HYMN 70. (L. M.) God's Dominion over the Sea, Psalm cvii. 23, &c.
I
God of the seas, thy thundering voice
Makes all the roaring waves rejoice,
And one soft word of thy command
Can sink them silent in the sand.
II
If but a Moses wave thy rod,
The sea divides and owns its God;
The stormy floods their Maker knew,
And let his chosen armies through.
III
The scaly flocks amidst the sea
To thee their Lord a tribute pay;
The meanest fish that swims the flood
Leaps up, and means a praise to God.
IV
The larger monsters of the deep,
On thy commands attendance keep,
By thy permission sport and play,
And cleave along their foaming way.
V
If God his voice of tempest rears
Leviathan lies still and fears,
Anon he lifts his nostrils high,
And spouts the ocean to the sky.
VI
How is thy glorious power ador'd,
Amidst those wat'ry nations, Lord!
Yet the bold men that trace the seas,
Bold men, refuse their Maker's praise.
VII
What scenes of miracles they see,
And never tune a song to thee!
While on the flood they safely ride,
They curse the hand that smooths the tide.
VIII
Anon they plunge in wat'ry graves,
And some drink death among the waves:
Yet the surviving crew blaspheme,
Nor own the God that rescu'd them.
IX
O for some signal of thine hand,
Shake all the seas, Lord, shake the land,
Great Judge descend, lest men deny
That there's a God that rules the sky.
From the 70th to the 108th Hymn, I hope the reader will forgive
the neglect of rhyme in the first and third lines of the stanza.
