496.
God's dealings described and extolled.
1
Give thanks unto the Lord, ye nations round,
From whom alone your countless blessings flow;
His goodness is a sea that knows no bound,
His reign is vast, beyond what man can know;
Let all who love the Lord declare his might,
And walk in awe of him, whose power is infinite.
2
When the whole world from him had gone astray,
And clouds and darkness veil'd the human mind;
When each had found his own polluted way,
And every ear was deaf, and eye was blind;
Though sunk in sin, the Lord our fathers sought,
And, to defend from harm, wonders unnumber'd wrought.
3
When Israel's hope upon the patriarch's head
Rested alone, beneath the spacious skies;
God, with that voice which wakes the sleeping dead,
From faithful Abraham, bade our tribes arise;
Progenitor of prophets, priests, and kings,
Appointed such by him, who rules all mortal things.
4
Though Joseph, by his cruel brethren sold,
Was sent to slavery in a foreign land,
He fear'd the Lord his fathers fear'd of old,
And he was rais'd, by God's mysterious hand,
To save, from famine and disastrous days,
The race, ordain'd of heaven, to teach the world to praise.
5
And when, in after years, 'mid sore distress,
Israel implored the Lord, with purpose true;
He brought them safely through the wilderness,
And, in deep waters, Pharoah's host o'erthrew;
He guided, though unseen, their doubtful feet,
Water he gave to drink, he gave them bread to eat.
6
They wander'd in a solitary way,
And sigh'd again for Egypt's vain repose;
Unmindful of his power, from day to day,
On every hand they fear'd o'erwhelming foes;
Remembering not that he, who brought them there,
Could guard from every dart, and screen from every snare.
7
And when they saw not heaven's presiding hand,
And murmur'd at the way in which they went,
Hunger and thirst, a fierce devouring band,
To scourge them, for their many crimes, were sent;
But when, once more, they sought the Lord supreme,
Again he gave them food, he sent the grateful stream.
8
O that the sons of men, with one accord,
Who every hour his benefits partake,
Would shun their evil ways, and serve the Lord,
And his most holy name their refuge make;
Jehovah then once more would show his face,
And on their hearts confer his pure and heavenly grace.
9
He satisfies the souls that would arise,
And on the Lord with meek submission wait;
Who would forsake the earth's low vanities,
And live like those who seek a better state;
He on such souls will every good bestow,
And grant their spirits peace, while wandering here below.
10
You, who in darkness sit, and look around,
To see the light of day, yet look in vain;
Who in the gloomy shades of death are found,
And bend beneath affliction's heavy chain;
Still, undismay'd, direct to heaven your eye!
And know that all is sent to cleanse and purify!
11
Because our sires rebell'd against their God,
And dared despise the laws which he ordain'd;
Because they in the paths forbidden trod,
And impious war against the Lord maintain'd,
He left them to contend with toil and care,
And there was none to help; wretched and poor they were.
12
Then, to their fathers' God again they cried;
From morn to night their mournful sighs arose;
He heard their voice, and would no longer chide;
He had compassion on their many woes;
He fill'd with joy their eyes, and rais'd their hands;
He cheer'd their sinking hearts; he brake their iron bands.
13
The sons of darkness, who would fain destroy
The hope of Israel, in one fatal hour,
In vain attempt our footsteps to annoy;
They all are bound by God's almighty power;
Iron, and brazen gates, he breaks in twain;
He foils their dark designs; he makes their counsels vain.
14
Sinners, unceasing, bear Jehovah's frowns;
Afflictions follow them wheree'er they go;
Iniquity each nobler prospect drowns,
And they are toss'd with care, and bent with woe;
They never look beyond this lower earth;
They never cast an eye at their celestial birth.
15
They live as though this life would ever last,
And flowers, unwithering, crown their lofty head;
Rather than like the men who hasten fast
To the cold regions of the silent dead;
Who here are for a stormy moment thrown,
And then are borne away, to scenes and worlds unknown.
16
But when they own the error of their way,
And, earnest, to the Lord, for mercy cry;
Though they from youth to age have gone astray,
And loved, and follow'd, only vanity;
He will not turn aside when they complain;
He never heard the cry of penitence in vain.
17
O, who can tell, how merciful and great,
The Lord, who form'd at first, and guards us still;
Who stoops to view us in our low estate,
And gently strives to change our wayward will;
O, that his praise might all their hearts engage
Who bound with sportive youth, or creep with tottering age.
18
The ven'trous men who cross the ocean wide;
Who o'er the waste of waters sail alone;
With naught but sea and air on every side,
Nor sound, but of the winds that round them moan;
These, in the mighty deep, behold his hand,
Who made both heaven and earth, who rules both sea and land.
19
For he commands, and forth the stormy wind,
Arising, sweeps the mountain-moving wave;
They cast their eyes before, they look behind,
But all around the foam-tipp'd billows rave;
And now, to heaven upborn, they labouring breathe;
Now to the depths they sink, gazing on death beneath.
20
Then, to the Lord, th' imploring look they cast,
While waves o'er waves in deafening conflict roll;
When, with a word, he stills the raging blast,
And calms th' impetuous surges of their soul;
He speaks, and, lo! the tempest takes its flight,
And all again is calm, calm as the stars of night.
21
O that the men who hourly thus survey
The goodness and the power of God, most high!
Would walk through life, like children of the day,
Whose chief concern is, to prepare to die;
Striving to please that God, while here below,
Whose smile is endless joy; whose frown, eternal woe.
