Select Psalms and Hymns for the use of Mr. Adgate's pupils ‎#XIV

XIV. Man mortal and God eternal

I Thro' ev'ry age, eternal God,
Thou art our rest, our safe abode;
High was thy throne e'er heav'n was made,
Or earth, thy humble footstool, laid.

II Long hadst thou reign'd e'er time began,
Or dust was fashion'd to a man;
And long thy kingdom shall endure,
When earth and time shall be no more.

VIII But man, weak man, is born to die,
Made up of guilt and vanity;
Thy dreadful sentence, Lord, was just,
"Return, ye sinners, to your dust."

IV [A thousand of our years amount
Scarce to a day in thine account;
Like yesterday's departed light,
Or the last watch of ending night.]

Pause

V [Death, like an over-flowing stream,
Sweeps us away; our life's a dream,
An empty tale; a morning flow'r,
Cut down and withered in an hour.

VI [Our age to seventy years is set;
How short the term! how frail the state!
And if to eighty we arrive,
We rather sigh and groan than live.

VII But O how oft thy wrath appears,
And cuts off our expected years!
Thy wrath awakes our humble dread;
We fear the pow'r that strikes us dead.]

VIII Teach us, O Lord, how frail is man;
And kindly lengthen out our span,
Till a wise care of piety
Fit us to die, and dwell with thee.

Text Information

• First Line: Through every age, eternal God
• Title: Man mortal and God eternal
• Meter: Long Metre
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1787
• Notes: Now Public Domain. A mournful song at a Funeral

Tune Information

(No tune information)