Growing in Grace

1 Praise to thy name, eternal God,
For all the grace thou shed'st abroad;
For all thy influence from above,
To warm our souls with sacred love:

2 Bless'd be thy hand, which from the skies
Brought down this plant of Paradise,
And gave its heavenly beauties birth
To deck this wilderness of earth.

3 But why does that celestial flower
Open, and thrive, and shine no more?
Where are its balmy odors fled?
And why reclines its beauteous head?

4 Too plain, alas! the langour shews
Th' unkindly soil in which it grows;
Where the black frost and beating storm
Wither, and rend its tender form.

5 Unchanging sun thy beams display,
To drive the frost and storms away;
Make all thy potent virtues known
To cheer a plant so much thy own.

6 And thou, bless'd spirit deign to blow
Fresh gales of Heaven on shrubs below;
So shall they grow, and breathe abroad
A fragrance grateful to our God.

Source: A Selection of Hymns: from the best authors, intended to be an appendix to Dr. Watt's psalms and hymns. (1st Am. ed.) #CCCXXII