Praise for National Peace

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

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

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

Then peace returns with balmy wing,
(Sweet peace! with her what blessings fled!)
Glad plenty laughs, the vallies sing,
Reviving commerce lifts her head.

Thou good, and wise, and righteous Lord,
All move subservient to thy will;
And peace and war await thy word,
And thy sublime decrees fulfil.

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