1

The hills about, in order rang'd,

In beauteous robes of joy are seen. 13 Large flocks with fleecy wool adorn The cheerful downs; the vallies bring A plenteous crop of full-ear'd corn, And seem, for joy, to shout and sing. PSALM LXVI.

ET all the lands, with shouts of joy, To God their voices raise; Sing psalms in honour of his name, And spread his glorious praise.

8 And let them say, How dreadful, Lord, In all thy works, art thou!

To thy great pow'r thy stubborn foes
Shall all be forc'd to bow.

4 Through all the earth the nations round

Shall thee their God confess; And with glad hymns, their

dread

Of thy great name express.

awful

5 0 come! behold the works of God; And then with me you'll own, That he to all the sons of men

Has wondrous judgment shown. 6 He made the sea become dry land, Through which our fathers walk'd; Whilst to each other, of his might With joy his people talk'd. 47 He, by his pow'r, for ever rules; His eyes the world survey; Let no presumptuous man rebel Against his sov'reign sway. PART II.

8, 9 O! all ye nations, bless our God, And loudly speak his praise; Who keeps our souls alive, and still Confirms our steadfast ways. 10 For thou hast try'd us, Lord, as fire Does try the precious ore;

11 Thou brought'st us into straits, where

Who, if my heart had harbour'd sin,
Would all my pray'rs disclaim.
19 But God to me, whene'er I cry'd,
His gracious ear did bend,
And to the voice of my request
With constant love attend.
20 Then bless'd for ever be my God!
Who never, when I pray,
Withholds his mercy from my soul
Nor turns his face away.

PSALM LXVII.

bless thy chosen race,

To bless ty, chosen rafine;

And cause the brightness of thy face On ail thy saints to shine:

2 That so thy wondrous way

May through the world be known; While distant lands their tribute pay, And thy salvation own.

3 Let diff ring nations join
To celebrate thy fame;
Let all the world, O Lord, combine
To praise thy glorious name.
4 0 let them shout and sing
With joy and pious mirth;
For thou, the righteous Judge and
King,

Shalt govern all the earth.
5 Let dif'ring nations join
To celebrate thy fame;
Let all the word, O Lord, combine
To praise thy glorious name.
6 Then shall the teeming ground
A large increase disclose;
And we with plenty shall be crown'
Which God, our God, bestows.
7 Then God upon our land

n'd

Shall constant blessings show'r; And all the world in awe shall stand Of his resistless pow'r.

PSALM LXVIII.

IET God, the God of battle, rise,
And scatter his presumptuous foes.
Let shameful rout their host surprise,
Who spitefully his pow'r oppose.
2 As smoke in tempest's rage is lost,
Or wax into the furnace cast;
So let their sacrilegious host

Before his wrathful presence waste. 8 But let the servants of his will His favour's gentle beams enjoy; Their spright hearts let gladness fill, And cheerful songs their tongues enploy.

4 To him your voice in anthems raise; Jehovah's awful name he bears; Ia bim rejoice, extol his praise,

Who rides upon high-rolling spheren 5 Him, from his empire of the skies, To this low world compassion draws, The orphan's claim to patronise,

And judge the injur'd widow's

cause.

6 "Tis God, who from a foreign soil

Restores poor exiles to their home; Makes captives free, and fruitless toil Their proud oppressor's righteous doom.

'Twas so of old, when thou didst lead In person, Lord, our armies forth; Strange terrors thro' the desert spread, Convulsions shook the astonish'd earth. 8 The breaking clouds did rain distil, And heaven's high arches shook with fear:

How then should Sinai's humble hill
Of Israel's God the presence bear?
Thy hand, at famish'd earth's com-
plaint,

Reliev'd her from celestial stores, And when thy heritage was faint, Assuag'd the drought with plenteous

show'rs.

10 Where savages had rang'd before, At ease thou mad'st our tribes reside; And, in the desert, for the poor

Thy gen'rous bounty did provide.
PART II.

11 Thou gav'st the word; we sally'd forth,

And in that pow'rful word o'ercame; While virgin-troops,with songs of mirth, In state our conquest did proclaim. 12 Vast armies, by such gen'rals led, As yet had ne'er receiv'd a foil, Forsook their camp with sudden dread, And to our women left the spoil. 13 Though Egypt's drudges you have been,

Your army's wing shall shine as bright As doves, in golden sun-shine seen,

Ev'n rebels shall partake thy grace,

And humble proselytes repair To worship at thy dwelling-place,

And all the world pay homage there. 19 For benefits each day bestow'd,

Be daily his great name ador'd, 20 Who is our Saviour, and our God, Of life and death the sov'reign Lord. 21 But justice for his harden'd foes Proportion'd vengeance hath decreed To wound the hoary head of those

Who in presumptuous crimes proceed. 22 The Lord hath thus in thunder spoke 'As I subdu'd proud Bashan's king, Once more I'll break my people's yoke,

And from the deep my servants bring 23 Their feet shall with a crimson flood 'Of slaughter'd foes be cover'd o'er ; Nor earth receive such impious blood, 'But leave for dogs the unhallow'd gore.'

PART III. 24 When, marching to thy blest abode, The wond'ring multitude survey'd The pompous state of thee, our God,

In robes of majesty array'd; 25 Sweet singing Levites led the van;

Loud instruments brought up the rear; Between both troops, a virgin-train

With voice and timbrel charm'd the

ear.

26 This was the burthen of their song: 'In full assemblies bless the Lord; All who to Israel's tribes belong, 'Of Israel's God the praise record' 27 Nor little Benjamin alone

From neighb'ring bounds did ther attend,

Nor only Judah's nearer throne Her counsellors in state did send; But Zebulon's remoter seat,

shone.

And Naphtali's more distant coast,

Sent up their tribes, a princely host.

coast,

And Bashan's hill we did advance: No more her height shall Bashan boast, But that she's God's inheritance. 16 But wherefore (though the honour's great)

Should this, O mountain, swell your pride?

For Sion is his chosen seat,

Where he for ever will reside.
17 His chariots numberless; his pow'rs
Are heav'nly hosts, that wait his will;
His presence now fills Sion's tow'rs,

As once it honour'd Sinai's hill.
48 Ascending bigh, in triumph thou
Captivity hast captive led;
And on thy people didst bestow

The spoil of armies once their dread.

brought

Our tribes, at strife till that blest hour; This work, which thou, O God, hast wrought,

Confirm with fresh recruits of pow 29 To visit Salem, Lord, descend,

And Sion, thy terrestrial throne; Where kings with presents shall attend And thee with offer'd crowns atone. 30 Break down the spearmen's rank who threat

Like pamper'd herds of savage might Their silver armour'd chiefs defeat, Who in destructive war delight. 31 Egypt shall then to God stretch forth Her hands, and Afric homage bring 32 The scatter'd kingdoms of the earth Their common sovereign's praises sing

38 Who, mounted on the loftiest sphere Of ancient heav'n, sublimely rides; From whence his dreadful voice we hear,

Like that of warring winds and tides. 34 Ascribe the power to God most high: Of humble Israel he takes care; Whose strength from out the dusky sky, Darts shining terrors through the air. 35 How dreadful are the sacred courts, Where God has fix'd his earthly throne!

His strength his feeble saints supports, To give God praise, and him alone. PSALM LXIX.

AVE me, O God, from waves that roll, And press to overwhelm my soul: 2 With painful steps in mire I tread, And deluges o'erflow my head.

3 With restless cries my spirits faint, My voice is hoarse with long complaint; My sight decays with tedious pain, Whilst for my God I wait in vain.

4 My hairs, though num'rous, are but few,

Compar'd with foes that me pursue

15 Control the deluge, ere it spread,
And roll its waves above my head;
Nor deep destruction's open pit
To close her jaws on me permit.
16 Lord, hear the humble pray'r I make,
For thy transcending goodness' sake;
Relieve thy supplicant once more
From thy abounding mercy's store.
17 Nor from thy servant hide thy face;
Make haste, for desp❜rate is my case;
18 Thy timely succour interpose,
And shield me from remorseless foes.
19 Thou know'st what infamy and scorp
I from my enemies have borne;
Nor can their close dissembled spite,
Or darkest plots escape thy sight.
20 Reproach and grief have broke ny
heart;

I look'd for some to take my part,
To pity or relieve my pain;
But look'd, alas! for both in vain.
21 With hunger pined, for food I call;
Instead of food, they gave me gall;
And when with thirst my spirits sink,
They give me vinegar to drink.

22 Their tables, therefore, to their health

might

To execute their lawless spite. They force me, guiltless, to resign, As rapine, what by right was mine: 6 Thou, Lord, my innocence dost see, Nor are my sins conceal'd from thee." 6 Lord God of hosts, take timely care, Lest, for my sake, thy saints despair; 7 Since I have suffer'd for thy name Reproach, and hid my face in shame: 8 A stranger to my country grown, Nor to my nearest kindred known; A foreigner, expos'd to scorn By brethren of my mother born. 9 For zeal to thy lov'd house and name Consumes me like devouring flame; Concern'd at their affronts to thee, More than at slanders cast on me. 10 My very tears and abstinence They construe in a spiteful sense: 11 When cloth'd with sackcloth for their sake,

They me their common proverb make. 12 Their judges at my wrongs do jest, Those wrongs they ought to have redress'd;

How should I then expect to be
From libels of lewd drunkards free?
13 But, Lord, to thee I will repair
For help, with humble, timely pray'r;
Relieve me from thy mercy's store;
Display thy truth's preserving pow'r.
14 From threat'ning dangers me relieve,
And from the mire my feet retrieve;
From spiteful focs in safety keep,
And snatch me from the raging deep.

23 Perpetual darkness seize their eyes, And sudden blasts their hopes surprise 24 On them thou shalt thy fury pour, Till thy fierce wrath their race devout 25 And make their house a dismal cell, Where none will e'er vouchsafe to dwell. 26 For new afflictions they procur'd For him who had thy stripes endur'd; And made the wound, thy scourge had torn,

To bleed afresh, with sharper scorn. 27 Sin shall to sin their steps betray, Till they to truth have lost the way: 28 From life thou shalt exclude their souls,

Nor with the just their names enrol. 29 But me, howe'er distress'd and poor, Thy strong salvation shall restore; 30 Thy pow'r with songs I'll then pro claim,

And celebrate, with thanks, thy name. 31 Our God shall this more highly prize, Than herds or flocks in sacrifice; 32 Which humble saints with joy shall

see,

And hope for like redress with me. 33 For God regards the poor's com plaint;

Sets pris'ners free from close restraint; 34 Let heav'n, earth, sea, their voices raise,

And all the world resound his praise.
35 For God will Sion's walls érect;
Fair Judah's cities he'll protect;
Till all her scatter'd sons repair
To undisturb'd possession there

$6 This blessing they shall, at their

death,

To their religious heirs bequeath;
And they to endless ages more
Of such as his blest name adore.
PSALM LXX.

LORD, to my relief draw near; For never was more pressing need; For my deliv'rance, Lord, appear,

And add to that deliv'rance speed. 2 Confusion on their heads return,

Who to destroy my soul combine; Let them, defeated, blush and mourn, Ensnar'd in their own vile design. 3 Their doom let desolation be;

With shame their malice be repaid, Who mock'd my confidence in thee, And sport of my afflictions made." 4 While those who hu.nbly seek thy face,

To joyful triumphs shall be rais'd; And all who prize thy saving grace, With me shall sing, The Lord be prais'd.

5 Thus, wretched though I am and poor,

The mighty Lord of me takes care: Thou, God, who only canst restore, To my relief with speed repair. PSALM LXXI.

thee I put my steadfast trust;

Incline thine ear, and save my soul;
For righteous is thy name.

S Be thou my strong abiding-place,
To which I may resort;
'Tis thy decree that keeps me safe;
Thou art my rock and fort.
4,5 From cruel and ungodly men
Protect and set me free;
For, from my earliest youth till now,
My hope has been in thee.

6 Thy constant care did safely guard
My tender infant days;

Thou took'st me from my mother's womb,

To sing thy constant praise. 7,8 While some on me with wonder

supports me still;

gaze Thy Thy honour, therefore, and thy praise, My mouth shall always fill."

Reject not then thy servant, Lord,
When I with age decay;
Forsake me not when, worn with years,
My vigour fades away.

10 My foes against my fame and me
With crafty malice speak;
Against my soul they lay their snares,
And mutual counsel take:

11 His God,' say they, 'forsakes him now,

"On whom he did rely,

Pursue and take him, whilst no hope "Of timely aid is nigh.'

12 But thou, my God, withdraw not far, For speedy help I call:

13 To shame and ruin bring my foes, That seek to work my fall.

14 But as for me, my steadfast hope
Shall on thy pow'r depend;
And I in grateful songs of praise
My time to come will spend.
PART II.

15 Thy righteous acts, and saving health,

My mouth shall still declare;
Unable yet to count them all,
Though summ'd with utmost care.
16 While God vouchsafes me his support,
I'll in his strength go on;

All other righteousness disclaim,
And mention his alone.

17 Thou, Lord, hast taught me from m youth

To praise thy glorious name; And, ever since, thy wondrous works Have been my constant theme. 18 Then now forsake me not, when I Am grey and feeble grown; Till I to these and future times,

Thy strength and pow'r have shown. 19 How high thy justice soars, O God! How great and wondrous are The mighty works which thou hast done! Who may with thee compare! 20 Me, whom thy hand has sorely press'd,

Thy grace shall yet relieve; And from the lowest depth of woe,

With tender care retrieve.

21 Through thee my time to come shall be
With pow'r and greatness crown'd;
And me, who dismal years have pass',
The comforts shall surround.
22 Then I with psaltery and barp,
Thy truth, O Lord, will praise;
To thee, the God of Jacob's race,
My voice in anthems raise.
23 Then joy shall fill my mouth, and
songs

Employ my cheerful voice;
My grateful soul, by thee redeem'd,
Shall in thy strength rejoice.

24 My tongue thy just and righteous