6" My firft-born Son array'd in Grace
"At my Right-Hand fhall fit;
"Beneath him Angels know their Place,
"And Monarchs at his Feet.
7" My Cov'nant stands for ever fast,
My Promises are strong;
"Firm as the Heav'ns his Throne shall last, "His Seed endure as long."
HINK, mighty God, on feeble Man;
How few his Hours! how short his Span !-
Short from the Cradle to the Grave:
Who can fecure his vital Breath
Against the bold Demands of Death
With Skill to fly, or Pow'r to fave?
2 Lord, shall it be for ever faid,
"The Race of Man was only made
"For Sickness, Sorrow and the Duft"
Are not thy Servants Day by Day
Sent to their Graves, and turn'd to Clay?
Lord, where's thy Kindness to the Juft?
3 Haft thou not promis'd to thy Son
And all his Seed a heav'nly Crown?
But Flesh and Senfe indulge Defpair;
For ever bleffed be the Lord
That Faith can read his holy Word,
And find a Resurrection there.
For ever bleffed be the Lord,
Who gives his Saints a long Reward,
For all their Toil, Reproach, and Pain
Let all below and all above
Join to proclaim thy wond'rous Love,
And each repeat their loud Amen.
PSALM XC. Firft Verfion. Firft Part. MERRICK.
God's Eternity, and Man's Mortality.
RE yet the Mountains rose to Birth,
Ere yet their Form the Heav'ns and Earth
Affum'd, thou cloth'd in Light divine
Hast shone; and shalt for ever shine.
2 Thou to the Sons of human Kind
In short Extension haft affign'd
Their Term, and bid them, at its End,
Low to their native Duft descend.
Behold at Morn the mortal Race
With joyous Bloom, and vernal Grace,
Exulting flourish: Ev'ning nigh,
! Cropt like the Plant, they fade and die.
4 Our Time to fev'nty Years confin'd,
If aught of Life remain behind,
If Nature yet a ten Year's Day,
Indulge us, ere her Debt we pay,
5 Our Strength but Weakness then we know,
And added Age but lengthen'd Woe;
Stripp'd of our Pride, we close our Span,
And vanish from the Eye of Man.
6 Father of Mercies, teach us how
To count Life's Moments as they flow,
And, while its End our Thoughts furvey,
By Wisdom's Line to guide our Way.
PSALM XC. First Verfion. Second Part.
Prayer to God for Succefs, Safety, and Happiness.
ETURN, all-potent Lord, return :
O let us not thy Absence mourn,
Thee, Lord, their Refuge, thee alone,
From earliest Age thy People own.
2 Author of Good, thy Work mature, In thee the Righteous are fecure;
O may the Majesty divine
On us its mildeft Beams incline;
3 And while, new Scenes of Hope to view
Difclos'd, our Labor we pursue,
Thy fav'ring Hand with full Success
That Hope confirm, that Labor bless.
4 Thy Mercy, to our Souls reveal'd,
Satiety of Blifs fhall yield;
And, while thy Breath our Life prolongs,
With grateful Mirth infpire our Tongues.
PSALM XC. Second Verfion. TATE.
God eternal and Man mortal.
EFORE thou brought'ft the Mountains forth,
Or th' Earth and World didst frame,
Thou always wert the mighty God,
And ever art the fame.
2 Thou turneft Man, O Lord, to Dust,
Of which he first was made;
And when thou speak'ft the Word Return,
'Tis inftantly obey'd.
3 For in thy Sight a thousand Years
Are like a Day that's past,
Or like a Watch in Dead of Night,
Whofe Hours unminded waste.
Thou fweep'it us off as with a Flood;
We vanish hence like Dreams;
At first we grow like Grass that feels
The Sun's reviving Beams.
5 But howsoever fresh and fair
Its Morning-Beauty fhows;
'Tis all cut down and wither'd quite, Before the Ev'ning close.
6 Our Term of Time is feventy Years, An Age that few furvive;
But if, with more than common Strength,
To eighty we arrive;
Yet then our boafted Strength decays,
To Sorrow turn'd, and Pain;
So foon the flender Thread is cut,
And we no more remain.
8 So teach us, Lord, th' uncertain Sum
Of our fhort Days to mind,
That to true Wisdom all our Hearts
May ever be inclin’d.
9 Let thy bright Rays upon us fhine;
Give thou our Work Succefs:
The glorious Work we have in Hand,
Do thou vouchsafe to bless.
PSALM XC. Third Verfion. WATTS.
A Pfalm for a Funeral.
HRO' ev'ry Age, Eternal God,
Thou art our Rest, our safe Abode;
High was thy Throne ere Heav'n was made,
Or Earth thy humble Footstool laid.
2 Long hadft thou reign'd ere Time began,
Or Duft was fashion'd to a Man;
And long thy Kingdom shall endure
When Earth and Time fhall be no more.
3 A thousand of our Years amount
Scarce to a Day in thine Account;
Like Yesterday's departed Light,
Or the laft Watch of ending Night.
4 Death like an overflowing Stream
Sweeps us away; our Life's a Dream
An empty Tale; a Morning-Flow'r
Cut down and wither'd in an Hour.
5 Our Age to seventy Years is fet;
How fhort the Term! how frail the State!
And if to eighty we arrive,
We rather figh and groan than live.
6 But O how oft thy Hand appears,
And cuts off our expected Years!
Thy Hand awakes our humble Dread:
We fear the Pow'r that ftrikes us dead.
7 Teach us, O Lord, how frail is Man;
And kindly lengthen out our Span,
Till a wife Care of Piety
Fit us to die, and dwell with thee.
PSALM XC. Fourth Verfion. First Part. WATTS.
God eternal and Man mortal.
UR God, our Help in Ages past, Our Hope for Years to come, Our Shelter from the ftormy Blast,
And our eternal Home.
2 Under the Shadow of thy Throne
Thy Saints have dwelt fecure:
Sufficient is thine Arm alone,
And our Defence is fure.
3 Before the Hills in Order stood,
Or Earth receiv'd her Frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless Years the fame.
Thy Word commands our Flesh to Duft,
Return, ye Sons of Men:
All Nations rose from Earth at first,
And turn to Earth again.
5 A thoufand Ages in thy Sight
Are like an Ev'ning gone;
Short as the Watch that ends the Night
Before the rifing Sun.
6 [The busy Tribes of Flesh and Blood
With all their Lives and Cares
Are carried downwards by thy Flood,
And loft in following Years.]
7 Time like an ever-rolling Stream
Bears all its Sons away;
They fly forgotten as a Dream
Dies at the op'ring Day.
8 Like flow'ry Fields the Nations stand
Pleas'd with the Morning-Light;
The Flow'rs beneath the Mower's Hand
Lie with'ring ere 'tis Night.
9 Our God, our Help in Ages past,
Our Hope for Years to come,
Be thou our Guard while Troubles last,
And our eternal Home.
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