PSALM LXXX. Long Metre. The church's prayer under affliction; or, the vinejard of God wafted.

'G

REAT Shepherd of thine Ifrael, Who doft between the cherubs dwell, And ledft the tribes, thy chofen fheep, Safe through the defart and the deep. 2 Thy church is in the defart now, Shine from on high, and guide it through; Turn us to thee, thy love restore, We fhall be fav'd, and figh no more, 3 Great God, whom heav'nly hofts obey, How long fhall we lament and pray, And wait in vain thy kind return? How long fhall thy fierce anger burn? 4 Inftead of wine and cheerful bread, Thy faints with their own tears are fad Turn us to thee, thy love restore, We shall be fav'd, and figh no more.

PAUSE I.

5 Haft thou not planted with thy hands
A lovely vine in heathen lands?
Did not thy pow'r defend it round,
And heav'nly dews enrich the ground?
6 How did the fpreading branches fhoot,
And blefs'd the nations with their fruit!
But now, dear Lord, look down and fee
Thy mourning vine, that lovely tree.
7 Why is its beauty thus defac'd ?
Why haft thou laid her fences waste?
Strangers and foes against her join,
And ev'ry beast devours the vine.

8 Return, Almighty God, return;
Nor let thy bleeding vineyard mourn :
Turn us to thee, thy love restore;
We fhall be fav'd, and figh no more.
PAUSE II.

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Lord, when this vine in Canaan grew,
Thou waft its ftrength and glory too!
Attack'd in vain by all its foes,

Till the fair Branch of Promise rofe.
io Fair Branch, ordain'd of old to shoot
From David's ftock, from Jacob's root;
Himself a noble Vine, and we

The leffer branches of the tree.

II 'Tis thine own Son! and he shall stand;
Girt with thy ftrength, at thy right hand;
Thy first-born Son, adorn'd and bleft
With pow'r and grace above the rest.
12 Oh! for his fake attend our cry;
Shine on thy churches, left they die;
Turn us to thee, thy love restore ;
We fhall be fav'd, and figh no morë.
PSALM LXXXI. 1,8-16. Short Metre.
The warnings of God to his people; or, spiritual
blefings and puniments.

I

ING to the Lord aloud,

SIN

God is our strength, our Saviour-God;
Let Ifr'el hear his voice.

"From vile idolatry

Preferve my worship clean

;

“I am the Lord who fet thee free
From flav'ry and from fin.

3

"Stretch thy defires abroad, "And I'll fupply them well; "But if ye will refufe your God, "If Ifr'el will rebel ;

"I'll leave them," faith the Lord, "To their own lufts a prey, "And let them run the dang'rous road; ""Tis their own chofen way.

Ś "Yet, O! that all my faints "Would hearken to my voice! "Soon I would eafe their fore complaints, “And bid their hearts rejoice.

6

"While I deftroy their foes,
"I'd richly feed my flock,

"And they fhould taste the stream that flows "From their eternal Rock."

PSALM LXXXII.

Long Metre.

God the fupreme governor; or, magiftrates warned:

A greater Ruler takes his feat;

The God of heaven, as Judge, furveys Thofe gods on earth, and all their ways. 2 Why will ye then frame wicked laws? Or why fupport th' unrighteous cause ? When will ye once defend the poor, That finners vex the faints no more?

3 They know not, Lord, nor will they know;
Dark are the ways in which they go :
Their name of earthly gods is vain,
For they fhall fall and die like men.

4 Arife, O Lord, and let thy Son Poffefs his univerfal throne,

2

3

4

5

6

7

And rule the nations with his rod;
He is our Judge, and he our God.

PSALM LXXXIII. Short Metre.
A complaint against perfecutors.

AN

ND will the God of grace
Perpetual filence keep?
The God of justice hold his peace,
And let his vengeance fleep?

Behold, what curfed fnares
The men of mischief spread;

The men that hate thy faints, and thee,
Lift up their threat'ning head.

Against thy hidden ones

Their counfels they employ,

And malice, with her watchful eye,

Purfues them to destroy.

The noble and the bafe Into thy pastures leap; The lion and the stupid afs Confpire to vex thy sheep. "Come, let us join," they cry, "To root them from the ground, "Till not the name of faints remain, "Nor mem'ry fhall be found.”

Awake, Almighty God,

And call thy wrath to mind;
Give them, like forefts, to the fire,
Or ftubble to the wind.

Convince their madnefs, Lord,
And make them feek thy name ;

Or else their stubborn rage confound,
That they may die in, fhame.

Then fhall the nations know
That glorious dreadful word,
JEHOVAH is thy name alone,
And thou the fov'reign Lord.

PSALM LXXXIV. ft Part. Long Met. The pleasure of public worship.

HOW

OW pleafant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hofts, thy dwellings are!
With long defire my fpirit faints
To meet th' affemblies of thy faints.
2 My flesh would reft in thine abode,
My panting heart cries out for God;
My God! my King! why fhould I be
So far from all my joys and thee?
3 The fparrow chooses where to rest,
And for her young provides her neft
But will my God to fparrows grant
That pleasure which his children want?
4 Bleft are the faints, who fit on high,
Around thy throne of majefty;
Thy brighteft glories fhine above,
And all their work is praife and love.
5 Bleft are the fouls that find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentler rays,
And feek thy face, and learn thy praife.

Bleft are the men whofe hearts are fet
To find the way to Zion's gate;
God is their strength; and through the road
They lean upon their helper, God.