land.
4 Nor shall thy spreading gospel rest,
Till thro' the world thy truth has run;
Till Christ has all the nations blest,
That see the light, or feel the sun.
5 Great Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Bless the dark world with heavenly light;
Thy gospel makes the simple wise,
Thy laws are pure, thy judgments right.
6 Thy noblest wonders here we view
In souls renew'd and sins forgiven:
Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew,
And make thy word my guide to heaven.
Psalm 19:4.
To the tune of the 113th Psalm.
The book of nature and scripture.
1 Great God, the heaven's well-order'd frame
Declares the glories of thy name;
There thy rich works of wonder shine:
A thousand starry beauties there,
A thousand radiant marks appear
Of boundless power and skill divine.
2 From night to day, from day to night,
The dawning and the dying light
Lectures of heavenly wisdom read;
With silent eloquence they raise
Our thoughts to our Creator's praise,
And neither sound nor language need.
3 Yet their divine instructions run
Far as the journies of the sun,
And every nation knows their voice;
The sun, like some young bridegroom drest,
Breaks from the chambers of the east,
Rolls round, and makes the earth rejoice.
4 Where'er he spreads his beams abroad,
He smiles and speaks his maker God;
All nature joins to shew thy praise:
Thus God, in every creature shines;
Fair is the book of nature's lines,
But fairer is thy book of grace.