He keeps our life, maintains our peace,
And guides our doubtful ways.
7 Lord, thou hast prov'd our fuff'ring fouls, To make our graces shine;
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 possess the promis'd place
By thine unerring hand.
PSALM LXVI. 2d Part. Com. Metre.
Ver. 13-20. Praise to God for hearing prayer.
OW shall my folemn vows be paid
To that Almighty Pow'r,
That heard the long requests I made
In my distressful 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 shade.
4 If fin lay cover'd in my heart,
While pray'r employ'd my tongue,
The Lord had fewn me no regard,
Nor I his praises sung.
5 But God (his name be ever blest!)
Has set my spirit free,
Nor turn'd from him my poor request,
Nor turn'd his heart from me.
PSALM LXVII. Common Metre. The nation's prosperity and the church's increafe.
HINE, mighty God, on this our land, With beams of heavenly grace; Reveal thy pow'r through all our coafts, And shew thy smiling face.
2 [Amidst our States, exalted high,
Do thou our glory stand,
And like a wall of guardian fire,
Surround the fav'rite rite land.]
3 When shall thy name, from shore to fhore, Sound all the earth abroad,
And distant 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 sov'reign Judge,
That fits enthron'd above,
Wisely commands the worlds he made,
In justice and in love.
6 Earth shall obey her Maker's will,
And yield a full increase ;
Our God will crown his chofen land
With fruitfulness and peace.
7 God the Redeemer scatters round
His choicest favours here;
While the creation's utmost bound
Shall fee, adore, and fear.
PSALM LXVIII. 1st Part. Long Metre.
The vengeance and compassion of God.
ET God arise in all his might,
And put the troops of hell to flight,
As smoke, that fought to cloud the skies,
Before the rifing tempest flies.
2 [He comes array'd in burning flames;
Justice and vengeance are his names:
Behold his fainting fo 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 sons of grace;
Ye faints, rejoice before his face.
4 The widow and the fatherless
Fly to his aid in sharp distress ;
In him the poor and helpless find
A judge that's just, a father kind.
5 He breaks the captive's heavy chain,
And pris'ners see the light again;
But rebels, that difpute his will,
Shall dwell in chains and darkness still.
PAUSE.
6 Kingdoms and thrones to God belong;
Crown him, ye nations, in your fong:
His wond'rous names and pow'rs rehearse;
His honours shall enrich your verse.
7 He shakes the heav'ns with loud alarms;
How terrible is God in arms!
In Ifr'el are his mercies known,
Isr'el is his peculiar throne.
8. Proclaim him king, pronounce him blest;
He's your defence, your joy, your rest :
When terrors rife, and nations faint,
God is the strength of ev'ry faint.
PSALM LXVIII. 2d Part. Long Metre.
Ver. 17, 18. Cbrift's afcenfion, and the gift of the spirit.
ORD, when thou didst ascend on high,
Ten thousand angels fill'd the sky :
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 struck the chosen tribes with awe.
3 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.
4 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.
Praise for temporal blessings; or, common and Spiritual mercies.
E bless the Lord, the just, the good,
Who fills our hearts with joy & food;
Who pours his blessings from the skies,
And loads our days with rich supplies.
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 escapes from death :
Safety and health to God belong;
He helps the weak, and guards the strong.
4 He makes the faint and sinner prove
The common blessings 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 shall tread;
The stubborn finner's hope confound,
And smite him with a lasting wound.
6 But his right hand his faints fhall raise
From the deep earth, or deeper seas;
And bring them to his courts above,
There shall they taste his special love.
PSALM LXIX. 1-14 1st Part. Com.Met.
The fufferings of Christ for our falvation.
AVE me, O God! the swelling floods "Break in upon my foul: "I fink, and forrows o'er my head "Like mighty waters roll.
2 " 1 ery till all my voice be gone;
" In tears I waste the day :
"My God, behold my longing eyes,
"And shorten thy delay.
3 "They hate my foul without a caufe,
"And still their number grows
" More than the hairs around my head,
"And mighty are my foes.
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