(A HYMN WITH RESPONSES)
" Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Every morning mercies new
Fall as fresh as morning dew. "
Yet we are choked with sin
With bestial lusts and guile;
God (so it runs) made this world clean
And Man has made it vile.
Aye, here Man lives on man,
And breaks him day by day—
But in the trampled jungle
The tiger claws his prey.
God's curse is on the thief;
The murderer fares ill—
Who gave the beasts their taste for blood
Who taught them how to kill?
" All praise to Him Who built the hills,
All praise to Him Who each stream fills;
All praise to Him Who lights each star
That sparkles in the sky afar. "
All praise to Him who made
The earthquake and the flood;
All praise to Him who made the pest
That sucks away the blood.
All praise to Him whose mind
Had the desire to make
The shark, the scorpion, the gnat
And the envenomed snake.
Beauty itself He turns
To slay and to be slain—
A thousand evil poisons
His peaceful woods contain.
" Lift up your heart! Lift up your voice!
Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice!
For His mercies, they are sure
His compassion will endure! "
Rejoice because each man
Has but a man's desire
To sin the little human sins
As a child that plays with fire.
Rejoice because God's plans
Are far too deep for talk...
He lets the swallow feed on flies—
Then gives it to the hawk!
Rejoice because He made
A world in some wild mood;
A world that feeds upon itself—
' And God saw it was good... '
Yet who are we to rail—
Vainly we strive and storm—
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform!
'Blind unbelief is sure to err,'
They say, and yet again,
'God is His own interpreter'—
When will He make it plain?