13, 14Then have I cleans'd my heart,' By thee redeem'd; and Zion's mount, Where once thy glory shone. said I, 'And wash'd my hands from guilt in 8 O! come and view our ruin'd state; vain, If all the day oppress'd I lie, And ev'ry morning suffer pain.' 15 Thus did I once to speak intend; But, if such things I rashly say, Thy children, Lord, I must offend, And basely should their cause betray. PART II. How long our troubles last; Has laid thy temple waste. 4 Thy foes blaspheme thy name; where late Thy zealous servants pray'd, The heathen there, with haughty pomp, Their banners have display'd. 16, 17 To fathom this, my thoughts 15, bent, But found the case too hard for me; Then I their end did plainly see. Cast down by thy avenging hand. fate! Despis'd by thee, when they're destroy'd; As waking men with scorn do treat The fancies that their dreams employ'd. 21, 22 Thus was my heart with grief opprest, My reins were rack'd with restless pains; So stupid was I, like a beast, Who no reflecting thought retains. 23, 24 Yet still thy presence me supply'd, And thy right hand assistance gave; Thou first shalt with thy counsel guide, And then to glory me receive. 25 Whom then in heav'n, but thee alone, Have I, whose favours I require? Throughout the spacious earth there's none That I besides thee can desire. 26 My trembling flesh, and aching heart, May often fail to succour me; But God shall inward strength impart, And my eternal portion be. 27 For they that far from thee remove, Shall into sudden ruin fall; If after other gods they rove, Thy vengeance shall destroy them all. 28 But as for me, 'tis good and just That I should still to God repair; THY best thou cast us off, O God? 2 Think on thy ancient purchase, Lord, The land that is thy own, 6 Those curious carvings, which did once Advance the artist's fame, And all the sacred places burn'd, Where we thy praise proclaim'd. 9 Yet of thy presence thou vouchsaf'st No tender signs to send; We have no prophet now, that knows When this sad state shall end. PART II. 10 But, Lord, how long wilt thou per mit Th' insulting foe to boast? Shall all the honour of thy name For evermore be lost? 11 Why hold'st thou back thy strong right hand, And on thy patient breast, When vengeance calls to stretch it forth, So calmly lett'st it rest? 12 Thou heretofore, with kingly pow'r, 13 Twas thou, O God, who didst the sea The waves o'erwhelm'd their pride. 14 The greatest, fiercest of them all, That seem'd the deep to sway, Was by thy pow'r destroy'd, and made To savage beasts a prey. 15 Thou clav'st the solid rock, and mad'st The waters largely flow; Again, thou mad'st through parted streams Thy wand'ring people go. 16 Thine is the cheerful day, and thine 17 By thee the borders of the earth In perfect order stand; The bitter dregs; and be condemn'd To drink the very lees. The summer's warmth, and winter's cold, 9 His prophet, I, to all the world Attend on thy command. PART III. 18 Remember, Lord, how scornful foes 19 0! free thy mourning turtle-dove, 20 Thy ancient cov'nant, Lord, regard, Is fill'd with men of blood. 23 Make thou the boasting of thy foes PSALM LXXV. To thee, O God, we render praise, To thee, with thanks repair; 3 The land with discord shakes; but I 4 Deluded wretches I advis'd Their errors to redress; Themselves met there a shameful foil: Securely down to sleep they lay; But wak'd no more, their stoutest band Ne'er lifted one resisting hand 'Gainst his, that did their legions slay. 6 When Jacob's God began to frown, Both horse and charioteers, o'erthrown Together slept in endless night: 7 When thou, whom earth and heaven revere, Dost once with wrathful look appear, What mortal power can stand thy sight? And warn'd bold sinners, that they 8 Pronounc'd from heaven, earth heard should Their swelling pride suppress. 5 Bear not yourselves so high, as if 6 For that promotion, which to gain 8 His hand holds forth a dreadful cup; Of this his saints sometimes may taste; ་ All night my fest'ring wound did run; Through every watch of tedious night 5 I call'd to mind the days of old, 6 By night I recollect my songs, Withdrawn his favours quite? 9 Can his long practised love forget 10 I said, my weakness hints these fears; But I'll my fears disband; I'll yet remember the Most High, And years of his right hand. 11 I'll call to mind his works of old, The wonders of his might; 12 On them my heart shall meditate, My tongue shall them recite. 13 Safe lodg'd from human search on high, O God, thy counsels are! Who is so great a God as ours? Who can with him compare? 14 Long since a God of wonders thee Thy rescu'd people found; 15 Long since hast thou thy chosen seed With strong deliverance crown'd. 16 When thee, O God, the waters saw, The frighted billows shrunk; The troubled depths themselves for fear Beneath their channels sunk. 17 The clouds pour'd down, while rending skies Did with their noise conspire; . Thy arrows all abroad were sent, Wing'd with avenging fire. 18 Heaven with thy thunder's voice was torn Whilst all the lower world Let the instruction of my mouth Dark oracles, but understood, And own'd for truths of old: 4 We will not hide them from our sons; 7 To teach them that in God alone That they should ne'er his works forget, But keep his just commands. 8 Lest, like their fathers, they might prove A stiff rebellious race, 9 Such were revolting Ephraim's sons, 10, 11 They falsified their league with God, His orders disobey'd, Forgot his works and miracles 12 Nor wonders, which their fathers saw, Did they in mind retain, Prodigious things in Egypt done, And Zoan's fertile plain. 13 He cut the seas to let them pass, Restrain'd the pressing flood; With lightnings blaz'd, earth shook, and While piled on heaps, on either side seem'd From her foundations hurl'd. 19 Through rolling streams thou find'st thy way, Thy paths in waters lie; The solid waters stood. 15 When drought oppress'd where no stream The wilderness supply'd, them, And all around their spreading camp The ready booty lay. He cleft the rock, whose flinty breast 16 Streams from the solid rock he Which down in rivers fell, 29 They fed, were fill'd; he gave them leave Their appetites to feast; 30, 31 Yet still their wanton lust crav'd on, Nor with their hunger ceas'd. That, trav'lling with their camp, each But whilst in their luxurious mouths Provoking the Most High, In that same desert where he did 18 They first incens'd him in their That did his power distrust, And long'd for meat, not urg'd by want, They did their danties chew, The wrath of God smote down their chiefs, And Israel's chosen slew. PART II. 32 Yet still they sinn'd, nor would af ford His miracles belief: 33 Therefore through fruitless travels he Consum'd their lives in grief. 19 Then utter'd their blaspheming 34 When some were slain, the rest re doubts; Can God,' say they,' prepare A table in the wilderness, 'Set out with various fare? 20 He smote the flinty rock, 'tis true, And gushing streams ensu'd; 'But can he corn and flesh provide 21 The Lord with indignation heard: On thankless Israel came: 22 Because their unbelieving hearts In God would not confide, Nor trust his care, who had from hea ven Their wants so oft supply'd; 23 Though he had made his clouds discharge Provisions down in showers; Their Saviour, God most high. 36 But this was feign'd submission all; Their heart their tongue bely'd; 37 Their heart was still perverse, ner would Firm in his league abide. 38 Yet, full of mercy, he forgave, Nor did with death chastise; But turn'd his kindled wrath aside, Or would not let it rise. 39 For he remember'd they were flesh, A murming wind, that's quickly past, 40 How oft did they provoke him there, And when earth fail'd, reliev'd their In that same desert where he did needs From his celestial stores; 24 Though tasteful manna was rain'd down, Their hunger to relieve; Their fainting souls relieve! 41 They tempted him by turning back And wickedly repin'd, When Israel's God refused to be By their desires confined. Though from the stores of heaven they 42 Ñor call'd to mind the hand and day did Sustaining corn receive. 25 Thus man with angels' sacred food, Not sparingly, for still they found 26 From heaven he made an east wind blow, Then did the south command That their redemption brought; 43 His signs in Egypt, wondrous works In Zoan's valley wrought. 44 He turn'd their rivers into blood, And rather choose to die of thirst, 45 He sent devouring swarms of flies; 27 To rain down flesh like dust, and 46 Locusts and caterpillars reap'd fowls Like sea's unnumber'd sand. 28 Within their trenches he let fall The luscious easy prey; The harvest of their toil. 47 Their vines with battering hail were broke; With frost the fig-tree dies; 48 Lightning and hail made flocks and 65 Then, as a giant rous'd from sleep, herds One general sacrifice. 49 He turn'd his anger loose, and set And with their plagues ill angels sent, 50 He clear'd a passage for his wrath 51 The deadly pest from beast to man, It slew their heirs, their eldest hopes, 53 He led them on, and in their way In which their foes were drown'd. Safe to his promised land; And to his holy mount, the prize Of his victorious hand. 55 To them the outcast heathen's land And in their foe's abandon'd tents PART III. 56 Yet still they tempted, still provok'd 57 But in their faithless fathers' steps They turn'd aside, like arrows shot 59 When God heard this, on Israel's tribes 60 He quitted Shiloh, and the tents 62 His people to the sword he gave, 63 Destructive war their ablest youth And widows, who their death should mourn, Themselves of grief were dead. Whom wine had throughly warm'd, Shouts out aloud, the Lord awak'd, And his proud foe alarm'd. 66 He smote their host, that from the field With wounds imprinted on their backs 67 With conquest crown'd, he Joseph' tents And Ephraim's tribe forsook; 69 His temple he erected there, 70 His faithful servant David too And from the sheepfolds him advanc'd 71 From tending on the teeming ewes, Of Israel's chosen seed. 72 Exalted thus, the monarch prov'd He fed them with an upright heart, PSALM LXXIX. 6 On foreign lands, that know not thee, And to a barren desert turn'd |