He keeps our life, maintains our peace,
And guides our doubtful ways.
7 Lord, thou haft prov'd our fuff'ring fouls, To make our graces fhine;
So filver bears the burning coals,
The metal to refine.
8 Through wat❜ry deeps and fiery ways,
We march at thy command;
Led to poffefs the promis'd place
By thine unerring hand.
PSALM LXVI. 2d Part. Com. Metre.
Ver. 13-20. Praife to God for hearing prayer.
WOW fhall my folemn vows be paid
To that Almighty Pow'r,
That heard the long requests I made
In my diftrefsful hour.
2 My lips and cheerful heart prepare
To make his mercies known ;
Come, ye that fear my God, and hear
The wonders he has done.
3 When on my head huge forrows fell,
I fought his heav'nly aid;
He fav'd my finking foul from hell,
And death's eternal fhade.
If fin lay cover'd in my heart,
While pray'r employ'd my tongue,
The Lord had fhewn me no regard,
Nor I his praises fung.
5 But God (his name be ever bleft!)
Has fet my fpirit free,
Nor turn'd from him my poor request,
Nor turn'd his heart from me.
PSAI.M LXVII. Common Metre.
The nation's profperity and the church's increafe. HINE, mighty God, on this our land, With beams of heav'nly grace; Reveal thy pow'r through all our coasts, And fhew thy fmiling face.
2 [Amidft our States, exalted high,
Do thou our glory ftand,
And like a wall of guardian fire,
Surround the fav'rite land.]
3 When fhall thy name, from fhore to fhore,
Sound all the earth abroad,
And diftant nations know and love
Their Saviour and their God?
4 Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,
Sing loud with folemn voice;
While thankful tongues exalt his praise,
And grateful hearts rejoice.
5 He, the great Lord, the fov'reign Judge, That fits enthron'd above,
Wifely commands the worlds he made,
In juftice and in love.
6 Earth fhall obey her Maker's will,
And yield a full increafe;
Our God will crown his chosen land
With fruitfulness and peace.
God the Redeemer fcatters round
His choiceft favours here
While the creation's utmoft bound
Shall fee, adore, and fear.
PSALM LXVIII. 1ft Part. Long Metre.
The vengeance and compassion of God.
ET God arife in all his might,
And put the troops of hell to flight,
As fmoke, that fought to cloud the skies,
Before the rifing tempest flies.
2 [He comes array'd in burning flames;
Juftice and vengeance are his names :
Behold his fainting foes expire,
Like melting wax before the fire.]
3 He rides and thunders through the sky +
His name, JEHOVAH, founds on high
Sing to his name, ye fons of grace;
Ye faints, rejoice before his face.
4 The widow and the fatherless
Fly to his aid in fharp diftrefs
In him the poor and helpless find
A judge that's juft, a father kind.
5 He breaks the captive's heavy chain,
And pris'ners fee the light again;
But rebels, that difpute his will,
Shall dwell in chains and darkness still.
6 Kingdoms and thrones to God belong ;
Crown him, ye nations, in your fong:
His wond'rous names and pow'rs rehearse;
His honours fhall enrich your verse.
7 He fhakes the heav'ns with loud alarms; How terrible is God in arms!
In Ifr'el are his mercies known,
Ifr'el is his peculiar throne.
8 Proclaim him king, pronounce him bleft; He's your defence, your joy, your rest : When terrors rife, and nations faint, God is the ftrength of ev'ry faint.
PSALM LXVIII. 2d Part. Long Metre. Ver. 17, 18. Chrift's afcenfion, and the gift of the Spirit.
Ten thoufand angels fill'd the fky:
Those heav'nly guards around thee wait,
Like chariots that attend thy state.
2 Not Sinai's mountain could appear
More glorious when the Lord was there;
While he pronounc'd his dreadful law,
And ftruck the chofen tribes with awe.
How bright the triumph none can tell,
When the rebellious pow'rs of hell,
That thousand fouls had captive made,
Were all in chains like captives led.
Rais'd by his Father to the throne,
He fent the promis'd Spirit down,
With gifts and grace for rebel-men,
That God might dwell on earth again.
PSALM LXVIII. 3d Part. Long Metre.
Praife for temporal blessings; or, common and
E blefs the Lord, the juft, the good, Who fills our hearts with joy & food; Who pours his bleffings from the fkies, And loads our days with rich fupplies. 2 He fends the fun his circuit round, To cheer the fruits, to warm the ground;
He bids the clouds, with plenteous rain,
Refresh the thirsty earth again.
3 'Tis to his care we owe our breath,,
And all our near efcapes from death:
Safety and health to God belong;
He helps the weak, and guards the strong.
4 He makes the faint and finner prove
The common bleffings of his love;
But the wide diff'rence that remains
Is endless joy, or endless pains.
5 The Lord, that bruis'd the ferpent's head,
On all the ferpent's feed fhall tread;
The ftubborn finner's hope confound,
And fmite him with a lafting wound.
6 But his right hand his faints fhall raise
From the deep earth, or deeper feas;
And bring them to his courts above,
There fhall they tafte his fpecial love.
PSALM LXIX. I—14 1ft Part, Com.Met.
The fufferings of Chrift for our falvation.
AVE me, O God! the fwelling floods "Break in upon my foul : "I fink, and forrows o'er my head, "Like mighty waters roll.
2 "I cry till all my voice be gone;
"In tears I waste the day:
"My God, behold my longing eyes,
"And fhorten thy delay.
"They hate my foul without a caufe,
"And ftill their number grows
"More than the hairs around my head,
"And mighty are my foes.
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