My daily bread like ashes grows
Unpleafant to my taste.
8 Senfe can afford no real joy
To fouls that feel thy frown;
Lord, 'twas thy hand advanc'd me high,
Thy hand hath cast me down.
9 My looks like wither'd leaves appear;
And life's declining light
Grows faint as ev'ning fhadows are,
That vanish into night.
30 But thou for ever art the fame,
O my eternal God;
Ages to come shall know thy name,
And fpread thy works abroad.
11 Thou wilt arife, and fhew thy face,
Nor will my Lord delay
Beyond th' appointed hour of grace,
That long expected day.
12 He hears his faints, he knows their cry, And by myfterious ways
Redeems the pris'ners doom'd to die,
And fills their tongues with praise.
PSALM CII. 13,-21. Second Part.
Prayer heard, and Zion restored.
ET Zion and her fons rejoice,
Behold the promis'd hour:
Her God hath heard her mourning voice,
And comes t'exalt his pow'r.
2 Her duft and ruins that remain
Are precious in our eyes;
Thofe ruins fhall be built again,
And all that duft fhall rife.
3 The Lord will raise Jerufalem,
And ftand in glory there;
Nations shall bow before his name,
And kings attend with fear.
4 He fits a fov'reign on his throne,
With pity in his eyes;
He hears the dying pris'ners groan,
And fees their fighs arise.
5 He frees the fouls condemn'd to death,
And when his faints complain,
It fhan't be faid, "That praying breath
"Was ever spent in vain."
6 This shall be known when we are dead,
And left on long record,
That ages yet unborn may read,
And truft, and praise the Lord.
PSALM CII. 23,-28. Third Part.
Man's mortality, and Chrift's eternity; or, Saints die, but Chrift and the church live.
is the Lord our Saviour's hand
Weakens our strength amidst the race;
Difeafe and death at his command
Arreft us, and cut fhort our days.
2 Spare us, O Lord, aloud we pray,
Nor let our fun go down at noon;
Thy years are one eternal day,
And muft thy children die fo foon?
3 Yer in the midft of death and grief,
This thought our forrow fhall affuage;
"Our Father and our Saviour live:
"Chrift is the fame thro' ev'ry age.
'Twas he this earth's foundations laid; Heav'n is the building of his hand:
This earth grows old, these heav'ns shall fade, And all be chang'd at his command.
The ftarry curtains of the sky
Like garments fhall be laid afide;
But ftill thy throne ftands firm and high;
Thy church for ever must abide.
Before thy face thy church fhall live,
And on thy throne thy children reign;
This dying world (hall they furvive,
And the dead faints be rais'd again.
?SALM CIII. 1,-7. First Part. Long Metre.
Bleffing God for his goodness to foul and body.
LESS, O my foul, the living God;
Call home thy thoughts that rove abroad,
Let all the pow'rs within me join
In work and worship fo divine.
2 Blefs, O my foul, the God of grace,
His favours claim the highest praise:
Why should the wonders he hath wrought
Be loft in filence, and forgot?
3 'Tis he, my foul, that fent his Son
To die for crimes which thou haft done;
He owns the ranfom, and forgives
The hourly follies of our lives.
4 The vices of the mind he heals,
And cures the pains that nature feels,
Redeems the foul from hell, and faves
Our wafting life from threat'ning graves.
5 Our youth decay'd his pow'r repairs;
His mercy crowns our growing years:
He fatisfics our mouth with good,
And fills our hopes with heav'nly food.
6 He fees th' oppreffor and th' opprest,
And often gives the fuff'rers reft!
But will his juftice more display
In the last great rewarding day.
7 [His pow'r he fhew'd by Mofes' hands,
And gave to Ifra'l his commands;
But fent his truth and mercy down
To all the nations by his Son.
8 Let the whole earth his pow'r confefs;
Let the whole earth adore his grace;
The Gentile with the Jew fhall join
In work and worship fo divine.]
PSALM CIII. 8,-18. Second Part.
Long Metre.
God's gentle chaftisement; or, His tender mercy t
HE Lord, how wond'rous are his ways
How firm his truth! how large his grace
He takes his mercy for his throne,
And thence he makes his glories known.
2 Not half fo high his pow'r hath spread,
The ftarry heav'ns above our head,
As his rich love exceeds our praise,
Exceeds the highest hopes we raise.
3 Not half fo far hath nature plac'd
The rifing morning from the Weft,
As his forgiving grace removes
The daily guilt of thofe he loves.
4 How flowly doth his wrath arife!
On iwifter wings falvation flies:
And if he lets his anger burn,
How foon his frowns to pity turn!
5 Amidst his wrath compaffion fhines;
His ftrokes are lighter than our fins;
And while his rod corrects his faints,
His ear indulges their complaints.
6 So fathers their young fons chastise,
With gentle hands and melting eyes:
The children weep beneath the smart,
And move the pity of their heart.
7 The mighty God, the wife and just, Knows that our frame is feeble duft, And will no heavy loads impofe
Beyond the strength that he beftows.
8 He knows how foon our nature dies,
Blafted by ev'ry wind that flies;
Like grafs we spring, and die as foon,
Or morning flow'rs that fade at noon.
9 But his eternal love is fure
To all the faints, and fhall endure;
From age to age his truth fhall reign,
Nor childrens children hope in vain.
PSALM CIII 1,-7. First Part. Short Metre.
Praife for fpiritual and temporal mercies.
Blefs the Lord, my foul;
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name,
Whofe favours are divine.
2 O blefs the Lord, my foul;
Nor let his mercies lye
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