Praise for National Peace

Verse 1

Great Ruler of the earth and skies, A word of thine almighty breath Can sink the world, or bid it rise: Thy smile is life, thy frown is death.

Verse 2

When angry nations rush to arms, And rage, and noise, and tumult reign, And war resounds its dire alarms, And slaughter dyes the hostile plain--

Verse 3

Thy sov'reign eye looks calmly down, And marks their course, and bounds their power; Thy law the angry nations own, And noise and war are heard no more.

Verse 4

Then peace returns with balmy wing;-- Sweet peace, with her what blessings fled! Glad plenty laughs, the valleys sing, Reviving commerce lifts her head.

Verse 5

To thee we pay our grateful songs; Thy kind protection still implore: Oh, may our hearts, and lives, and tongues Confess thy goodness, and adore.