To thee, the sacred spring of peace,
My wearied spirit flies.
2 My taunting foes awake my fears
While they exulting boast:
"No heavenly aid for him appears,
And all his hopes are lost."
3 But thou, my glory, and my shield,
Wilt all my fears control;
A strong defence thy arm shall yield,
And raise my drooping soul.
4 To God I breath'd my ardent cry;
He gracious heard my prayer;
It reach'd his sacred throne on high,
And he remov'd my care.
5 I laid me down, and slept secure;
I wak'd, for God was nigh;
Sustain'd by his almighty power;
My guard his watchful eye.
6 What though ten thousand foes in arms
Against me should appear,
And war resound its dire alarms,
I will not yield to fear.
7 Arise, O Lord, with saving power,
In my defence engage;
As oft thy potent arm before
Has crushed their impious rage.
8 Salvation, Lord, is thine alone,
And all thy saints shall find
The bliss my thankful heart has known,
A God for ever kind.
PSALM IV.
PART I. 3-5, 8.
1 Lord, thou wilt hear me when I pray;
I fear before thee all the day,
Nor would I dare to sin.
2 And while I rest my weary head,
From cares and business free,
"Tis sweet communing on my bed
With my own heart and thee.
3 I pay this evening sacrifice;
And when my work is done,
Great God, my steadfast hope relies
Upon thy grace alone.
4 Thus, with my thoughts compos'd to peace,
I'll give mine eyes to sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will my slumbers keep.
1 While many cry, in Nature's night,
Ah! who will show the way to bliss?
Lord, lift on us thy saving light;
We seek no other guide than this.
2 Gladness thy sacred presence brings,
More than the joyful reaper knows;
Or he who treads the grapes, and sings,
While with new wine his vat o'erflows.
3 In peace I lay me down to sleep;
Thine arm, O Lord, shall stay my head;
Thine angel spread his tent, and keep
His mid-night watch around my bed.
1 Ponder my words, O Lord, give ear;
My meditations weigh;
O hear my voice, my God, my king,
For unto thee I pray.
2 At day's first dawning thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high:
To thee my early vows I'll pay;
To thee lift up mine eye.
3 Thou art a God, before whose sight
The wicked shall not stand;
Sinners shall ne'er be thy delight,
Nor dwell at thy right hand.
4 But as for me, with holy fear,
Encourag'd by thy grace,
Thy holy temple I'll approach,
And bow before thy face.
5 0 may thy spirit guide my feet
In ways of righteousness!
Make every path of duty straight
And plain before
The first penitential psalm. An abridged paraphrase.
1 In tender mercy, not in wrath,
Rebuke me, gracious God!
Lest, if thy whole displeasure rise,
I sink beneath thy rod.
2 Touched by thy Spirit's quick'ning power, My load of guilt I feel;
The wounds thy Spirit hath unclos'd,
Oh let that Spirit heal.
3 Oppress'd with Satan's galling yoke,
Must I for ever mourn?
And wilt thou not, at length, O God,
In pitying love return?
4 0 come with speed, ere life expire;
Send down thy power to save;
For who shall sing thy name in death,
Or praise thee in the grave?
5 Why should my soul distrust thy grace,
Or yield to dread despair?
Thou wilt fulfil thy promis'd word,
And grant me all my prayer."
PSALM VIII. (L. M.)
Appointed by the church for Ascension day, as having a ́re-
ference to Messiah, who for "a little while” was made lower
than the angels, and then crowned with glory and honour, hav-
ing all things in subjection under his feet. See Heb. ii, 5.
1 O Lord, how exc'llent is thy name,
Throughout the earth's extended frame!
Thy reign o'er distant worlds extends;
Thy glory highest heaven transcends.
2 From infants thou canst strength upraise,
And teach their lisping tongues to praise,
That, struck with awe, the impious band
In mute astonishment may stand.
3 When all thy shining works on high
I meditate with raptur'd eye,
The silver moon, the starry train
That gild the fair ethereal plain:
4 Lord, what is man, that in thy care
His humble lot should find a share?
Or what the Son of man, that thou
Thus to his wants thy ear shouldst bow?
5 His rank awhile, by thy decree,
Th' angelic tribes beneath them see,
Till round him thy imparted rays
With unextinguish'd glory blaze.
6 Subjected to his feet by thee,
To him all nature bows the knee;
The beasts in him their Lord behold, The grazing herd, the bleating fold; 7 The fowls, of various wing, that fly O'er the vast desert of the sky; And all the wat❜ry tribes that glide, Through paths to human sight denied. 8 O Lord, how exc'llent is thy name Throughout the earth's extended frame! Thy reign o'er distant worlds extends, Thy glory highest heaven transcends.
PSALM IX. 7—11.
1 The Lord forever shall endure;
He bath his throne prepar'd,
Impartial justice to dispense,
To punish or reward.
2 He is a constant sure defence
Against oppressing rage:
As troubles rise, his needful aids
In our behalf
3 All those who have his goodness prov'd Will in his truth confide,
Whose goodness ne'er forsook the man
That on his help relied.
4 Sing praises therefore to the Lord,
From Zion his abode;
Proclaim his deeds till all the world
Confess no other God.
1 The Lord is in his holy place,
And from his throne on high,
He looks upon the human race
With omnipresent eye.
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