6 I'H praise him while he lends me breath; And when my voice is lost in death,

1

Praise shall employ my nobler pow'rs: My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being last, Or immortality endures.

PSALM 147. First Part. L. M.

PR

Providence and grace.

RAISE ye the Lord: 'tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise:
His nature and his works invite
To make this duty our delight.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem,
And gathers nations to his name:
His mercy melts the stubborn soul,
And makes the broken spirit whole.
3 He form'd the stars, those heav'nly flames,
He counts their numbers, calls their names:
His wisdom's vast, and knows no bound,
A deep where all our thoughts are drown'd.
4 Great is our Lord, and great his might;
And all his glories infinite:

He crowns the meek, rewards the just,
And treads the wicked to the dust.

5 The saints are lovely in his sight:
On them he looks with great delight:
He sees their hope, he knows their fear,
And views, and loves his image there.

L

PSALM 147. Second Part. L. M
Summer and Winter.

ET Zion praise the mighty God,

And make his honours known abroad

For sweet the joy our songs to raise,
And glorious is the work of praise.
2 Our children live secure and blest;
Our shores have peace, our cities rest;
He feeds our sons with finest wheat,
And adds his blessing to their meat.
3 The changing seasons he ordains,
The early and the latter rains;

His flakes of snow, like wool, he sends,
And thus the springing corn defends.
4 With hoary frost he strews the ground;
His hail descends with dreadful sound;
His icy bands the rivers hold,

And terror arms his wintry cold.
5 He bids the warmer breezes blow,
The ice dissolves, the waters flow;
But he hath nobler works and ways
To call his children to his praise.

6 Thro' all our coasts his laws are shown,
His gospel thro' the nation known:
He hath not thus reveal'd his word
To ev'ry land: Praise ye the Lord."

1

PSALM 147. Third Part.

The seasons of the year.

C. M.

WITH songs and honours sounding loud
Address the Lord on high;

WT

Around the heav'ns he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.

2 He sends his show'rs of blessings down
To cheer the plains below;

He makes the grass the mountains crown,
And corn in vallies grow.

3 He gives the grazing ox his meat,
He hears the raven's cry;

But man, who tastes his finest wheat,
Should raise his honours high.

4 His steady counsels change the face
Of the declining year;

He bids the sun cut short his race,
And wintry days appear.

5 His hoary frost, his fleecy snow,
Descend and clothe the ground:
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.

6 When from his dreadful stores on high He pours the rattling hail;

The wretch, that dares his God defy,
Shall find his courage fail.

7 He sends his word, and melts the snow;
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the southern gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.

8 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word:

1

With songs and honours sounding loud,
Praise ye the sov'reign Lord.

PSALM 148. First Part. P. M.

Praise to God from all creatures.

E tribes of Adam, join

YE

With heav'n and earth and seas,

And offer notes divine

Το your Creator's praise.

Ye holy throng of angels bright,
In worlds of light, begin the song.

2 Thou sun with dazzling rays,
And moon that rul'st the night,
Shine to your Maker's praise,
With stars of twinkling light.

His pow'r declare, ye floods on high,
And clouds, that fly in empty air.
3 The shining worlds above
In glorious order stand,
Or in swift courses move
By his supreme command.

He spake the word, and all their frame
From nothing came, to praise the Lord.

4 He mov'd the mighty wheels

In unknown ages past;

And each his word fulfils,

While time and nature last.

In diff'rent ways his works proclaim
His wondrous name, and speak his praise.

5 Let all the earth-born race,

And monsters of the deep;
The fish that cleave the seas,

Or in their bosom sleep;

From sea and shore their tribute pay,
And still display their Maker's pow'r.

6 Ye vapours, hail and snow,

Praise ye th' almighty Lord;

And stormy winds, that blow,
To execute his word.

When lightnings shine, or thunders roar,
Let earth adore his hand divine.

7 Ye mountains near the skies,

With lofty cedars there,

And trees of humbler size,

That fruit in plenty bear;

[worms,

Beasts wild and tame, birds, flies, and

In various forms, exalt his name.

8 Ye kings, and judges, fear
The Lord, the sov'reign King;
And, while you rule us here,
His heav'nly honours sing:

Nor let the dream of pow'r and state
Make you forget his pow'r supreme.

9 Virgins, and youths, engage
To sound his praise divine,
While infancy and age

Their feebler voices join:

Wide as he reigns, his name be sung
By ev'ry tongue, in endless strains.

10 Let all the nations fear

The God that rules above;

He brings his people near,

And makes them taste his love:

While earth and sky attempt his praise,

His saints shall raise his honours high.

L

From distant worlds, where creatures

Let heav'n begin the solemn word,
And sound it dreadful down to hell.

2 The Lord, how absolute he reigns!
Let ev'ry angel bend the knee;
Sing of his love in heav'nly strains,
And speak how fierce his terrors be.