Behold how envious finners try To vex and break my peace. 2 The fons of violence and lies Join to devour me, Lord; But as my hourly dangers rife, My refuge is thy word.
3 In God most holy, just and true,
I have repos'd my trust;
Nor will I fear what flesh can do,
The offspring of the dust.
4 They wrest my words to mifchief still,
Charge me with unknown faults;
Mifchief doth all their counfels fill,
And malice all their thoughts.
5 Shall they escape without thy frown? Must their devices stand?
O caft the haughty finner down,
And let him know thy hand!
6 God counts the forrows of his faints,
Their groans affect his ears;
Thou haft a book for my complaints,
A bottle for my tears.
7 When to thy throne I raise my cry, The wicked fear and flee;
So fwift is pray'r to reach the sky,
So near is God to me..
8 In thee, most holy, just and true,
I have repos'd my truft;
Nor will I fear what man can do,
The offspring of the dust.
9 Thy folemn vows are on me, Lord,
Thou shalt receive my praise;
I'll fing, "How faithful is thy word! "How righteous all thy ways!"
10 Thou hast secur'd my soul from death; O fet thy prifoner free:
That heart and hand, and life and breath, May be employ'd for thee.
Long Metre.
Praise for protection, grace, and truth.
MY God, in whom are all the springs
Of boundless love and grace unknown;
Hide me beneath thy spreading wings,
Till the dark cloud is overblown.
2 Up to the heav'ns I send my cry,
The Lord will my defires perform;
He sends his angels from the sky,
And faves me from the threat'ning storm.
3 Be thou exalted, O my God!
Above the heav'ns, where angels dwell;
Thy pow'r on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
4 My heart is fix'd: My song shall raise
Immortal honours to thy name;
Awake, my tongue, to found his praise,
My tongue, the glory of my frame.
5 High o'er the earth his mercy reigns,
And reaches to the utmost sky;
His truth to endless years remains,
When lower worlds dissolve and die.
6 Be thou exalted, O my God!
Above the heav'ns, where angels dwell;
Thy pow'r on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
PSALM LVIII. Particular Metre. Warning to Magistrates.
Will ye despise the righteous cause,
When th' injur'd poor before you stands?
Dare ye condemn the righteous poor,
And let rich sinners 'fcape secure,
While gold and greatness bribe your hands?
2 Have ye forgot, or never knew,
That God will judge the judges too?
High in the heav'ns his justice reigns;
Yet you invade the rights of God,
And fend your bold decrees abroad,
To bind the confcience in your chains.
3 A poifon'd arrow is your tongue,
The arrow sharp, the poison strong,
And death attends where'er it wounds :
You hear no counsels, cries or tears;
So the deaf adder stops her ears
Against the pow'r of charming sounds.
4 Break out their teeth, eternal God,
Those teeth of lions dy'd in blood;
And crush the ferpents in the dust;
As empty chaff, when whirlwinds rise,
Before the sweeping tempeft flies,
So let their hopes and names be loft.
5 The Almighty thunders from the sky,
Their grandeur melts, their titles die,
As hills of snow dissolve and run,
Or snails that perish in their slime,
Or births that come before their time,
Vain births that never fee the fun.
6 Thus shall the vengeance of the Lord Safety and joy to faints afford ;
And all that hear shall join and say, " Sure there's a God that rules on high, "A God that hears his children cry,
" And will their suff'rings well repay."
PSALM LX. 1-5, 10-12. Com.Metre. On a day of bumiliation for disappointments in war. ORD, hast thou cast the nation off, Must we for ever mourn ?
Wilt thou indulge immortal wrath ?
Shall mercy ne'er return ?
2 The terror of one frown of thine
Melts all our strength away;
Like men that totter, drunk with wine,
We tremble in difmay.
3 "Our Zion trembles at thy stroke,
"And dreads thy lifted hand!
"Oh, heal the people thou hast broke,
"And save the finking land."
4 Lift up a banner in the field
For those that fear thy name;
Save thy beloved with thy shield,
And put our foes to shame.
5 Go with our armies to the fight,
Like a confed'rate God;
In vain confed'rate pow'rs unite
Against thy lifted rod.
6 Our troops shall gain a wide renown
By thine affifting hand;
'Tis God that treads the mighty down,
And makes the feeble stand.
PSALM LXI. ver. 1-6. Short Metre.
HEN overwhelm'd with grief,
My heart within me dies;
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To heav'n I lift mine eyes.
O lead me to the rock
That's high above my head,
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.
Within thy prefence, Lord,
For ever I'll abide;
Thou art the tow'r of my defence,
The refuge where I hide.
4 Thou givest me the lot
Of those that fear thy name;
If endless life be their reward,
I shall possess the fame.
PSALM LXII. ver. 5-12. Long Metre.
No truft in the creatures; or, faith in divine grace and power.
I Y spirit looks to God alone;
M My rock and refuge
In all my fears, in all my straits,
My foul on his falvation waits.
2 Trust him, ye faints, in all your ways,
Pour out your hearts before his face;
When helpers fail, and foes invade,
God is our all-fufficient aid.
3 False are the men of high degree,
The bafer fort are vanity;
Laid in the balance, both appear
Light as a puff of empty air.
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