PSALM 119. Part 22. C. M.
Seeking God.
1 ETERNAL God of grace and love,
Thy ways are just and kind,
Now let my cries ascend above,
And sweet acceptance find.
2 To thee with lifted hands I pray,
To heaven by faith I look;
Give me to know and keep thy way,
According to thy book.
3 My lips shall oft attempt thy praise,
And sing thy love is free,
For thou hast taught my soul to raise
Her noblest thoughts to thee.
4 My tongue shall speak of thy commands,
And all my powers rejoice,
For all my faith in Jesus stands,
Thy precepts are my choice.
5 For thy salvation much I long,
The law is my delight,
My soul shall feel thy love is strong,
And live before thy sight.
6 From God I wander'd like a sheep,
I left him to my cost,
But Christ, who found, can surely keep
The soul that once was lost.
PSALM 120. C. M.
A complaint of quarrelsome neighbors.
1 IN my distress to God I cried,
He heard my fervent cries,
He saw that envious sinners tried
To blast my name with lies.
2 O, save me, Lord, from treacherous foes, The faithless tongue control;
The word that from the slanderer goes,
Is aim'd against my soul.
3 What shall be given, or what be done,
O tongue, to 'ensure thy peace,
To still thy voice, thou restless one,
And cause thy rage to cease?
4 The winged arrow swiftly driven,
From bows completely strung,
And coals of juniper are given
In vain to stop the tongue.
5 Alas, for me! my lot is cast
Among the sons of strife;
My golden hours on earth are past
With men, who seek my life.
6 O, could I fly to seek a change,
And leave these gates of hell,
Thro pathless deserts would I range,
Or in some cavern dwell.
7 Peace is the blessing that I seek,
How pleasing are its charms!
I plead for peace, but when I speak,
My foes declare for arms.
PSALM 121. L. M.
Divine protection.
1 THRO faith I lift my waiting eyes
To yonder hills above the skies,
Celestial hills of light, from whence
Comes all my hope and my defence.
2 There stands his uncreated throne,
Who built the heavenly worlds alone,
Nor sought a creature's feeble aid,
When earth's foundation first he laid.
3 There lives my kind and watchful Guide, My feet in haste shall never slide,
I'm safe in God, who ne'er forsakes,
He neither sleep nor slumber takes.
4 At our right hands Jehovah spreads
An healthful shade above our heads,
He holds the nightly veil, and keeps
The silent hours while Israel sleeps.
5 Israel, a name divinely blest,
May rise secure, securely rest,
The Lord, thy Keeper, o'er thee stands,
To guard thee with his powerful hands.
No sun shall smite thine head by day,
Nor the pale moon with sickly ray
Shall blast thy couch, no baleful star
Darts his malignant fire so far.
7 Should earth and hell with malice burn,
Still thou shalt go, and still return,
Safe in the Lord! his heavenly care
Defends thy life from every snare.
The saints are blest where'er they go,
For God himself has made them so;
The chance of harm his hand controls,
He well defends their feeble souls.
PSALM 121, C. M.
Preservation by day and night.
1 TO heaven I lift my waiting eyes,
There all mine hopes are laid;
The Lord, who built the earth and skies,
Is my perpetual aid.
2 Their stedfast feet shall never fall,
Whom God designs to keep; -
His ear attends the softest call,
His eyes can never sleep.
S He will sustain our weakest powers
With his almighty arm,
And watch our most unguarded hours,
Against surprising harm.
4 Rejoice, my soul, and take thy rest,
Thy Keeper o'er thee stands;
Secure in God thy sleep is blest,
Thy life is in his hands.
5 Nor scorching sun, nor sickly moon,
Shall have its leave to smite;
He shields thy head from burning noon,
From blasting damps at night.
6 The Lord preserves thy fleeting breath, And is thy sure defence;
Go, and return, secure from death,'
Till God shall call thee hence.
PSALM 121. As the 148th.
God our preserver.
1 UPWARDS I lift mine eyes,
To seek his heavenly aid;
Who built the lofty skies,
And earth's foundation laid.
God is the tower
To which I fly;
His grace is nigh
In every hour.
2 My feet shall never slide,
Entrapt in Satan's snare,
For God my guard and guide,
Will make my soul his care.
Saints must endure,
No trial moves
Whom God approves,
And holds secure.
3 The Lord his people keeps,
His eyes can never close;
But while his Israel sleeps,
He watches his repose.
The saints are his,
He loves them so,
That where they go,
His spirit is.
4 No burning heats by day,
Nor blasts of evening air,
Can take their lives away,
Or much their health impair.
In new complaints,
At their right hands
The Savior stands,
To shield his saints.
5 If God preserve the just,
And save their souls from death,
Then I his power can trust,
To keep my mortal breath.
When from above
The Lord appears,
My doubts and fears
Are lost in love.
PSALM 122. C. M.
Going to church.
HOW did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,
"In Zion let us all appear,
And keep the solemn day."
2 Zion, thou temple of the states,
Thou bulwark of our land,
Within thy gates, thy pearly gates,
A thousand feet shall stand.
3 Made glad with songs before unknown, The saints in thee shall meet,
There Jesus sits on David's throne,
And fills the judgment seat.
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