1 For thee, O God, our constant praise;
In Zion waits, thy chosen seat;
Our promised altars there we'll raise,
and all our zealous vows complete.
2 O Thou, who to my humble pray'r
didst always bend thy :list'ning ear,
To thee shall all mankind repair,
and at thy gracious throne appear.
3 Our sins (though numberless) in vain
to stop thy flowing mercy try;
Whilst thou o'erlook'st the guilty stain,
and washest out the crimson dye.
4 Blest is the man, who near thee placed,
within thy sacred dwelling lives!
Whilst we at humbler distance taste
the vast delights thy temple gives.
5 By wondrous acts, O God, most just,
have we thy gracious answer found;
In thee remotest nations trust,
and those whom stormy waves surround..
6,7 God, by his strength, sets fast the hills,
and does his matchless pow r engage,'
With which the sea's loud waves he stills,
and angry crowds tumultuous rage.
The Second Part;
8 Thou, Lord, dost barb'rous lands dismay,
when they thy dreadful tokens view,
With joy they see the night and day
each other's track by turns pursue.
9 From out thy unexhausted store
thy rain relieves the thirsty ground;
Makes lands, that barren were before,
with corn and useful fruits abound.
10 On rising ridges down It pours,
and ev'ry furrowed valley fills;
Thou mak'st them soft with gentle show'rs,
in which a blest increase distils.
11 Thy goodness does the circling year
with fresh returns of plenty crown;
And, where thy glorious paths appear,
thy fruitful clouds drop fatness down.
12 They drop on barren forests, changed
by them to pastures fresh and green;
The hills about in order.ranged
in beauteous robes of joy are seen.
13 Large flocks with fleecy wool adorn
the cheerful downs; the valleys bring
A plenteous crop of full-eared corn,
and seem for joy to shout and sing.