WHEN I behold the wicked's way,
My heart within me fays,

No glimpfe of grace, no heav'nly ray
Itfelf in him difplays;

For did he know the ways of God,
His heart behov'd to fear,
And tremble at the paths he trod,
Which unto death draw near..

2 But he, betwitched in his views,
And blinded in his eyes,
Will his iniquities refuse,

Until in hell he cries.

3 The words proceeding from his mouth Are vile pernicious lies;

He laughs at God's eternal truth,

And fcorneth to be wife.

4 Where wisdom would defire repofe,
He plots upon his bed,

And there devifeth caufe of woes,
Which fall on his own head.

5 But, Lord, in heav'n thy mercy dwells,
Thy truth doth reach the sky,
And there, in glory which excels,
Thy faints do fhine on high.

6 Thy righteousness, like mountains great,
And th' everlafting hills,

Is fixed by thy word of fate,

And all the world it fills.
Thy judgments are a great abyfs,
And like the floods below;
No mortal dares fay, Why is this?
Or, Why are these things fo?

2

O Lord, how precious is thy grace!
For thou preferveft all,

From thefe who fee thy brighteft face,
To those who creep and crawl.

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7 But O how pleasant is thy love
Unto the fons of men!

In fhadow of thy wings, they prove,
That godliness is gain.'

8 Their fpirits thou wilt elevate,
With fatnefs of thy houfe;
And floods of pleasures delicate,
Thou for their drink wilt chufe.
9 O God, with thee life's fountains, pure
And everlafting, flow;

And, in thy light, which fhall endure,
We'll fear no fhades below.

10 Thy loving-kindness O prolong.
To thofe who know thy name;
And make thy righteoufnefs the fong
Of those who love the fame.
II Let not the foot of raging pride
Advance to tread me down;

Nor let their hands who me deride.
Prevail to take my crown.-

12 There! there! the Antichriftians fall,
And fink alive to hell;
From whence arife they never fhall,

But there for ever dwell.

So perith all Meffiah's foes

Who rife against their God!
They wail o'er their eternal woes,
In Satan's dire abode.

WITH regard to this, a Pfalm rather of inftruction than of direct devotion and praise, as it is allowed on all hands, as well as all the reft, to have been infpired by the Holy Ghoft, and as, for aught

I know,

I know, there has been no wrefting thereof, advanced under pretence of any fancied experience of the penman; without faying any thing more pofitive or particular, I would beg leave to refer the reader to the paraphrafe, written, I truft, according to the analogy of the one faith of God's elect, in the light of the whole connected teftimony of God. If the reader's views differ from mine, he certainly has as good a right to exercise his own private judgment as I have; only, in all our exercises, we have both equal reafon to take heed, left we interfere with the one public interpretation of this and of all the other prophetic writings,. which the Holy Ghost who infpired them has given us plainly, and without any figure, in the New Teftament.. See the illuftration of Pfal. xxxiv.

Behold the different ways and ends
Of all who live below the fun;
Who rank with God as fees or friends,;

And all to heav'n or hell-wards run:
Of thefe or thofe, whoe'er thou be,
Behold, thy judgment here is giv'n,
• To dwell with Chrift eternally,

Or, from his prefence to be driv'n.'

Let not my Belov'd be griev❜d,

Nor cruelly fret his heart away,
Because they have not all believ'd,
Nor hail'd the gofpel's cheering ray.
2 They flow'r and flourish for a time,

And bloom and glow with leaf fuperb;
While fummer rides on car fublime,
How green and tender is the herb!

But at the grand decifive day,

When fulnefs of the time is come,

The wither'd grafs is fwept away,

When God fhall bring his harvest home.

3 Upon Jehovah place thy hope,

4

And let thy hand be doing good; The land is thine, with all the crop, And truth fhall be thy daily food. In God the Lord thyself delight,

He'll blefs thee with thy heart's defire; 5 On him let all thy burden light,

He'll bear thee fafe thro' flood and fire: 6 Into his hand commit thy way,

And roll thyfelf upon his love;
He fhall thy judgment bright difplay,
Like all the lights that thine above:

Thy righteoufnefs fhall, like the fun,
Enlighten all the world abroad;

And when thy courfe, like his, is run,.
Thou fhalt repofe thyfelf with God.
7 Before the Lord in filence wait,
From wrath and pining grief forbear,
Because of thefe, with heart elate,
In ways of folly proudly fteer:

8

Success in fin they may obtain;

But theu from wrath and anger ceafe,
And ceafe to vex thyfelf in vain,
Becaufe of them in any cafe:

9. For verily they fhall be flain,.

And cover'd in the filent grave,
Who have rejoic'd in courfes vain;

And then the faints their kingdom have

10 A moment, and the Christless crew
Shall vanish, and be feen no more,
Like morning cloud or early dew,
When all the twilight damps are o'er:
Thou shalt confider well their place,
And fhalt not fee a mark behind,
Whereby thou mayft their footsteps trace,
Which pafs away like viewlefs wind.
1-1 The

11 The humble, then, and pious ones Shall come to their eftate so fair; For they are God's beloved fons,

Joint-heirs with Chrift, Jehovah's heir: Their peace fhall, like the boundless fea, Flow o'er the little banks of time': Like their eternal King, fhall be

Their joy and peace, in heav'n fublime. 12 How little think the godlefs men, That this fhall be the godly's lot, At whom they gnafh their teeth with pain, And grievous machinations plot! 13 Th' almighty Lord fhall laugh at him, Who laughs and rages at the Juft, Because he fees his coming time, *When he fhall fall, embracing duft.

14 The wicked have unfheath'd their fword,
And drawn their bows of fteel, to flay
Th' afflicted faints of God the Lord,
Who walk uprightly in his way:

15 Their fwords fhall enter their own breasts, And through their hearts their arrows fly; Because Jehovah interefts

Himself, and fwears that they fhall die.

16 The little that the godly have

Of earthly goods which pafs away,
And leave the richest at their grave,
And only ferve the present day,
Is better than your heaped ftore,
O ye the fons of unbelief;
For, when ye die, ye have no more
But fcenes of defp'rate endless grief.

17 Jehovah, he fupports the juft,

And is their portion evermore;

18 And, when their bodies fall to duft, He lands them on the heav'nly fhore.

19 They