2 Before thou brought'st the mountains 17 Let thy bright rays upon us shine; forth,

Give thou our work success : Or th' earth and world didst frame, The glorious work we have in hand Thou always wert the mighty God,

Do thou vouchsafe to bless.
And ever art the same.
3 Thou turnest man, O Lord, to dust,

PSALM XCI.
Of which he first was made;

HE that has God his guardian made, And when thou speak'st the word,

11 Shall under th' Almighty's shade Return,

Secure and undisturb'd abide. "Tis instantly obey'd.

2 Thus to my soul of him I'll say,

He is my fortress and my stay, 4 For in thy sight a thousand years

My God, in whom I will confide.
Are like a day that's past,
Or like a watch in dead of night,

3 His tender love and watchful care Whose hours unminded waste.

Shall free thee from the fowler's snare,

And from the noisome pestilence: 5 Thou sweep'st us off as with a flood,

4 He over thee his wings shall spread, We vanish hence like dreams;

And cover thy unguarded head; At first we grow like grass that feels

His truth shall be thy strong defence. The sun's reviving beams :

5 No terrors that surprise by night 6 But howsoever fresh and fair

Shall thy undaunted courage fright, Its morning beauty shows;

Nor deadly shafts that fly by day; 'Tis all cut down and wither'd quite 6 Nor plague of unknown rise, that kills Before the ev'ning close.

In darkness, nor infectious ills 7, 8 We by thine anger are consum'd,

That in the hottest season slay.
And by thy wrath dismay'd :

7 A thousand at thy side shall die, Our publick crimes and secret sins

At thy right hand ten thousand lie, Before thy sight are laid.

While thy firm health untouch'd re9 Beneath thy anger's sad effects

mains; Our drooping days we spend;

8 Thou only shalt look on and see Our unregarded years break off,

The wicked's dismal tragedy,
Like tales that quickly end.

And count the sinner's mournful 10 Our term of time is seventy years,

gains. An age that few survive;

9 Because, with well-plac'd confidence, But if, with more than common

Thou mak'st the Lord thy sure defence, strength,

And on the Highest dost rely;
To eighty we arrive;

10 Therefore no ill shall thee befall,

Nor to thy healthful dwelling shall Yet then our boasted strength decays,

Any infectious plague draw nigh. To sorrow turn'd, and pain : So soon the slender thread is cut,

11 For he, throughout thy happy days, And we no more remain.

To keep thee safe in all thy ways

Shall give his angels strict comThe Second Part.

mands;

12 And they, lest thou should'st chance 11 But who thy anger's dread effects

to meet

[feet, Does, as he ought, revere?

With some rough stone to wound thy And yet thy wrath does fall or rise,

Shall bear thee safely in their hands. As more or less we fear.

13 Dragons and asps, that thirst for blood, 12 So teach us, Lord, th' uncertain sum And lions roaring for their food, Of our short days to mind,

Beneath his conquiring feet shall lie; That to true wisdom all our hearts

| 14 Because he lov'd and honour'd me, May ever be inclin'd.

Therefore, says God, I'll set him free,

And fix his glorious throne on high. 13 O to thy servants, Lord, return, And speedily relent!

15 He'll call; I'll answer, when he calls, As we of our misdeeds, do thou

And rescue him when ill befalls; Of our just doom repent.

Increase his honour and his wealth:

16 And when with undisturb'd content 14 To satisfy and cheer our souls

His long and happy life is spent,
Thy early mercy send ;

His end I'll crown with saving health.
That we may all our days to come
In joy and comfort spend.

PSALM XCII. 15 Let happy times, with large amends, How good and pleasant must it be Dry up our former tears,

To thank the Lord most high; Or equal at the least the term

And with repeated hymns of praise of our af icted years.

His Name to magnify! 16 To all thy servants, Lord, let this 2 With every morning's early dawn Thy wondrous work be known,

His goodness to relate; And to our offspring yet unborn

And of his constant truth each night Thy glorious pow'r be shown.

The glad effects repeat !

6 But honesty, callid from her cell, 1 14 Her scatter'd ruins by thy saints

In splendour at my court shall dwell: With pity are survey'd ;
Who virtue's practice make their care, They grieve to see her lofty spires

Shall have the first preferments there. In dust and rubbish laid. 7 No politicks shall recommend

15, 16 The Name and glory of the Lord His country's foe to be my friend :

All heathen kings shall fear; None e'er shall to my favour rise

When he shall Sion build again, By flattring or malicious lies.

And in full state appear. 8 All those who wicked courses take 17, 18 When he regards the poor's request, An early sacrifice I'll make;

Nor slights their earnest pray'r; Cut off, destroy, till none remain

Our sons, for this recorded grace,
God's holy city to profane.

Shall his just praise declare.
PSALM CII.

19 For God, from his abode on high, W HEN I pour out my soul in pray'r,

His gracious beams display'd : V Do thou, O Lord, attend;

The Lord from heav'n, his lofty throne,
To thy eternal throne of grace

Has all the earth survey'd.
Let my sad cry ascend.

1 20 He listend to the captives' moans,

He heard their mournful cry,
2 0 hide not thou thy glorious face
In times of deep distress;

And freed by his resistless pow'r
Incline thine ear, and, when I call,

The wretches doom'd to die;
My sorrows soon redress.

21 That they in Sion, where he dwells, 3 Each cloudy portion of my life

Might celebrate his fame,

And through the holy city sing
Like scatter'd smoke expires;
My shrivell'd bones are like a hearth

Loud praises to his Name.
Parch'd with continual fires.

22 When all the tribes assembling there

Their solemn vows address, 4 My heart, like grass that feels the blast Of some infectious wind,

And neighbring lands, with glad con.

sent,
Does languish so with grief, that scarce
My needful food I mind.

The Lord their God confess. . 5 By reason of my sad estate

23 But, ere my race is run, my strength I spend my breath in groans ;

Through his fierce wrath decays;

He has, when all my wishes bloom'd,
My flesh is worn away, my skin
Scarce hides my starting bones.

Cut short my hopeful days.

24 Lord, end not thou my life, said I, 6 I'm like a pelican become, That does in deserts mourn ;

When half is scarcely past :
Or like an owl, that sits all day

Thy years, from worldly changes free,
On barren trees forlorn.

To endless ages last. 7 In watchings or in restless dreams

25. The strong foundations of the earth The night by me is spent,

of old by thee were laid; As by those solitary birds

Thy hands the beauteous arch of

heaven That lonesome roofs frequent.

With wondrous skill have made. 8 All day by railing foes I'm made The subject of their scorn;

26, 27 Whilst thou for ever shalt endure, Who all, possess'd with furious rage,

They soon shall pass away;

And, like a garment often wor,
Have my destruction sworn.

Shall tarnish and decay.
9 When grov'ling on the ground I lie,
Oppress'd with grief and fears,

Like that, when thou ordain'st their My bread is strew'd with ashes o'er,

change, My drink is mix'd with tears.

To thy command they bend :

But thou continu'st still the same, 10 Because on me with double weight

Nor have thy years an end.
Thy heavy wrath doth lie;
For thou, to make my fall more great, 28 Thou to the children of thy saints
Didst lift me up on high.

Shalt lasting quiet give; 11 My days, just hastning to their end,

Whose happy race, securely fix'd,
Are like an ev'ning shade;

Shall in thy presence live.
My beauty does, like wither'd grass,

PSALM CIII.
With waning lustre fade.

M Y soul, inspir'd with sacred love, 12 But thy eternal state, O Lord,

W God's holy Name for ever bless; No length of time shall waste;

2 of all his favours mindful prove, The mem'ry of thy wondrous works And still thy grateful thanks express. From age to age shall last.

| 3, 4 'Tis he that all thy sins forgives, 13 Thou shalt arise, and Sion view

And after sickness makes thee sound;
With an unclouded face;

From danger he thy life retrieves,
For now her time is come, thy own

By him with grace and mercy
Appointed day of grace.

crown'd.

C

5, 6 He with good things thy mouth sup-1 3 God builds on liquid air, and forms plies;

His palace-chambers in the skies; Thy vigour, eagle-like, renews :

The clouds his chariot are, and storms He, when the guiltless suffrer cries, The swift-wing'd steeds with which His foe with just revenge pursues.

he flies. 7 God made of old his righteous ways 4 As bright as flame, and swift as wind,

To Moses and our fathers known; His ministers heaven's palace fill, His works, to his eternal praise,

To have their sundry tasks assign'd; Were to the sons of Jacob shown. All proud to serve their Sovreign's 8 The Lord abounds with tender love,

will. And unexampled acts of grace;

5, 6 Earth on her centre fix'd he set, His waken'd wrath does slowly move,

Her face with waters overspread, His willing niercy flows apace.

Nor proudest mountains dar'd, as yet,

To lift above the waves their head. 9, 10 God will not always harshly chide, But with his anger quickly part;

7 But when thy awful face appear'd, And loves his punishments to guide

Th' insulting waves dispers'd; they

fled, More by his love than our desert.

[heard,

When once thy thunder's voice they 11 As high as heav'n its arch extends

And by their haste confess'd their Above this little spot of clay,

dread. So much his boundless love transcends

8 Thence up by secret tracks they creep, The small respects that we can pay.

And, gushing from the mountain's 12, 13 As far as 'tis from east to west,

side, So far has he our sins remov'd,

Through valleys travel to the deep, Who with a father's tender breast

Appointed to receive their tide. Has such as fear him always lov'd.

9 There hast thou fix'd the ocean's 14,15 For God, who all our frame surveys, bounds, Considers that we are but clay;

The threat'ning surges to repel; How fresh soe'er we seem, our days That they no more o'erpass their

Like grass or flowers must fade away. mounds, 16, 17 Whilst they are nipt with sudden

Nor to a second deluge swell. blasts,

The Second Part. Nor can we find their former place;

ace; 10 Yet thence, in smaller parties drawn, God's faithful mercy ever lasts

The sea recovers her lost hills;
To those that fear him, and their race.

And starting springs from ev'ry lawn 18 This shall attend on such as still

Surprise the vales with plenteous rills. Proceed in his appointed way;

11 The field's tame beasts are thither led, And who not only know his will,

Weary with labour, faint with But to it just obedience pay.

drought : 19, 20 The Lord, the universal King,

And asses, on wild mountains bred, In heav'n has fix'd his lofty throne; Have sense to find these currents out. To him, ye angels, praises sing,

12 Their shady trees, from scorching In whose great strength his pow'r is

beams, shown.

Yield shelter to the feather'd throng; Ye that his just commands obey,

They drink, and to the bounteous And hear and do his sacred will,

streams 21 Ye hosts of his, this tribute pay,

Return the tribute of their song, Who still what he ordains fulfil. 13 His rains from heav'n parch'd hills 22 Let ev'ry creature jointly bless

recruit, The mighty Lord: and thou, my That soon transmit the liquid store, heart,

Till earth is burden'd with her fruit, With grateful joy thy thanks express, And nature's lap can hold no more. And in this concert bear thy part. 14 Grass for our cattle to devour,

He makes the growth of ev'ry field; PSALM CIV.

Herbs for man's use, of various powy

That either food or physick yield. BLESS God, my soul; thou, Lord, 15 With cluster'd grapes he crowns the

alone
Possessest empire without bounds;

vine,

[cares; With honour thou art crown'd, thy

To cheer man's heart, opprest with

Gives oil that makes his face to shine, throne

And corn that wasted strength repairs. Eternal majesty surrounds. 2 With light thou dost thyself enrobe,

The Third Part.
And glory for a garment take;

16 The trees of God, without the care Heav'n's curtains stretch beyond the Or art of man, with sap are fed ; globe,

The mountain cedar looks as fair
Thy canopy of state to make.

As those in royal gardens bred.

17 Safe in the lofty cedar's arms

32 One look of thine, one wrathful look, The wand'rers of the air may rest;

Earth's panting breast with terror The hospitable pine from harms

fills; Protects the stork, her pious guest. One touch from thee, with clouds of 18 Wild goats the craggy rock ascend,

smoke Its towring heights their fortress

In darkness shrouds the proudest make,

hills. Whose cells in labyrinths extend, 33 In praising God, while he prolongs

Where feebler creatures refuge take. My breath, I will that breath employ; 19 The moon's inconstant aspect shows

34 And join devotion to my songs, Th' appointed seasons of the year;

Sincere as is in him my joy. Th'instructed sun his duty knows, 35 While sinners from earth's face are His hours to rise and disappear.

hurlid, 20, 21 Darkness he makes the earth to

My soul, praise thou his holy Name,

Till with my song the listning world shroud,

Join concert, and his praise proclaim.
When forest beasts securely stray;
Young lions roar their wants aloud

PSALM CV.
To Providence, that sends them prey.

RENDER thanks, and bless the 22 They range all night, on slaughter

Lord ;
bent,

Invoke his sacred Name;
Till, summond by the rising morn,

Acquaint the nations with his deeds, To sculk in dens, with one consent,

His matchless deeds proclaim.
The conscious ravagers return.

2 Sing to his praise, in lofty hymns 23 Forth to the tillage of his soil

His wondrous works rehearse ;
The husbandman securely goes,

Make them the theme of your disCommencing with the sun his toil,

course, With him returns to his repose.

And subject of your verse.
24 How various, Lord, thy works are 3 Rejoice in his Almighty Name,
found,

Alone to be ador'd;
For which thy wisdom we adore ! And let their heart o'erflow with joy
The earth is with thy treasure crown'd, That humbly seek the Lord.
Till nature's hand can grasp no more. 4 Seek ye the Lord, his saving strength
The Fourth Part.

Devoutly still implore;

And, where he's ever present, seek 25 But still the vast unfathom'd main

His face for evermore.
Of wonders a new scene supplies; 5 The wonders that his hands have
Whose depths inhabitants contain

wrought
Of ev'ry form and ev'ry size.

Keep thankfully in mind; 26 Full-freighted ships from ev'ry port The righteous statutes of his mouth, There cut their unmolested way;

And laws to us assign'd.
Leviathan, whom there to sport

6 Know ye, his servant Abram's seed,
Thou mad'st, has compass there to And Jacob's chosen race,
play.

7 He's still our God, his judgments still 27 These various troops of sea and land Throughout the earth take place.

In sense of common want agree: 8 His cov'nant he hath kept in mind
All wait on thy dispensing hand,

For num'rous ages past; And have their daily alms from thee. Which yet for thousand ages more 28 They gather what thy stores disperse, In equal force shall last.

Without their trouble to provide: 9 First sign'd to Abr'am, next by oath
Thou op'st thy hand, the universe,

To Isaac made secure;
The craving world, is all supplied. 10 To Jacob and his heirs a law
29 Thou for a moment hid'st thy face,

For ever to endure.
The num'rous ranks of creatures 11 That Canaan's land should be their
mourn ;

lot,
Thou tak'st their breath, all nature's When yet but few they were;
race

| 12 But few in number, and those few Forth with to mother earth return.

All friendless strangers there. 30 Again thou send'st thy Spirit forth 13 In pilgrimage from realm to realm

T' inspire the mass with vital seed; Securely they remov'd;
Nature's restor'd, and parent earth 1 4 Whilst proudest monarchs for their
Smiles on her new-created breed.

sakes
31 Thus through successive ages stands, Severely he reprov'd.

Firm fix'd, thy providential care ; 15 These mine anointed are, said he, Pleas'd with the work of thy own Let none my servants wrong; hands,

Nor treat the poorest prophet ill, Thou dost the wastes of time repair. That does to me belong.