Observe the lily, and the rose,
To toil and spin they ne'er were given;
Yet God on them a robe bestows,
More rich than monarch's vesture even.
On God, each living creature's eyes
Are fix'd--he, with a parent's care,
The wants of all the world supplies,
And gives to each its proper share.
He opes his bounteous hand full wide,
And feeds each animal that lives,
And ne'er leaves any unsupplied,
But to them all due measure gives.
He to the lion's cubs gives food,
To each fierce rambler of the wild,
To the black raven's glossy brood,
And shall he not to every child?
Thou dost not drop a single hair,
Without a providence divine;
No sparrow tumbles from the air,
Nought haps which God did not design.
Already has God's providence
To thee, breath, being, strength allow'd--
Health, knowledge, reason, memory, sense,
Will he not, think'st thou, give thee food?
Two sparrows, as they are so small,
Are purchas'd for a single mite;
Though little, yet God feeds them all,
Art thou less precious in his sight?
Though God, for all his creatures here
With a most lib'ral hand provides;
Yet is the soul of man more dear
To him, than all his works besides.
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