PSALM CIV. Second Version. TATE.

A Pfalm of Praise.
LESS God, my Soul; thou Lord alone,

1

B

With Honor thou art crown'd, thy Throne

Eternal Majesty surrounds.
2 With Light thou dost thyself enrobe,

And Glory for a Garment take ;
Heav'ns Curtains stretch'd beyond the Globe,

Thy Canopy of State to make.
3 God builds on liquid Air, and forms

His Palace Chambers in the Skies;
'The Clouds his Chariots are, and Storms

The swift-wing'd Sreeds with which he flies. 4 As bright as Flamé, as swift as Wind,

His Ministers Heav'n's Palace fill,
To have their sundry Tasks assign'd:

Prompt to obey their Sov'reign's Will.
5 How various, Lord, thy Works are found,

For which thy Wisdom we adore ;
The Earth is with thy Treasure crown'd

Till Nature's Hand can grasp no more.
6 In praising God, while he prolongs
My Breath, I will that Breath employ;
And join Devotion to my Song,

Sincere as is in him my Joy.
7 While Sinners from Earth's Face are hurld,

My Soul, praise thou his holy Name;
Till with my Song the liftning World
Join Confort, and his Praise proclaim.

PSALM CIV. Third Version. WATTS.
The Glory of God in Creation and Providence.
Y-Soul, thy great Creator praise;

When cloth'd in his celestial
He in full Majesty appears,
And like a Robe his Glory wears.

M

2 The Heav'ns are for his Curtains spread;

Th' unfathom'd Deep he makes his Bed :
Clouds are his Chariot, when he flies

On winged Storms a-cross the Skies,
3 Angels, whom his own Breath inspires,

His Ministers, are flaming Fires ;
And swift as Thought their Armies move

To bear his Judgments or his Love.
4 The Worlds Foundations by his Hand

Are pois’d, and shall for ever stand :
He binds the Ocean in his Chain,

Let it should drown the Earth again.
5 When Earth was cover'd with the Flood

Which high above the Mountains stood,
He thunder'd; and the Ocean fled,

Confin'd to its appointed Bed.
6 The swelling Billows know their Bound,

And in their Channels walk their Round ;
Yet thence convey'd by secret Veins,

They spring on Hills, and drench the Plains. 7 He bids the chryftal Fountains flow,

And cheer the Vallies as they go :
Tame Heifers there their Thirst allay,

And for the Stream wild Asses bray.
8 From pleasant Trees, which shade the Brink,

The Lark and Linnet light to drink;
Their Songs the Lark and Linnet raise,
And chide our Silence in his Praise.

PAUSE I. . God from his cloudy Ciftern pours

On the parch'd Earth enriching Show'rs:
The Grove, the Garden and the Field

A thousand joyful Blesings yield. 10 He makes the grasly Food arise,

And gives the Cattle large Supplies ;
With Herbs for Man of various Pow'r,
To nourish Nature, or to cure.

11 What

1 What noble Fruit the Vines produce !

The Olive yields a shining Juice ;
Our Hearts are cheard with gen’rous Wine,

With inward Joy our Faces shine. 12 O bless his Name, ye Britons, fed

With Nature's chief Supporter, Bread:
While Bread your vital Strength imparts,
Serve him with Vigor in your Hearts.

PAUSE II.
13 Behold the stately Cedar stands
Rais'd in the Forest by his Hards;
Birds to the Boughs for Shelter fly,
And build their Nefts secure on high.
14 To craggy Hills ascends the Goat;

And at the airy Mountain's Foot
The feebler Creatures make their Cell;

He gives them Wisdom where to dwell. 15

He sets the Sun his circling Race, Appoints the Moon to change her Face; And when thick Darkness vails the Day;

Calls out wild Beasts to hunt their Prey. 16 Fierce Lions lead their Young abroad,

And roaring ask their Meat from God;
But when the Morning-Beams arise,

The savage Beast to Covert Alies. 17 Then Man to daily Labor goes ;

The Night was made for his Repose:
Sleep is thy Gift; that sweet Relief

From tiresome Toil and wasting Grief.
18 How strange thy Works! how great thy Skill!

And ev'ry Land.thy Riches fill :
Thy Wisdom round the World we see,

This fpacious Earth is full of thee.
19 Nor less thy Glories in the Deep,
Where Fish in Millions swim and creep,
With wondrous Motions, swift or low,
Still wand'ring in the Paths below.

20 There

zo There Ships divide their wat'ry Way,

And Flocks of scaly Monsters play;
There dwells the huge Leviathan,
And foams and sports secure from Man.

PAUSE III.
21 Vast are thy Works, almighty Lord,

All Nature rests upon thy Word,
And the whole Race of Creatures stands,

Waiting their Portion from thy Hands. 22 While each receives his diff'rent Food,

Their chearful Looks pronounce it good;
Eagles, and Bears, and Whales, and Worms

Rejoice and praise in diff'rent Forms.
23 But when thy Face is hid, they mourn,
And dying to their Dust return;
Both Man and Beast their Lives resign;

Life, Breath and Spirit all is thine. 24

Yet thou canst breathe on Duft again,
And fill the World with Beasts and Men ;
A Word of thy creating Breath

Repairs the Wastes of Time and Death.
25 His Works, the Wonders of his Might,
Are honor'd with his own Delight:
How awful are his glorious Ways !

The Lord is dreadful in his Praise.
26 The Earth stands trembling at thy Stroke,

And at thy Touch the Mountains smoke;
Yet humble Souls may see thy Face,

And tell their Wants to sov’reign Grace. 27 In thee my Hopes and Wishes meet,

And make my Meditations sweet ;
Thy Praises shall my Breath employ,
Till it expire in endless Joy.

PSALM CIV. Fourth Verfion.

The Greatness of God.
Y , adore Lord,

M Whole glorious

Empire knows no Bounds ;

Whose Throne, establish'd by his Word,
Eternal Majesty surrounds.

2 He

2 He makes the Light his royal Robe,

And dazzling Glories vail his Seat;
He spreads Heav'n's Curtains round the Globe,

To form his Canopy of State.
3 The Beams of his imperial Throne

Are laid on high in liquid Air;
And, when he makes, his Glory known,

Clouds form his bright triumphal Car. 4

He bids the Storms obey his Word,
And wait to form his awful Train ;
And, while the Winds confess their Lord,

Walks on their rapid Wings serene. 5 Angelic Hofts, like living Flame,

Around his Throne with Rev'rence stand;
Or, swift as Thought, his Will proclaim,

And execute his high Command.
6 While Angels spread his Praise abroad,

Let ev'ry diftant Region hear;
Let Earth adore her mighty God;.
And humble Mortals bow and fear..

I

PSALM CIV, Fifth Version: BLACKLOCK.

The Power and Providence of God.
RISE, my Soul! on Wings seraphic rise,

And praise th' almighty Sov'reign of the Skies; In whom alone essential Glory shines,

Which not the Heav'n, nor boundless Space confines... 2 When Darkness ruld with universal Sway,

He spoke, and kindled up the Blaze of Day;
First, fairest Offspring of th' omnific Word!

Which, like a Garment, cloth'd its Sov'reign Lord. 3 On liquid Air he bade the Columns rise, That

prop the starry Concave of the Skies; Diffus’d the blue Expanse from Pole to Pole,

And spread circumfluent Æther round the Whole. 4. Soon as he bids, impetuous Tempefts fly,

To wing his founding Chariot through the Sky;
Impetuous Tempests the Command obey,
Sultain his Flight, and sweep th' aerial Way.

5 Fraught