AMAZING BEAUTEOUS CHANGE!
By Philip Doddridge
Amazing, beauteous change!
A world created new!
My thoughts with transport range,
The lovely scene to view;
In all I trace,
Saviour divine,
The work is thine—
Be thine the praise! See crystal fountains play
Where once were burning sands;
The river's winding way
Shines through the thirsty lands;
New grass is seen,
And o'er the meads
Its carpet spreads
Of living green. Where pointed brambles grew,
Intwined with horrid thorn,
Gay flowers, forever new,
The painted fields adorn;
The blushing rose
And lily there,
In union fair
Their sweets disclose. Where the bleak mountain stood
All bare and disarrayed,
See the wide-branching wood
Diffuse its grateful shade;
Tall cedars nod,
And oaks and pines
And elms and vines
Confess thee, God! The tyrants of the plain
Their savage chase give o'er;
No more they rend the slain,
And thirst for blood no more;
But infant hands
Fierce tigers stroke,
And lions yoke
In flowery bands. O, when, Almighty Lord!
Shall these glad scenes arise
To verify thy word,
And bless our wondering eyes?
That earth may raise,
With all its tongues
United songs,
Of ardent praise.
—Philip Doddridge.