4 Ye wheels of nature, speed your course!

Ye mortal powers, decay!
Fast as ye bring the night of death,

Ye bring eternal day.

362

L. M.
Praise for the mercies of the revolving year.

Ps. Ixv, 11.
1 ETERNAL Source of every joy!

Praise shall our hearts and lips employ,
While in thy temple we appear,

Whose goodness crowns the circling year. 2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll,

Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
The sun is taught by Thee to rise;

Darkness by Thee to veil the skies.
3 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,

Demand successive songs of praise;
Oh! be the grateful homage paid,

With morning light, and evening shade:
4 Here in thy house let incense rise,

As circling Sabbaths bless our eyes,
Till to those glorious realms we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.

363

C. M. Preparation for eternity.

Job xvi, 22. Ps. xxxix, 4. 1 REMARK, my soul, the narrow bounds

Of the revolving year! How swift the weeks complete their rounds!

How short the months appear! 2 So fast eternity comes on,

And that important day,
When all that mortal life has done

God's judgment shall survey.
3 Waken, O God! my trifling heart

Its great concern to see;
That I may act the Christian's part,

And give the year to Thee.
4 So shall their course more grateful roll,

If future years arise;
Or this shall bear my happy soul

To joy that never dies. 364

L. M.
Uncertainty of Life.
Prov. xxvii, 1. Isa. xxviii, 15. Zech. 1, 5.
1 God of our life! thy constant care

With blessing crowns the op'ning year;
This transient state Thou dost prolong,
And wake anew our annual song.

2 How many kindred souls are fled

To swell the millions of the dead,
Since from this day the changing sun

Through his last yearly course has run! 3 We yet survive; but who can say,

Or through the year, or month, or day,
We shall retain this vital breath,

Thus far at least in league with death? 4 That breath is thine, eternal God!

'Tis thine to fix our soul's abode;
We hold our life from Thee alone,

On earth, or in the world unknown. 5 To Thee our spirits we resign;

Make them and own them still as thine;
So shall we smile, secure from fear,

Though death should blast the rising year. 365

D.7's. Life but a dream.

Ps. xc, 9.
1 WHILE with ceaseless course the sun

Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,

Never more to meet us here:
Fix'd in an eternal state,

They have done with all below;
We a little longer wait,

But how little none can know,

2 As the winged arrow flies

Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies

Darts, and leaves, no trace behird;
Swiftly thus our fleeting days

Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upwards, Lord ! our spirits raise;

All below is but a dream.
3 Thanks for mercies past receive;

Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live

With eternity in view:
Bless thy word to young and old;

Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And, when life's short tale is told,

May we dwell with Thee above. 366

L.M.
God our Guardian through the year.
Gen. xvii, 7. Deut. xi, 12. Josh. iii, 4.
1 Great God! we sing that mighty hand,

By which supported still we stand:
The op’ning year thy mercy shows;

Let mercy crown it till the close.
2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,

Still we are guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed ;
By his unerring counsel led.

3 With grateful hearts the past we own;

The future, all to us unknown,
We to thy guardian care commit,

And peaceful leave before thy feet. 4 In scenes exalted or depressid,

Thou art our joy, and Thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,

Adored through all our changing days. 5 When death shall interrupt these songs,

And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Unchanging God! thy love shall be

Our theme throughout eternity. 367

C.M. A new year's song of praise.

Isa, xlvi, 3, 4,
1 God of our life! thy various praise

Let mortal voices sound;
Thy hand revolves our fleeting days,

And brings the seasons round.
2 To Thee shall annual incense rise,

Our Father and our Friend;
While annual mercies from the skies

In genial streams descend.
3 In every scene of life, thy care,

In every age, we see;
And constant as thy favours are,

So let our praises be.