"O may these thoughts poffefs my breast,
"Where'er I rove, where'er I reft!
"Nor let my weaker paffions dare
"Confent to fin, for God is there."
PAUSE the first.
6 Could I fo falfe, fo faithlefs prove,
To quit thy fervice and thy love,
Where, Lord, could I thy prefence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?
If, up to heav'n I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'ft enthron'd in light
Or dive in hell, there vengance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
8 If, mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the western fea,
Thy fwifter hand would firft arrive,
And there arreft thy fugitive.
9 Or fhould I try to fhun thy fight
Beneath the fpreading veil of night,
One glance of thine, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darknefs into day.
"O may thefe thoughts poffefs my breaft,
"Where'er I rove, where'er I reft!
"Nor let my weaker paffions dare
"Confent to fin, for God is there."
PAUSE the fecond.
II The veil of night is no difguife,
No fcreen from thy all-fearching eyes:
Thy hand can feize thy foes as foon
Thro' midnight fhades, as blazing noon.
12 Midnight and noon in this agree,
Great God, they're both alike to thee:
Not death can hide what God will spy
And hell lies naked to his eye,
"may these thoughts poffefs my breaft
"Where'er I rove, where'er I reft!
"Nor let my weaker paffions dare
"Confent to fin, for God is there."
PSALM CXXXIX. Second Part (L.M.)
The wonderful formation of man.
I 'Twas from thy hand, my God, I came,
A work of fuch a curious frame;
In me thy fearful wonders shine,
And each proclaims thy skill divine.
2 Thine eyes did all my limbs furvey,
Which yet in dark confufion lay;
Thou faw'ft the daily growth they took,
Form'd by the model of thy book.
3 By thee my growing parts were nam'd,
And what thy fov'reign counfels fram'd,
(The breathing lungs, the beating heart)
Was copy'd with unerring art.
4 At laft, to fhew my Maker's name,
God ftamp'd his image on my frame,
And in fome unknown moment join'd
The finish'd members to the mind.
5 There the young feeds of thought began,
And all the paffions of the man:
Great God, our infant nature pays
Immortal tribute to thy praise.
6 Lord, fince in my advancing age
I've acted on life's bufy stage,
Thy thoughts of love to me furmount
The pow'r of numbers to recount.
7 I could furvey the ocean o'er,
And count each fand that makes the fho
Before my swifteft thoughts could trace
The num'rous wonders of thy grace.
8: Thefe on my heart are still imprests.
With there I give my eyes to reft,
And at my waking hour I find
God and his love poffefs my mind..
PSALM CXXXIX. Third Part, (L. M.)
Sincerity profeffed, and grace tried: or, the heart-
Searching God.
My God, what inward grief I feel
When impious men tranfgrefs thy will!
I mourn to hear their lips profane,
Take thy tremendous name in vain..
2. Does not my foul deteft and hate
The fons of malice and deceit ?
Thofe that oppofe thy laws and thee,
I count them enemies to me.
3. Lord, fearch my foul, try ev'ry thought::
Tho' my own heart accufe me not
Of walking in a false disguise,
I beg the trial of thine eyes..
Doth fecret mischief lurk within;
Do I indulge fome unknown fin;
O turn my feet whene'er Iftray,
And lead me in thy perfect way..
PSALM CXXXIX. First Part. (C.M.)
God is every where.
In all my vaft concerns with thee,
In vain my foul would try
To fhun thy prefence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye..
Thine all-furrounding fight furveys
My rifing and my reft,
My public walks, my private ways,
And fecrets of my breast.
My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they're form'd within ;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the fenfe I mean..
40 wond'rous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms 1 lie,
Belet on ev'ry fide.
5 So let thy grace furround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my foul from ev'ry ill,
Secur'd by fovereign love.
6 Lord, where shall guilty fouls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?
In hell they meet thy dreadful fire,
In heav'n thy glorious throne.
7 Should I fupprefs my vital breath,
To 'fcape the wrath divine;
Thy voice would break the bars of death
And make the grave refign.
8 If, wing'd with beams of morning-light, I fly beyond the weft;
Thy hand, which must fupport my flight,
Would foon betray my rest.
If o'er my fins I think to draw
The curtains of the night;
Those flaming eyes that guard thy law
Would turn the fhades to light.
10 The beams of noon, the midnight hour, Are both alike to thee:
O may I ne'er provoke that pow'r
From which I cannot fee.
PSAL. CXXXIX. Second Part. (C.M.)
The wisdom of God in the formation of man. I WHEN I with pleafing wonder stand, And all my frame furvey,
Lord, 'tis thy work; I own thy hand
Thus built my humble clay.
2 Thy hand my heart and reins poffeft,
Where unborn nature grew;
Thy wifdom all my features trac❜d,
And all my members drew.
3 Thine eye with nicest care furvey'd
The growth of ev'ry part;
Till the whole scheme thy thoughts had laid,
Was copy'd by thy art.
4 Heav'n, earth, and fea, and fire, and wind, Shew me thy wond'rous skill;
But I review myself and find
Diviner wonders ftill.
5 Thine awful glories round me fhine,
My flesh proclaims thy praise;
Lord, to thy works of nature join
Thy miracles of grace.
PSALM CXXXIX. ver. 14,17, 18.
Third Part. (C, M.)
The mercies of God innumerable.
An Evening Pfalm.
LORD, when I count thy mercies o'er,
They ftrike me with surprise;
Not all the fands that spread the shore
To equal numbers rife.
My flesh with fear and wonder ftands,
The product of thy skill;
And hourly bleffings from thy hands
Thy thoughts of love reveal.
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