Turn us to thee; thy love restore;
We shall be saved and sigh no more.
5 Hast thou not planted, with thy hands,
A lovely vine in heathen lands?
Did not thy power defend it round,
And heavenly dews enrich the ground?
6 How did the spreading branches shoot,
And bless the nation with the fruit!
But now, O Lord, look down and see
Thy mourning Vine, that lovely tree.
7 Why is its beauty thus defaced?
Why hast thou laid its fences waste?
Strangers and foes against it join,
And every beast devours thy vine.
8 Return, Almighty God, return;
Nor let thy bleeding vineyard mourn;
Turn us to thee, thy love restore;
We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
9 Lord, when this vine in Canaan grew, Thou wast its strength and glory too! Attacked in vain by all its foes,
Till the fair Branch of promise rose.
10 Fair Branch, ordained of old to shoot From David's stock, from Jacob's root; Himself a noble Vine, and we
The lesser branches of the Tree.
11 'Tis thine own Son; and he shall stand,
Girt with thy strength, at thy right hand;
Thy first-born Son, adorned and bless'd
With power and grace above the rest.
12 Oh, for his sake, attend our cry,
Shine on thy churches, lest they die;
Turn us to thee, thy love restore;
We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
Ver. 1, 8-16. The Warnings of God.
ING to the Lord aloud,
And make a joyful noise:
God is our strength, our Saviour God;
Let Israel hear his voice :-
2 "From vile idolatry
Preserve my worship clean;
I am the Lord, who set thee free
From slavery and sin.
3 "Stretch thy desires abroad,
And I'll supply them well;
But if ye will refuse your God,
If Israel will rebel ;-
4 "I'll leave them," saith the Lord,
"To their own lusts a prey;
And let them run the dangerous road-
"Tis their own chosen way.
5 "Yet, oh that all my saints
Would hearken to my voice;
Soon I would ease their sore complaints,
And bid their hearts rejoice.
6" While I destroyed their foes,
I'd richly feed my flock;
And they should taste the stream, that flows
From their eternal Rock."
MONG th' assemblies of the great,
A greater Ruler takes his seat:
The God of heaven, as Judge, surveys
Those gods on earth, and all their ways.
2 Why will ye then frame wicked laws,
Or why support th' unrighteous cause ?
When will ye once defend the poor,
That sinners vex the saints no more?
3 They know not, Lord, nor will they know;
Dark are the ways in which they go;
Their name of earthly gods is vain;
For they shall fall and die like men.
4 Arise, O Lord, and let thy Son
Possess his universal throne,
And rule the nations with his rod:
He is our Judge, and he our God.
A complaint against Persecutors.
ND will the God of grace
Perpetual silence keep?
The God of justice hold his peace,
And let his vengeance sleep?
2 Behold, what cursed snares
The men of mischief spread;
The men that hate thy saints and thee,
Lift up their threatening head.
3 Against thy hidden ones
Their counsels they employ;
And malice, with her watchful eye,
Pursues them to destroy.
4 The noble and the base
Into thy pastures leap:
The lion and the stupid ass
Conspire to vex thy sheep.
5 "Come, let us join, (they cry,)
To root them from the ground;
Till not the name of saints remain,
Nor memory shall be found."
6 Awake, almighty God,
And call thy wrath to mind;
Give them like forests to the fire,
Or stubble to the wind.
7 Convince their madness, Lord,
And make them seek thy name;
Or else their stubborn rage confound,
That they may die in shame.
8 Then shall the nations know
That glorious dreadful wordJEHOVAH-is thy name alone, And thou the sovereign Lord.
The Pleasure of Public Worship.
W pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints,
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.
2 My flesh would rest in thine abode,
My panting heart cries out for God;
My God, my King, why should I be
So far from all my joys and thee?
3 The sparrow chooses where to rest,
And for her young provides her nest;
And will my God to sparrows grant
That pleasure which his children want?
4 Bless'd are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne of majesty;
Thy brightest glories shine above,
And all their work is praise and love.
5 Bless'd are the souls, that find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentler rays,
And seek thy face, and learn thy praise.
6 Bless'd are the men, whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion's gate;
God is their strength: and through the road,
They lean upon their helper God.
7 Cheerful they walk with growing strength,
Till all shall meet in heaven at length;
Till all before thy face appear,
And join in nobler worship there.
God and his Church; or Grace and Glory.
REAT God, attend while Zion sings
The joy that from thy presence springs;
To spend one day with thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
2 Might I enjoy the meanest place
Within thy house, O God of grace;
Not tents of ease nor thrones of power
Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.
3 God is our sun, he makes our day;
God is our shield, he guards our way
From all th' assaults of hell and sin,
From foes without and foes within.
4 All needful grace will God bestow,
And crown that grace with glory too;
He gives us all things, and withholds
No real good from upright souls.
5 O God our King, whose sovereign sway
The glorious hosts of heaven obey,
And devils at thy presence flee,-
Bless'd is the man who trusts in thee.
God present in his Churches.
Y soul, how lovely is the place
To which thy God resorts! 'Tis heaven to see his smiling face,
Though in his earthly courts.
2 There the great monarch of the skies
His saving power displays;
And light breaks in upon our eyes,
With kind and quickening rays.
3 With his rich gifts the heavenly Dove
Descends, and fills the place;
While Christ reveals his wondrous love,
And sheds abroad his grace.
4 There, mighty God, thy words declare
The secrets of thy will;
And still we seek thy mercies there;
And sing thy praises still.
5 My heart and flesh cry out for thee,
While far from thine abode;
When shall I tread thy courts, and see
My Saviour and my God?
6 The sparrow builds herself a nest,
And suffers no remove;
Oh make me like the sparrows bless'd,
To dwell but where I love.
7 To sit one day beneath thine eye,
And hear thy gracious voice,
Exceeds a whole eternity
Employed in carnal joys.
8 Lord, at thy threshold I would wait,
While Jesus is within,
Rather than fill a throne of state,
Or live in tents of sin.
9 Could I command the spacious land,
And the more boundless sea,
For one bless'd hour at thy right hand,
I'd give them both away.
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