GodPraise:
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord!
In every star thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold thy word,
We read thy name in fairer lines.

2 The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days, thy power confess;
But the blest volume thou hast writ,
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.

3 Sun, moon, and stars, convey thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So when thy truth began its race,
It touched and glanced on every land.

4 Nor shall thy spreading gospel rest
Till through the world thy truth has run;
Till Christ has all the nations blest
That see the light, or feel the sun.

5 Great Sun of Righteousness! arise;
Bless the dark world with heavenly light:
Thy gospel makes the simple wise,
Thy laws are pure, thy judgments right.

6 Thy noblest wonders here we view,
In souls renewed, and sins forgiven;
Lord! cleanse my sins, my soul renew,
And make thy word my guide to heaven.

GodPraise:
Hold fast the form of sound words. 2 Tim. 1:13.
God’s law demands one living faith, Not a gaunt crowd of lifeless creeds; Its warrant is a firm “God saith;” Its claim, not words, but living deeds.
2 Yet, Lord, forgive; thy simple law Grows tarnished in our earthly grasp; Pure in itself, without a flaw, It dims in our too-worldly clasp.
3 We handle it with unwashed hands; We stain it with unhallowed breath; We gloss it with device of man’s, And hide thine image underneath.
4 Forgive the sacrilege, and take From off our souls th’ unworthy stain; And show us, for thy Son’s dear sake Thy pure and perfect law again.