4 Let the praise be all the Lord s,
As the benefit is ours.
He in season still affords
Kindly heat and gentle showers.
By his care the produce thrives,
Waving o er the furrow d lands;
And when harvest-time arrives,
Ready for the reaper stands.
5 Thus in barren hearts he sows
Precious seeds of heav nlyjoy;
Sin and hell in vain oppose,
None can grace s crop destroy :
Threatened oft, yet still it blooms,
After many changes past ;
Death the reaper, when he comes,
Finds it fully ripe at last.
CHRISTMAS.
37.
Praise for the Incarnation.
1 SWEETER sounds than music knows
Charm me in Emmanuel s name ;
All her hopes my spirit owes
To his birth and cross and shame.
2 When he came the angels sung
" Glory be to G-od on high ! "
Lord, unloose my stamm ring tongue,
Who should louder sing than I ?
3 Did the Lord a man become,
That he might the law fulfill.
Bleed and suffer in my room,
And canst thou, my tongue, be still ?
4 No, I must my praises bring,
Though they worthless are and weak ;
For should I refuse to sing,
Sure the very stones would speak.
