Late Summer Bouquet with I'll praise my Maker with my breath and I've found a Friend, oh, such a Friend

I’ll praise my Maker with my breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler pow’rs;
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life, and tho’t, and being last,
Or immortality endures.

Why should I make a man my trust?
Princes must die and turn to dust;
Vain is the help of flesh and blood;
Their breath departs; their pomp and power
And thoughts all vanish in an hour;
Nor can they make their promise good.

Happy the man whose hopes rely
On Israel’s God; He made the sky,
And earth, and seas, with all their train,
His truth forever stands secure;
He saves th’ oppressed, He feeds the poor,
And none shall find His promise vain.
Rev. Isaac Watts



I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
He loved me ere I knew Him;
He drew me with the cords of love,
And thus He bound me to Him.
And ‘round my heart still closely twine
Those ties which naught can sever,
For I am His, and He is mine,
Forever and forever.

I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life,
But His own self He gave me.
Naught that I have mine own I call,
I hold it for the Giver:
My heart, my strength, my life, my all,
Are His, and His forever.

I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
All pow’r to Him is given,
To guard me on my onward course,
And bring me safe to Heaven.
Th’ eternal glories gleam afar,
To nerve my faint endeavor;
So now to watch, to work, to war,
And then to rest forever.

I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
So kind and true and tender!
So wise a Counselor and Guide,
So mighty a Defender!
From Him, who loves me now so well,
What pow’r my soul shall sever?
Shall life or death, shall earth or hell?
No; I am His for ever.
                 J. G. Small