2 How dread are thine eternal years,
  Oh, everlasting Lord! 
By prostrate spirits day and night,
  Incessantly adored.

3 Oh, how I fear thee, living God! 
  With deepest, tenderest fears,
And worship thee with trembling hope,
  And penitential tears.

4 Yet I may love thee, too, O Lord! 
  Almighty as thou art,
For thou hast stooped to ask of me
  The love of this poor heart.

5 No earthly father loves like thee,
  No mother, half so mild,
Bears and forbears as thou hast done
  With me, thy sinful child.

6 Father of Jesus! love’s reward! 
  What rapture will it be,
Prostrate before thy throne to lie,
  And gaze and gaze on thee.

     Frederick Wm. Faber, 1849.

81 Dundee.  C.M.

God’s Ways Not Understood. (848)

God moves in a mysterious way,
  His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
  And rides upon the storm.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines
  Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
  And works his sovereign will.

3 Ye fearful saints! fresh courage take;
  The clouds ye so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
  In blessings on your head.

4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
  But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
  He hides a smiling face.

5 His purposes will ripen fast,
  Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
  But sweet will be the flower.

6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
  And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
  And he will make it plain.

     William Cowper, 1772.

82 Dundee.  C.M.

Majesty.  Ps. 18.

The Lord descended from above,
  And bowed the heavens most high;
And underneath his feet he cast
  The darkness of the sky.

2 On cherub and on cherubim
  Full royally he rode;
And on the wings of mighty winds
  Came flying all abroad.

3 He sat serene upon the floods,
  Their fury to restrain;
And he, as sovereign Lord and King,
  Forevermore shall reign.

     Thomas Sternhold, d. 1549.

83 Triumph.  L.M.

The Goodness of God. (176)

Yes, God is good; in earth and sky,
From ocean depths and spreading wood,
Ten thousand voices seem to cry,
“God made us all, and God is good.”

2 The sun that keeps his trackless way, And downward pours his golden flood, Night’s sparkling hosts all seem to sky, In accents clear, that God is good.

3 Yes, God is good, all Nature says, By God’s own hand with speech endued; And man, in louder notes of praise, Should sing for joy that God is good.

4 For all thy gifts, we bless thee, Lord; But chiefly for our heavenly food, Thy pardoning grace, thy quickening word; These prompt our song that God is good.