2 Hear us, Great Shepherd of the sheep!
Our wand'rings heal, our footsteps keep :
We seek thy shelt'ring fold again;

Nor shall we seek Thee, Lord, in vain.
3 Teach us to know and love the way;
And grant, to life's remotest day,
By thine unerring guidance led,

Our willing feet thy paths may tread.

PSALM CXX.

The Author of this Psalm, most probably David, complains of the falsehood, the treachery, and the violence of men, among whom he grieves that his pil. grimage is prolonged.

Complaint of the Wickedness of Men. c. M. 1THOU God of Love! Thou ever-blest! Pity my suffering state:

When wilt Thou set my soul at rest
From lips that love deceit ?

2 Hard lot of mine! my days are cast
Among the sons of strife;

Whose never-ceasing brawlings waste
My golden hours of life.

3 Oh might I fly to change my place,
How would I choose to dwell
In some wide lonesome wilderness,
And leave these gates of hell!

4 Peace is the blessing that I seek,
How lovely are its charms!
am for peace; but, when I speak,
They all declare for arms.

I

5 New passions still their souls engage,
And keep their malice strong:

What shall be done to curb thy rage,
O thou devouring tongue!

6 Should burning arrows smite thee through,
Strict justice would approve;

But I would rather spare my foe,
And melt his heart with love.

PSALM CXXI.

In this Psalm, the Prophet introduces a person, most probably an Israelite on his way to Jerusalem, expressing his trust and confidence in Jehovah; of whose favour and protection, at all times and in all dangers, the Prophet assures him. These promises, like those in the XCIst Psalm, were made good, in their full

And spiritual sense, to Messiah; and are now daily accomplishing in the members of His mystical body, the Christian Church.

1 TO Zion's hills I lift mine eyes,
From thence descends my aid:
On HIм my soul for help relies,
Who earth and heaven hath made.

2 Nor art nor power thy foot shall move,
His hands shall safely bear:
He ne'er remits his watchful love,
Nor slumbers o'er his care.

3 Lo! Israel's Guardian, in repose
Shall still his Israel keep;

Nor slumbers shall His eyelids close,
Nor yield His eyes to sleep.

4 Israel, thy Guardian is the Lord,
Jehovah, ever near !

His shelt'ring wings thy shade afford;
Then what shall Israel fear?

5 His providence from every snare
Shall every step defend;

Thy soul shall prove his constant care,
Till all thy dangers end.

6 Safe shall thy feet at distance roam,
And thy return be blest;

Till Heaven be thine eternal home,
Thine everlasting rest.

1 UP to the hills I lift mine eyes,

Th' eternal hills beyond the skies:
Thence all her help my soul derives;
There my Almighty Refuge lives.

2 He lives! the Everlasting God,

Who built the world, who spread the flood!
The heavens, with all their hosts, he made,
And the dark regions of the dead.

3 He guides our feet, he guards our way;
His morning smiles bless all the day:
He spreads the evening veil, and keeps
The silent hours while Israel sleeps.

4 Israel, a name divinely blest,
May rise secure, securely rest;
Thy Holy Guardian's wakeful eyes
Admit no slumber nor surprise.

UPWARD I lift mine eyes!
From God is all my aid;

The God that built the skies,
And earth and nature made:
To which I fly;

God is the Tower

His grace is nigh In every hour.

My feet shall never slide,
Nor fall in fatal snares;

Since God, my Guard and Guide,
Defends me from my fears.

Those wakeful eyes, That never sleep,
Shall Israel keep When dangers rise.
No burning heats by day,

No blasts of evening air,

Shall take

my

If God be with

health away,

Thou art my Sun,
To guard my head

me there:

And Thou my Shade,
By night or noon.

Hast thou not given thy Word
To save my soul from death?
And I can trust my Lord

To keep my mortal breath!

I'll go and come,

Nor fear to die,

Till from on high Thou call me home.

PSALM CXXII.

The subject of this Psalm is that joy which the people were wont to express, on their going up in companies to keep a feast at Jerusalem. Every thing which can be said on this topic, must naturally hold good in its application to the Christian Church and the celebration of her feasts; at which seasons the believer will naturally extend his thoughts to the Jerusalem above, and to that festival which shall one day be there kept by all the people of God.

Public Worship.
First Version.

C. M.

1 HOW did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,

"In Zion let us all appear,
And keep the solemn day!"

2 I love her gates, I love the road:
The Church, adorn'd with grace,
Stands like a palace built for God,
To show his milder face.

3 Up to her courts, with joys unknown,
The holy tribes repair;

The Son of David holds his throne,
And sits in judgment there.

4 He hears our praises and complaints;
And, while his awful voice
Divides the sinners from the saints,
We tremble and rejoice.

5 Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest!

With holy gifts and heavenly grace
Be her attendants blest!

6 My soul shall pray for Zion still,
While life or breath remains :
There my best friends, my kindred, dwell ;
There God my Saviour reigns!

1

H

2

3

66

Second Version. P. M.

OW pleas'd and blest was I,
To hear the people cry,

Come let us seek our God to-day!"

Yes, with a cheerful zeal,

We haste to Zion's hill,

And there our vows and honours pay.

Zion, thrice happy place,
Adorn'd with wondrous grace,

And walls of strength embrace thee round:
In thee our tribes appear

To pray, and praise, and hear
The sacred Gospel's joyful sound.

There David's greater Son
Has fix'd his royal throne;

He sits for grace and judgment there:
He bids the saints be glad,

He makes the sinner sad,

And humble souls rejoice with fear.

i

4 May peace attend thy gate, And joy within thee wait,

5

To bless the soul of every guest!
The man that seeks thy peace
And wishes thine increase,
A thousand blessings on him rest.

My tongue repeats her vows,
Peace to this sacred house!

For there my friends and kindred dwell:
And, since my glorious God
Makes thee his blest abode,

My soul shall ever love thee well.

Theodore Zuinger, when he lay on his death-bed, took his leave of the world, in a Paraphrase on this Psalm. The original has lost nothing in a translation of it by the late learned and pious Mr. Merrick. This Paraphrase may serve as a finished specimen of the noble and exalted use, which a Christian may and ought to make of the Psalms of David.

THE

Entrance into the Heavenly Jerusalem.
HE festal morn, my God, is come,
That calls me to thy hallow'd dome,
Thy presence to adore:

My feet the summons shall attend,
With willing steps thy courts ascend,
And tread the sacred floor.

2 What joy while thus I view the day,
That warns my thirsting soul away,
What transports fill my breast!
For, lo! my great Redeemer's power
Unfolds the everlasting door,

And leads me to his rest!

3. E'en now, to my expecting eyes
The heaven-built towers of Salem rise:
E'en now, with glad survey,

I view her mansions, that contain
Th' angelic forms, an awful train,
And shine with cloudless day.

4 Hither, from earth's remotest end,
Lo! the redeem'd of God ascend,
Their tribute hither bring;
Here, crown'd with everlasting joy,
In hymns of praise their tongues employ,
And hail th' Immortal King.