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Respecting all the holy seed, Chosen in Christ their blessed Head.
’Twas fixed in God’s eternal mind
When his dear sons should mercy find; From everlasting he decreed When every good should be conveyed. 2 Determined was the manner how Eternal favours he’d bestow; Yea, he decreed the very place Where he would show triumphant grace. 3 Also the means were fixed upon Through which his sovereign love should run. So time and place, yea, means and mode, Were all determined by our God.
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All things decreed. Matt. 10. 29-31; Isa. 45. 7; Dan. 2. 21
But’s found in God’s decrees; He raises monarchs to their thrones, And sinks them if he please.
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[In every mercy, full and free, A sovereign God I wish to see; To see how grace, free grace has reigned, In every blessing he ordained.
6 Yes, dearest Lord, ’tis my desire Thy wise appointments to admire; And trace the footsteps of my God, Through every path in Zion’s road.] RICHARD BURNHAM 1785 L.M. W. A. Clarke
God’s jewels of election-love Were sanctified in Christ above; In oneness with his nature pure, Joint-heirs with him for evermore. NO RECORD C.M. Isaac Watts
There’s not a sparrow nor a worm
4 Vast were the settlements of grace On millions of the human race; And every favour, richly given, Flows from the high decree of heaven. 5
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If light attend the course I run, ’Tis he provides those rays; And ’tis his hand that hides my sun, If darkness cloud my days.
3 When he reveals the Book of Life, O may I read my name Among the chosen of his love, The followers of the Lamb! ISAAC WATTS 1674 7s J. Ryland God’s Decrees. Eccles. 3. 1-8, 17; Ps. 31. 14, 15
Sovereign Ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise; All my times are in thy hand, All events at thy command.
God’s Sovereignty Displayed in Christ. 1 Cor. 6. 11
Space and duration God does fill,
And orders all things by his will,
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His decree who formed the earth Fixed my first and second birth;