5 To God eternal thanks be paid,
My sure defence, my constant aid
To God my grateful songs I'll raise,
And, while I live, resound his praise.
PSALM 43.
The desponding Christian encouraging himself. 1 O MY Soul! what means this sadness? Wherefore art thou thus cast down? Let thy grief be turn'd to gladness; Bid thy restless fears be gone:
Trust in his all-powerful name.
2 What though Satan's strong temptations Press around thee, day by day;
And thy sinful inclinations
Fill thee oft with sad dismay?
Look to Jesus ;
Thou shalt conquer through his blood. 3 Though ten thousand ills beset thee From without and from within, Jesus saith, "I'll ne'er forget thee; "But will save from death and sin:" He is faithful
To perform his promised word. 4 Though distresses now attend thee, And thou tread the thorny road, His right hand shall still defend thee; Soon He'll bring thee home to God: Therefore praise Him;
Praise thy great Redeemer's name!
PSALM 46.
(P. M. AMPTON.)
God, the refuge of the distressed.
1 GOD is our refuge in distress ;
A present help when dangers press;
In Him undaunted we'll confide,
Though earth were from her centre tost,
And mountains in the ocean lost,
Hurl'd downward by the roaring tide. 2 A gentler stream with gladness still The city of the Lord shall fill,
The royal seat of God most high;
God dwells in Zion, whose fair towers
Shall mock the assaults of earthly powers,
While his Almighty aid is nigh.
3 In tumults, when the heathen raged,
And kingdoms war against us waged,
He thunder'd and dispers'd their powers;
The Lord of Hosts conducts our arms,
A tower of refuge in alarms,
Our fathers' Guardian God and ours.
PSALM 51.
(L. M. PANCRAS.)
Confession of natural corruption.
1 LORD! we are vile, conceived in sin,
And born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the head, whose guilty fall
Corrupts the race and taints us all.
2 Thy law demands a perfect heart,
But we're defiled in every part:
No outward forms can cleanse from sin,
Its leprosy lies deep within.
3 The precious blood of Christ alone
Hath power sufficient to atone,
To make the Ethiopian white,
And nature's darkness turn to light.
4 Wash out our guilt of crimson hue;
Create our sinful hearts anew:
The unhallow'd reign of sin efface,
And save us by thy sovereign grace.
(L. M. PANCRAS.)
Confession of actual transgression.
1 O LORD! behold our deep distress,
And now with speed some pity take!
Our sins forgive, our guilt suppress,
And spare us for thy mercy's sake.
2 Against Thee only have we sinn'd,
And done much evil in thy sight,
And if we should no mercy find,
Yet were thy judgments just and right.
3 But, Lord! be gracious to our call:
Thy wrath avert, our fears remove,
Break down the separating wall,
That parts the sinner from thy love.
4 Our great and numerous crimes, O God!
With grief unfeign'd we now deplore:
Oh! cleanse them in the Saviour's blood,
And grant us grace to sin no more.
PSALM 57.
(L. M. RANDALL.)
Supplicating and praising God.
1 THY mercy, Lord! to us extend;
On Thee alone our hopes depend:
Thy sheltering wings around us cast,
Till the rude storm be overpast.
2 Our heart, O God! our heart is fix'd;
Our fears with holy joy are mix'd;
And, with our hearts, our voice we raise
To Thee in grateful songs of praise.
3 Thy praises, Lord! we will resound
To all the listening nations round?
Thy truth beyond the clouds extends;
Thy love the highest heaven transcends.
4 Be Thou, O Lord! exalted high;
And, as thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth display'd,
Till Thou art here, as there, obey'd.
PSALM 65.
(L. M. MONTGOMERY.)
God the God of the seasons. 1 ETERNAL Source of every joy! Praise shall our hearts and lips employ, While in thy temple we appear, To crown Thee Sovereign of the year. 2 Wide as the wheels of nature roll, Thy hand supports and guides the whole; The day is taught by Thee to rise, The night by Thee to veil the skies.
3 The clouds, disposed at thy command,
Their fatness drop through every land:
Her various produce nature yields,
And plenty smiles o'er all her fields.
4 Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise:
Oh! be the grateful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade!
5 Here in thy house let incense rise,
As circling Sabbaths bless our eyes;
Till to those glorious realms we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.
PSALM 67.
(S. M. BATH.)
For the light of God's countenance.
1 WITH mercy, God of grace!
The sons of men behold;
The heavenly brightness of thy face
To all on earth unfold.
2 Thy holy will make known;
Thy saving health reveal;
That all the world, thy statutes shewn,
The song of praise may swell.
3 For when thy just command,
And gentle sway they feel,
Then every tongue in every land,
"The song of praise shall swell."
4 Then earth in faith and love
Shall bring her full increase;
And Thou shalt bless us from above,
With thine eternal peace.
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