To righteous men the righteous Lord,
His bleffing will extend;
And with his favour all his faints,
As with a fhield defend.
PSALM IX.
ΤΟ
O celebrate thy praife, O Lord, We will our hearts prepare; To all the Gift'ning world thy works, Thy wond'rous works declare.
Thou shalt forever live, who hast
A righteous throne preparid,:
Impartial justice to difpenfe,
To punish or reward.
Thou art a conftant fure defence,
Against oppreffing rage:
When troubles rife, thy needful aid
In our behalf engage.
All those who have thy goodness prov'd,
Will in thy truth confide;
Thy mercy ne'er forfook the man
Who on thy help rely'd.
Sing praises therefore to the Lord,
From Sion his abode ;
Proclaim his deeds, till all the world
Confefs no other God.
No change of times fhall ever shock.
My firm affection, Lord to thee;
For thou haft always been a rock,
A fortrefs, and defence to me.
Thou my deliv❜rer art my God,
My truft is in thy mighty pow'r :
Thou art my fhield from foes abroad,
At home my fafeguard, and my tow'r.
Thou fuit'ft, O Lord thy righteous ways,
To various paths of human kind,
Those who for mercy merit praife,
With thee shall wondrous mercy find.
Thou to the juff fall justice.fhew,
The pure thy purity shall fee;
Such as perverfely chufe to go,
Shall meet with due returns from thee.
For God's defigns fhall ftill fucceed;
His word fhall bear the utmost teft;
He's a strong fhield to all that need,
And on his fure protection reft.
Who, then, deserves to be ador'd,
But God, on whom my hopes depend?
Or who, except the mighty Lord,
Can with refiftlefs pow'r defend? :
ΤΗ
HE fpacious firmament on high,
With all the blue etherial sky,
And splangled heav'ns, a fhining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
Th' unwearied fun from day to day
Does his Creator's pow'r difplay;
And publishes to ev'ry land
The work of an almighty hand.
Soon as the eyning fhades prevail,
The Moori takes up the wond'rous tale,
And nightly to the lift'ning carth
Repeats the ftory of her birth:
Whilft all the ftars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole.
What though in folemn filence all
Move round this dark terreftrial ball?
What though not real voice nor found
Amid the radiant orbs be found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
Forever finging, as they fhine,
"T hand that made us is divine."
E worshippers of Jacob's God,
All ye of Ifrael's line,
O praise the Lord, and to your praise
Sincere obedience join.
He ne'er difdain'd on low distress
To caft a gracious eye,
Nor turn'd from poverty his face.
But hears its humble cry.
'Tis his fupreme prerogative
O'er fubject Kings to reign; 'Tis juft that He fhould rule the world, Who does the world fuftain.
The rich, who are with plenty fed,
His bounty must confefs;
The fons of want, by him reliev'd,
Their gen'rous patron blefs.
With humble worship to his throne
They all for aid resort :
That Pow'r which firft their beings gave,
Can only them fupport.
O may a chofen fpotless race,
Devoted to his name,
To their admiring heirs his truth,
And glorious act proclaim!
TH
HE Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a fhepherd's care;
His prefence fhall my wants fupply,
And guard me with a watchful eye :
My noon-day walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
When in the fultry globe 1 faint,
Or on the thirsty mountain pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary wandering steps he leads,
Where peaceful rivers, foft and flow,
Amid the verdant landskip flow.
Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread;
My ftedfaft heart fhall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord, art with me still:
Thy friendly crook fhall give me aid,
And guide me through the dreadful fhade.
Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious lonely wilds I stray,
Thy bounty fhall my pains beguile,
The barren wilderness fhall fmile,
With fudden greens and herbage crown'd,
And ftreams fhall murmur all around.
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