Hymn 2:64

Hymn 2:64. God the glory and defence of Sion.

Happy the church, thou sacred place, The seat of thy Creator's grace; Thine holy courts are his abode, Thou earthly palace of our God.

Thy walls are strength, and at thy gates A guard of heavenly warriors waits; Nor shall thy deep foundations move, Fix'd on his counsels and his love.

Thy foes in vain designs engage, Against his throne in vain they rage, Like rising waves, with angry roar, That dash and die upon the shore.

Then let our souls in Zion dwell, Nor fear the wrath of Rome and hell: His arms embrace this happy ground, Like brazen bulwarks built around.

God is our shield, and God our sun; Swift as the fleeting moments run, On us he sheds new beams of grace, And we reflect his brightest praise.

Hymn 2:65. The hope of heaven our support under trials on earth.

When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes.

Should earth against my soul engage, And hellish darts be hurl'd, Then I can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world.

Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall, May I but safely reach my home, My God, my heaven, my all.

There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast.

Hymn 2:66. A prospect of heaven makes death easy.

There is a land of pure delight Where saints immortal reign, Infinite day excludes the night, And pleasures banish pain.

There everlasting spring abides, And never withering flowers: Death like a narrow sea divides This heavenly land from ours.

[Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood, Stand dress'd in living green So to the Jews old Canaan stood, While Jordan roll'd between.

But timorous mortals start and shrink To cross this narrow sea, And linger shivering on the brink, And fear to launch away.]

O! could we make our doubts remove, These gloomy doubts that rise, And see the Canaan that we love, With unbeclouded eyes!

Could we but climb where Moses stood, And view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, Should fright us from the shore.

Hymn 2:67. God's eternal dominion.

Great God, how infinite art thou! What worthless worms are we! Let the whole race of creatures bow And pay their praise to thee.

Thy throne eternal ages stood, Ere seas or stars were made; Thou art the ever-living God Were all the nations dead.

Nature and time quite naked lie To thine immense survey, From the formation of the sky To the great burning day.

Eternity with all its years Stands present in thy view; To thee there's nothing old appears, Great God, there's nothing new.

Our lives thro' various scenes are drawn, And vex'd with trifling cares; While thine eternal thought moves on Thine undisturb'd affairs.

Great God, how infinite art thou! What worthless worms are we! Let the whole race of creatures bow And pay their praise to thee.

Hymn 2:68. The humble worship of heaven.

Father, I long, I faint to see The place of thine abode, I'd leave thy earthly courts and flee Up to thy seat, my God!

Here I behold thy distant face, And 'tis a pleasing sight; But to abide in thine embrace Is infinite delight.

I'd part with all the joys of sense To gaze upon thy throne; Pleasure springs fresh for ever thence, Unspeakable, unknown.

[There all the heavenly hosts are seen, In shining ranks they move, And drink immortal vigour in, With wonder and with love.

Then at thy feet with awful fear Th' adoring armies fall With joy they shrink to nothing there, Before th' Eternal All.

There I would vie with all the host In duty and in bliss, While less than nothing I could boast, And vanity confess.]

The more thy glories strike mine eyes, The humbler I shall lie; Thus while I sink, my joys shall rise Unmeasurably high.