2 Be the Lord your only theme;
Who of gods is God fupreme;
He to whom all lords befide
Bow the knee, their faces hide.
Who afferts his just command,
By the wonders of his hand;
He whofe wifdom, thron'd on high,
Built the manfions of the sky.
4 He who bade the watery deep
In appointed bounds to keep,
And the ftars that gild the pole
Through unmeafur'd ether roll.
5 Thee, O fun, whofe powerful ray
Rules the empire of the day;
You, O moon and ftars, whofe light
Cheers the darkness of the night.
6 He with food fuftains, O earth,
All which claim from thee their birth;
For his bleffings wide extend,
And his mercy knows no end.
Pfalm CXXXVII. Common Metre. [
AR from our friends and country dear,
In hoftile lands we moan;
No tender hand to wipe the tear
Which flows with every groan !
2 Our foes infulting mock our grief,
And fport with our complaints;
No mercy prompts to give relief,
Though languid mifery faints.
3 In retrospective fcenes employ'd,
We think on former days ;
When peaceful fabbaths we enjoy'd,
And all our work was praise.
4 But now, of liberty depriv'd,
In folitude confin'd;
In vain we feek the word of life,
To feed the starving mind.
To thee, O Lord, we lift our eye,
To thee our caufe commend ;
Thou hear'ft the mourning pris'ner's figh;
Thou art the fuff'rer's friend.
6 We feek no vengeance on our foes,
But put our truft in thee
O let thy mercy interpofe,
And fet thy captives free.
Pfalm CXXXVIII. Common Metre. [*] A Song of Praise.
10 thee, my God, my heart fhall bring The lively grateful fong; Attending crowds fhall hear me fing
With rapture on my tongue.
2 Amidst the glories of thy name,
Thy truth exalted fhines;
A faithful God, thy words proclaim
In everlasting lines.
3 Th' eternal God looks kindly down
On pious humble fouls;
But from afar his piercing frown
The fons of pride controls.
Thou, Lord, wilt all my hopes fulfil;
To thee, the work belongs;
Let endless mercy guide me ftill,
And tune my grateful fongs.
Pfalm CXXXVIII. Long Metre. [
Reftoring and preferving Mercy.
WITH all my powers of heart and tongu
I'll praife my Maker in my fong;
While holy zeal directs my eyes
To thy fair temple in the kics.
2 I'll fing thy truth and mercy, Lord;
I'll fing the wonders of thy word;
Not all thy works and names below
So much thy power and glory fhow.
The God of heaven maintains his ftate,
Frowns on the impious, proud and great;
But from his throne defcends to fee
The fons of humble poverty.
4 Amidst a thousand fnares I ftand,
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
Thy words my fainting foul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.
5 Grace will complete what grace begins,
To fave from forrows or from fins;
The work which wisdom undertakes,
Eternal mercy ne'er forfakes.
Pfalm CXXXVIII. v. 3, 5. S. M. [*]
Spiritual Strength and Joy.
Y foul, review the time,
In which my God I fought;
I cry'd aloud for aid divine,
And aid divine he brought.
2 Through all my fainting heart,
His fecret vigour spread;
To me his ftrength he did impart,
And rais'd my drooping head.
3 Then will I raise my voice,
And form a cheerful fong;
With all the faints I will rejoice,
Who to his courts belong.
4 With them, the path I'll trace,
Which leads to his abode ;
And join to fing redeeming grace,
Along the joyful road.
5 Here, flowers of paradise
In rich profufion fpring;
There, Zion's lofty towers arife,
The feat of Zion's King.
6 Within thofe facred walls,
I fhall be ever bleft;
I'll follow where my Father calls,
And feek his heav'nly reft.
Pfalm CXXXIX. ift Part. C. M. [or] The nerfal Prefence of God.
Nall my vaft concerns with thee,
In vain my foul would try
To hun thy prefence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-furrounding fight furveys
My rifing and my reft;
My public walks, my private. ways,
And secrets of ray breast.
My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Bore they're form'd within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.
4 O wond'rous knowledge, deep and high !
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on ev'ry fide.
5 So let thy grace furround me ftill,
And like a bulwark prove;
To guard my foul from every ill,
Secur'd by fov'reign love.
Plaim CXXXIX. 2d Part. C. M.[
The all-feeing Eye of God.
LORD, where fhall guilty fouls retire,
In hell they meet thy dreadful ire;
In heaven thy glorious throne.
2 Should I fupprefs my vital breath,
T' efcape the wrath divine;
Thy voice would break the bars of death,
And make the grave refign.
3 lf, wing'd with beams of morning light, I fly beyond the west,
Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would foon betray my rest.
4 If o'er my fins I think to draw
The curtains of the night,
Those flaming eyes which guard thy law
Would turn the fhades to light.
5 The beams of noon, the midnight hour
Are both alike to thee;
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