"Be thou my prophet, thou my priest,
Thy children fhall be ever bleft;
Thou art my chosen king, thy throne
Shall ftand eternal, as my own.
4 "There's none of all my faints above,
So much my image or my love,
Celestial powers thy fubjects are;
Then what can earth with thee compare!
5 "David, my fervant, whom I chose
To guard my flock, to crufh my foes,
And rais'd him to the Jewish throne,
Was but the fhadow of my Son."
6 Now let the church rejoice and fing,
Jefus her Saviour, and her King;
Angels his heavenly honours fhow,
And faints declare his works below.
Pfalm LXXXIX. S. P. L. M. [* or b]
Divine Sovereignty, and Public Worship.
HAT feraph of celeftial birth,
To vie with Ifrael's God fhall dare? Or who among the fons of earth
Can with the mighty God compare?
2 Lord God of armies, who can boast
Of ftrength and power like thine renown'd? Of fuch a numerous faithful hoft
As that which does thy throne furround?
3 Thou doft the raging fea control,
And change the furface of the deep;
Thou mak'it the fleeping billows roll,
Thou mak'it the rolling billows fleep!
4 In thee the fov'reign right remains
Of earth and heaven; thee, Lord, alone,
The world, and all that it contains,
Their Maker and Preferver own.
5 Happy, thrice happy they, who hear
The facred trumpet's joyful found;
And who among thy faints appear,
With thy most glorious prefence crown'd.
6 With rev'rence and religious dread,
Thy faints will to thy temple prefs;
Thy fear thro' all their hearts fhall fpread,
Who thy moft holy name confefs.
Common Metre.
God's Eternity, and Man's Mortality. EFORE the hills in order flood, Or earth receiv'd her frame; From everlafting, thou art GOD, To endlefs years the fame.
2 Thy word commands our flesh to duft,
"Return, ye fons of men;"
All nations rofe from earth at first,.
And turn to earth again.
3 A thoufand ages in thy fight,
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising fun.
Time, like an ever-running ftream,
Bears all its fons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
5 'Tis but a few whofe days amount To threefcore years and ten;
And all beyond that short account
Is forrow, toil, and pain.
6 Then let us learn the heavenly art,
T'improve the hours we have;
That we may act the wifer part,
And live beyond the grave.
Divine Protection through every Age.
HOU, Lord, thro' every changing scene,
Haft to the faints a refuge been;
Thro' every age, eternal GOD,
Their pleafing home, their fafe abode,
2 In thee our fathers fought their reft,
And were with thy protection bleft;
Though in the fhade of death they lie,
They'll rife and dwell above the sky.
3 Behold their fons, a feeble race!
We come to fill our fathers' place!
Our helpless state with pity view,
And let us fhare their refuge too.
4 Through all the thorny paths we tread,
Ere we are number'd with the dead;
When friends defert, and foes invade,
Be thou our all-fufficient aid.
So when this pilgrimage is o'er,
And we muft dwell on earth no more,
To thee, great God, may we afcend,
And find an everlasting friend.
6 To thee our infant race we'll leave,
Them may their father's God receive;
That voices yet unform'd may raife
Succeeding hymns of humble praise.
ORD, what a feeble piece
Is this our mortal frame!
Our life how poor a trifle 'tis,
That fearce deferves the name!
2 Alas, the brittle clay,
That built our body first!
And every month, and every day,
'Tis mould'ring back to duft!
3 Then, if cur days muft fly,
We'll keep their end in fight;
We'll spend them all in wifdom's way,
And let them speed their flight.
4 They'll fooner waft us o'er
This life's tempestuous fea;
Then fhall we reach the peaceful fhore
Pfalm XCI. Common Metre. [or]
Divine Protection, Refignation and Gratitude.
THEN I furvey life's varied fcene,
Amidit the darkest hours;
Bright rays of comfort fhine between,
And thorns are mix'd with flowers.
2 This thought can all my fears control,
And bid my forrows fly;
No harm can ever reach my foul,
Beneath my Father's eye.
3 Whate'er thy facred will ordains,
O give me ftrength to bear;
And let me know my Father reigns,
And truft his tender care.
4 If pain and fickness rend this frame,
And life almost depart;
Is not thy mercy ftill the fame,
To cheer my drooping heart?
5 Is blooming health my happy fhare?
O may I blefs my God;
Thy goodness let my fong declare,
And spread thy praise abroad.
6 While fuch delightful gifts as thefe
Are kindly dealt to me,
Be all my hours of health and ease
Devoted, Lord, to thee.
If cares and forrows me furround,
Their power why fhould I fear?
My inward peace they cannot wound,
If thou, my God, art near.
8 Thy fov'reign ways are all unknown
To my weak, erring fight;
Yet let my foul, adoring, own
That all thy ways are right.
ELCOME, thou day of facred reft! No mortal cares fhall fill my breast; O may my heart in tune be found, Like David's harp of folemn found. My heart fhall triumph in my Lord, And blefs his works, and bless his word; Thy works of grace, how bright they fine How deep thy counfels, how divine!
|