Scripture Verse

Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: Thou hast made summer and winter. Psalm 74:17

Introduction

Words: John Need­ham, Hymns De­vo­tion­al and Mo­ral on Va­ri­ous Sub­jects (Bris­tol, Eng­land: S. Far­ley, 1768), num­ber 54.

Music: Pray­er (Butch­er) Will­iam U. Butch­er, 1860 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Need­ham or Butch­er (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The roll­ing year, al­migh­ty Lord!
Obeys Thy pow­er­ful nod:
Each sea­son as it si­lent moves
Declares the pre­sent God.

The var­ied months are full of Thee,
With Thy rich boun­ty crowned:
The circ­ling days, and fleet winged hours
Thy va­ri­ous praise re­sound.

Waked by Thy voice, out steps the spring
In liv­ing green new dressed:
On hills, in vales, thro’ fields and groves
Thy beau­ties stand con­fessed.

Now joy the liv­ing tribes in­spires;
The birds sweet mu­sic bring:
The bleat­ing flocks the con­cert join,
And ri­vers seem to sing.

The sun calls forth the sum­mer months,
Nor do the hours de­lay:
The fruits with var­ied co­lors glow
Beneath his rip­en­ing ray.

’Tis now, al­migh­ty God! we see
The fork­èd light­nings fly:
Now ’tis Thy voice in thun­der roars,
And shakes the low­er sky.

Thy boun­ty, Lord, in au­tumn shines,
And spreads a com­mon feast:
He that regards His fa­vo­rite, man,
Will not ne­glect the beast.

When win­ter rears her hoa­ry head,
And shows her fur­rowed brow,
In storms and tem­pests, frosts and snows,
How aw­ful, Lord, art Thou!

The roll­ing year, al­migh­ty Lord!
Obeys Thy pow­er­ful nod:
Each sea­son as it si­lent moves
Declares the pre­sent God.