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PSALM 89.-P. M. [b]

Ver. 47, &c. Life, death, and the resurrection.

THINK, mighty God, on feeble man;
How few his hours, how short his span!
Short from the cradle to the grave.
Who can secure his vital breath
Against the bold demands of death,
With skill to fly, or power to save?
2 Lord, shall it be forever said,
"The race of man was only made
"For sickness, sorrow, and the dust?"
Are not thy servants, day by day,
Sent to their graves, and turn'd to clay?
Lord, where's thy kindness to the just?
S Hast thou not promis'd to thy Son,
And all his seed, a heavenly crown?
But flesh and sense indulg'd despair:

1 Forever blessed be the Lord,
That faith can read his holy word,
And find a resurrection there.

1

Forever blessed 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 wondrous love,
And each repeat a loud amen.

PSALM 90.-L. M. [b]
Man mortal, and God eternal.
A mournful song at a Funeral.
HROUGH every age, eternal God,

THROUGH

High was thy throne ere heaven was made,
Or earth thy humble footstool laid.

2 Long hadst thou reign'd ere time began
Or dust was fashion'd into man;
And long thy kingdom shall endure,
When earth and time shall be no more.

3 But man, weak man, is born to die,
Made up of guilt and vanity:

Thy dreadful sentence, Lord, was just,. "Return, ye sinners, to your dust.”

LA thousand of our years amount
Scarce to day in thine account;
Like yesterday's departed light,
Or the last watch of ending night.]

PAUSE.

5 Death, Jike an overflowing stream,
Sweeps us away; our life's a dream;
An empty tale; a morning flower,
Cut down and wither'd in an hour.

6 [Our age to seventy years is set;
How short the term! how frail the state!
And if to eighty we arrive,

We rather sigh and groan than live. 7 But O how oft thy wrath appears, And cuts off our expected years! Thy wrath awakes our humble dread; We fear the power that strikes us dead.]

8 Teach us, O Lord, how frail is man! And kindly lengthen out our span, Till a wise care of piety

Fit us to die and dwell with thee.

PSALM 90.-1st Part. C. M. [b] Ver. 1-5. Man frail, and God eternal. OUR God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come.

Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home;

2 Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,

And our defence is sure.

3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth receiv'd her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
Thy word commands our flesh to dust,
"Return ye sons of men ;"
All nations rose from eartn at first,
And turn to earth again.

5 A thousand ages, in thy sight,
Are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night,
Before the rising sun.

6 [The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carry'd downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.

7 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away:
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

8 Like flowery fields the nations stand,
Pleas'd with the morning light:
The flowers beneath the mower's hand
Lie withering 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.

PSALM 90.-2d Part. C. M. [b] Ver. 8, 11, 9, 10, 12. Infirmities and mortality the effect of sin; or, life, old age, and preparation for death.

1 LORD, if thine eyes survey our faults,

And justice grows severe,

Thy dreadful wrath exceeds our thoughts, And burns beyond our fear.

2 Thine anger turns our frame to dust:
By one offence to thee,

Adam with all his sons, have lost
Their immortality.

S Life, like a vain amusement, flies,
A fable or a song;

By swift degrees our nature dies,
Nor can our joys be long.

'Tis but a few whose days amount
To threescore years and ten;
And all beyond that short account
Is sorrow, toil and pain.

5 [Our vitals, with laborious strife,
Bear up the crazy load,

And drag those poor remains of life
Along the tiresome road.]

6 Almighty God, reveal thy love,
And not thy wrath alone;

O let our sweet experience prove
The mercies of thy throne.

7 Our souls would learn the heavenly art
T' improve the hours we have,
That we may act the wiser part,
And live beyond the grave.

1

PSALM 90.-3d Part. C. M. [b]
Ver. 13, &c. Breathing after heaven.
ETURN, O God of love, return;

REarth is a tiresome place;

How long shall we, thy children, moura
Our absence from thy face?

2 Let heaven succeed our painful years,
Let sin and sorrow cease;
And in proportion to our tears,
So make our joys increase.

3 Thy wonders to thy servants show,
Make thine own work complete;
Then shall our souls thy glory know,
And own thy love is great.

Then shall we shine before thy throne
In all thy beauty, Lord;

And the poor service we have done
Meet a divine reward.

PSALM 90.-S. M. [b]

Ver. 5, 10, 12. The frailty and shortness of life. ORD, what a feeble piece

1

Our life, how poor a trifle 'tis,
That scarce deserves the name!

2 Alas! 'twas brittle clay

That built our body first;
And every month and every day
'Tis mouldering back to dust.

3 Our moments fly apace,

Nor will our minutes stay;
Just like a flood our hasty days
Are sweeping us away.

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