He dar'd the rights of man to 'invade,
And fill'd the world with dread.

3 Above the clouds he seem'd to shoot,
He call'd the world his own;
But death lay working at his root,
To mortal view unknown. -

4 And lo, he perish'd from the ground,
In death his glory sunk,

Nor bud, nor branch, nor leaf was found,
To 'adorn his lifeless trunk.

5 But mark the men of hearts sincere,
How blest is their decease!

They spend their days in quiet here,
Then leave the world in peace.

6 The Lord their Savior knows their straits, And arms them with his strength,

Death like a faithful servant waits,
And brings them home at length.
PSALM 38. C. M.

The remembrancer.

1 IN thy fierce wrath rebuke me not,
My Father and my God;
Or if afflictions prove my lot,
Employ thy gent'lest rod.

2 Thine hand my flesh has sorely prest,
Thine arrows stick within,

Mine aching bones forbid my rest,
Because of all my sin.

3 High o'er mine head a burden hangs,
Like some tremendous* stone,
My sins deserve eternal pangs,
No tears for sins atone.

* Tremendous, dreadful.

4 My soul is fill'd with sore dismay,
My sorrows cast me down,
And I go mourning all the day,
Beneath my Father's frown.

5 My friends and neighbors stand aloof,*
My foes deride my pain;

But in my mouth is no reproof,

In silence I remain.

6 Lord, I'm afflicted, low and weak, My fever burns like fire;

But tho my tongue no more could speak,

Yet thou canst hear desire.

7 To thee will I confess my guilt,

I thus will plead with thee, "Was not the blood of Jesus spilt, To set the sinner free?"

8 The Lord will not my soul forsake,
But will my sins forgive,

If Christ for me should undertake
I shall not die, but live.

PSALM 39. L. M.

Prudence and zeal.

1 I SAID, and thus my thoughts revolv'd, "Now will I keep my tongue from wrong," Then for my mouth a curb resolv'd,

And made the bridle firm and strong.

2 Constrain'd against my will to stay
With men of lips and lives profane,
I kept a double guard that day,
Nor let my talk, like theirs, be vain.

3 My lips an holy silence kept,
I held my peace at daring sin;

* Aloof, at a distance.

But while o'er sinners thus I wept
A thousand sorrows stir'd within.

4 Mine heart grew hot, and hot my muse, I felt a fire within me burn;

How long, said I, will fools refuse,

And Christ, the great salvation, spurn? 5- I spake, and did repentance preach,

(For who could longer hold his breath) Far as my feeble voice could reach,

I warn'd them all to fly from death. 6 Oh! if my voice could pierce the cloud, And reach creation's utmost bound, I'd call on all the world aloud, To hear the gospel's heavenly sound.

PSALM 39. Part 1. C. M.

The vanity of man as mortal 1 INSTRUCT me, Lord, in wisdom's ways My fleeting life to spend;

I would survey my wasting days
And measure well their end.

2 The line of life is but a span,
An inch of narrow time;
Then what, alas, is dying man,
In all his flower and prime!

3 As move the shadows o'er the plain,
So time before us moves,
The best estate of man is vain,

His life a vapor proves.

4 Some walk in honors vain disguise,
Some dig for golden ore,

To thankless heirs their wealth demise,*
And straight are seen no more.

*To demise, to grant by will.

K

5 What should I wish or wait for then,
From creatures, earth and dust?
In vain we pray, to dying men,
Or make the world our trust.
6 Now I reprove this heart of mine,
My vain desires recall,
I seek a portion more divine
And make my God mine all,

PSALM 39. Part 2. C. M.

Sick bed devotion.

1 GOD of my life, look gently down,
From heaven's eternal hill;
In silent grief I feel thy frown,
Nor would dispute thy will.
2 Diseases thine attendants stand,
A long and dismal train,

Death is thy servant at command,
Nor hears thy word in vain.

3 Yet I may plead with humble cries,
And thus thy name invoke,
"My flesh consumes, my spirit dies,
Avert thy heaviest stroke."

4 If once the God of heaven grow wroth,
And lift his awful rod,
The nations are but feeble moth,
Before the 'eternal God.

5 Behold, O Lord, my flowing tears,
My life in mercy spare;

But if thine hand cut short my years,
My soul for heaven prepare.

6 I'm but a stranger here below,
Like Abraham I sojourn,

I would the God of Abraham know,
And home at last return.

7 Yet, Lord, shouldst thou my life restore, And bring me from the grave, 'Till I go hence and be no more, I'll sing thy power to save.

PSALM 40. Part 1. C. M.

A song of deliverance.

1 LONG did my soul with patience wait, 'Till God his ear inclin'd;

He heard my cries, and in my
Reliev'd my troubled mind.

strait

2 He rais'd me from an horrid pit
Of deep and miry clay;
To God I did my way commit,
And God confirm'd my way.

3 On Christ, the Rock, behold I stand,
And join the ransom'd throng,
To praise the wonders of his hand,
And make the Rock my song.

4 I'll bless the Rock, I'll bless the rod, The saints with joy shall hear,

And sinners learn to make my God,
Their only hope and fear.

5 Blest is the man, who trusts the Lord, And God my refuge tries;

The proud are in his view abhorr'd,
He hates the man of lies.

6 In vain, O God, I try to speak
The wonders thou has wrought;
My language fails, my words too weak,
But half convey the thought.

7 Unnumber'd are thy works of love,
What God for us prepares,

Nor flaming saint that sings above,
Nor angel's tongue declares.