3 My lips with shame my sins confess,
Against thy law, against thy grace;
Lord, should thy judgment be severe,
I am condemn'd, but thou art clear.
4 Yet save a trembling sinner, Lord,
Whose hope, still hovering round thy word,
Would light on some sweet promise there,
Some sure support against despair.
PSALM 51. VERSION 2. PART 2 L. M.
Original and actual sin confessed.—v. 5—9.
1 LORD, I am vile, conceiv'd in sin,
And born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall
Corrupts his race, and taints us all.
2 Soon as we draw our infant breath,
The seeds of sin grow up for death:
Thy law demands a perfect heart,
But we're defil'd in every part.
3 Behold, I fall before thy face,
My only refuge is thy grace;
No outward forms can make me clean,
The leprosy lies deep within.
4 Jesus, my God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone ;
That blood can make me white as snow;
Nothing besides can cleanse me so.
5 O let me hear thy pardoning voice,
And make my troubled soul rejoice!
Then all my powers shall join to bless
The Lord, my strength and righteousness.
Prayer for pardon and sanctification.-v. 10–13
1 O THOU that hear'st when sinners cry,
Though all my crimes before thee lie,
Behold them not with angry look,
But blot their memory from thy book.
2 Create my nature pure within,
And form my soul averse to sin;
Let thy good Spirit ne'er depart,
Nor hide thy presence from my
3 I cannot live without thy light,
Cast out and banish'd from thy sight;
Thy holy joys, my God, restore,
And guard me that I fall no more.
4 Then will I teach the world thy ways;
Sinners shall learn thy boundless grace;
I'll lead them to the atoning blood,
And they shall praise a pardoning God.
PSALM 55. c. M.
Confiding in God.-v. 16, 17, 18, 22.
1 O'ERWHELM'D with sorrow and with fears, To thee, my God, I'll pray;
Thou, Lord, wilt save; thine arm appears
My everlasting stay.
2 My prayer shall burst the evening shade,
And with the morning rise;
At noon my offerings shall be paid
To God who hears my cries.
3 When strong temptations urg'd me round,
When sinking to despair,
In him my soul deliverance found,
And lost its anxious care.
4 Still on the Lord thy burden roll, Nor let a care remain ;
His arm shall bear thy fainting soul,
And all thy griefs sustain.
PSALM 57. C. M.
Praise to God.-v. 7-11.
O GOD, my heart is fix'd and bent,
Its thankful tribute to present;
And, with my heart, my voice I'll raise,
To thee, my God, in songs of praise.
Awake, my glory; harp and lute,
No longer let your strings be mute;
And I, my tuneful part to take,
Will with the early dawn awake.
Thy praises, Lord, I will resound
To all the listening people round:
Thy mercy highest heaven transcends,
Thy truth beyond the clouds extends.
Be thou, O God, 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.
WHEN, overwhelm'd with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift mine eyes.
O lead me to the rock
That's high above my head;
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.
Within thy presence, Lord,
For ever I'll abide;
Thou art the tower of my defence,
The refuge where I hide.
Thou givest me the lot
Of those that fear thy name;
Since endless life is their reward,
I shall possess the same.
PSALM 63. c. M.
Communion with God desired.
EARLY, my God, without delay,
I haste to seek thy face;
My thirsty spirit faints away,
Without thy cheering grace.
I've seen thy glory and thy power
Through all thy temple shine;
My God, repeat that heavenly hour,
That vision so divine!
Not life itself, with all its joys,
Can my best passions move,
Or raise so high my cheerful voice,
As thy forgiving love.
Thus, till my last expiring day,
I'll bless my God and King;
Thus will I lift my hands to pray,
And tune my lips to sing.
PSALM 65. PART 1. L. M.
Public prayer and praise.
FOR thee, O God, our constant praise
In Sion waits, thy chosen seat;
Our promis'd altars there we'll raise,
And all our zealous vows complete.
O thou, who to our humble prayer,
Dost always bend a listening ear,
To thee shall all mankind repair,
And at thy gracious throne appear.
Our sins, though numberless, in vain
To stop thy flowing mercy try;
Whilst thou o'erlook'st the guilty stain,
And washest out the crimson dye.
Blest is the man, who, near thee plac'd,
Within thy sacred dwelling lives;
Whilst we at humbler distance taste
The vast delights thy temple gives.
PSALM 65. PART 2.
The visible proofs of God's providence.
"TIS by thy strength the mountains stand,
God of eternal power!
The sea grows calm at thy command
And tempests cease to roar.
The morning light and evening shade
Successive comforts bring;
Thy plenteous fruits make harvest glad,
Thy flowers adorn the spring.
The clouds, like rivers rais'd on high,
Pour forth, at thy command,
Their watery blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.
The soften'd ridges drink their fill,
And ranks of corn appear;
Thy ways abound with blessings still,
Thy goodness crowns the year.
|
