154 Plead thou my cause; to that and me
Thy timely aid afford;
With beams of mercy quicken me,
According to thy word.

155 From harden'd sinners thou ne mov'st

Salvation far away;

'Tis just thou shouldst withdraw from them

Who from thy statutes stray. 156 Since great thy tender mercies are To all who thee adore;

According to thy judgments, Lord,
My fainting hopes restore.
157 A num'rous host of spiteful foes
Against my life combine;

But all too few to force my soul
Thy statutes to decline.

158 Those bold transgressors I beheld, And was with grief oppress'd,

To see with what audacious pride
Thy cov'nant they transgress'd.

Lord, hear my earnest cry;
And I thy statutes to perform
With all my care apply.

146 Again more fervently I pray'd,
O save me, that I may
Thy testimonies throughly know,
And steadfastly obey.

147 My earlier prayer the dawning day Prevented, while I cry'd

To him, on whose engaging word
My hope alone rely'd.

148 With zeal have I awaked before
The midnight watch was set,
That I of thy mysterious word

Might perfect knowledge get. 149 Lord, hear my supplicating voice, And wonted favour show: O quicken me, and so approve Thy judgment ever true. 150 My persecuting foes advance, And hourly nearer draw;

What treatment can I hope from them That violate thy law?

151 Though they draw nigh, my comfort is,

Thou, Lord, art yet more near; Thou, whose commands are righteous all,

Thy promises sincere.

152 Concerning thy divine decrees, My soul has known of old,

That they were true, and shall their truth

To endless ages hold.

RESCH.

138 Consider my affliction, Lord, And me from bondage draw; Think on thy servant in distress, Who ne'er forgets thy law.

Lord,

How I thy precepts love;

O therefore quicken me with beams
Of mercy from above.

160 As from the birth of time thy truth Has held through ages past,

So shall thy righteous judgments, firm, To endless ages last.

SCHIN.

161 Though mighty tyrants, without cause,

Conspire my blood to shed,

Thy sacred word has power alone
To fill my heart with dread.
162 And yet that word my joyful breast
With heavenly rapture warms;
Nor conquest, nor the spoils of war,
Have such transporting charins.
163 Perficious practices and lies
I utterly detest;

But to thy laws affection bear,
Too vast to be exprest.

164 Seven times a day, with grateful voice,

Thy praises I resound,
Because I find thy judgments all
With truth and justice crown'd.
165 Secure, substantial peace have they
Who truly love thy law;

No smiling mischief them can tempt,
Nor frowning danger awe.

166 For thy salvation have hoped,
And though so long delay'd,
With cheerful zeal and strictest care
All thy commands obey'd.
167 Thy testimonies I have kept,
And constantly obey'd;
Because the love I bore to them
Thy service easy made.

For mercy wait my longing eyes;
As servants wait their masters' hands,
And maids their mistresses' commands.
3, 4 O then have mercy on us, Lord;
Thy gracious aid to us afford;
To us, whom cruel foes oppress,
Grown rich and proud by our distress.
PSALM CXXIV.

Hnot the Lord, may Israel say,

Been pleased to interpose;

2 Had he not then spoused our cause, When men against us rose;

3, 4, 5 Their wrath had swallow'd us alive,

And raged without control;
Their spite and pride's united floods
Had quite o'erwhelm'd our soul.
6 But praised be our eternal Lord,
Who rescued us that day,
Nor to their savage jaws gave up
Our threaten'd lives a prey.

7 Our soul is like a bird escaped
From out the fowler's net;
The snare is broke, their hopes

cross'd,

are

And sung our great Restorer's praise
In thankful hymns of joy.
Our heathen foes repining stood,
Yet were compen❜d to own

That great and wondrous was the work

Our God for us had done. 3Twas great,' say they, ''twas wo drous great

Much more should we confess, The Lord has done great things,whereof We reap the glad success.

4 To us bring back the remnant, Lord, Of Israel's captive bands,

More welcome than refreshing showers To parch'd and thirsty lands;

5 That we, whose work commenced in tears,

May see our labours thrive,
Till finish'd with success, to make
Our drooping hearts revive.

6 Though he desponds that sows his grain,

Yet doubtless he shall come To bind his full-ear'd sheaves, and bring The joyful harvest home.

PSALM CXXVII.

TE build with fruitless cost, unless
The Lord the pile sustain:

Unless the Lord the city keep,
The watchman wakes in vain.

earth,

Of both sole Monarch reigns.

PSALM CXXV.

And late to rest repair,

Allow no respite to our toil,

And eat the bread of care.

WE

trust,

He on his saints bestows;

He crowns their labours with success,
Their nights with sound repose.

3 Children, those comforts of our life,
Are presents from the Lord;
He gives a num'rous race of heirs,
As piety's reward.

4 As arrows in a giant's hand,

When marching forth to war; Ev'n so the sons of sprightly youth, Their parents safeguard are.

5 Happy the man whose quiver's fill'd With these prevailing arms;

He need not fear to meet his foe,
At law or war's alarms.

PSALM CXXVIII.

HE man is blest that fears the

THE

Nor only worship pays,

But keeps his steps confined with care
To his appointed ways.

2 He shall upon the sweet returns
Of his own labour feed;
Without dependence live, and see
His wishes all succeed.

3 His wife, like a fair fertile vine,
Her lovely fruit shall bring;

thus;

With furrows deep and long;

4 But our just God has broke their chains, And rescued us from wrong. 5 Defeat, confusion, shameful rout Be still the doom of those, Their righteous doom, who Sion hate, And Sion's God oppose.

3

6 Like corn upon our houses' tops,
Untimely let them fade,
Which too much heat, and want of root,
Has blasted in the blade:

7 Which in his arms no reaper takes,
But unregarded leaves;
No binder thinks it worth his pains
To fold it into sheaves.
8 No traveller that passes by
Vouchsafes a minute's stop,
To give it one kind look, or crave
Heaven's blessing on the crop.
CXXX.

FROM lowest depths of woe

To God I sent my cry

2 Lord, hear my supplicating voice, And graciously reply.

3 Shouldst thou severely judge, Who can the trial bear?

4 But thou forgiv'st, lest we despond,
And quite renounce thy fear.
5 My sou, with patience waits

For thee, the living Lord;
My hopes are on thy promise built,
Thy never-failing word.
6 My longing eyes look out
For thy enlivening ray,

More duly than the morning watch,
To spy the dawning day.

7 Let Israel trust in God,

No bounds his mercy knows;

PSALM CXXXI.

Lord, I am not proud of heart,

Nor cast a scornful eye;
Nor my aspiring thoughts employ
In things for me too high.

2 With infant innocence thou know'st
I have myself demean'd;
Composed to quiet, like a babe
That from the breast is wean'd
s Like me let Israel hope in God,
His aid alone implore;

Both now and ever trust in him,
Who lives for evermore.

PSALM CXXXII.

ET David, Lord, a constant place
In thy remembrance find;
Let all the sorrows he endured
Be ever in thy mind.

2 Remember what a solemr. oath
To thee, his Lord, he swore;
How to the mighty God he vow'd,
Whom Jacob's sons adore;

3, 4 I will not go into my house,
Nor to my bed ascend;

No soft repose shall close my eyes,
Nor sleep my eye-lids bend;
5 Till for the Lord's design'd abode
I mark the destined ground;
Till I a decent place of rest

For Jacob's God have found.

6 Th' appointed place, with shouts of joy,

At Ephrata we found,

And made the woods and neighb'ring fields

Our glad applause resound.

7 0 with due reverence let us then To his abode repair;

And, prostrate at his foot-stool fall'n, Pour out our humble prayer. 8 Arise, O Lord, and now possess Thy constant place of rest; Be that, not only with thy ark, But with thy presence, blest. 9, 10 Clothe thou thy priests with righteousness,

Make thou thy saints rejoice; And, for thy servant David's sake, Hear thy Anointed's voice.

11 God sware to David in his truth,
Nor shall his oath be vain,

One of thy offspring after thee,
Upon thy throne shall reign:
12 And if thy seed my cov'uant keep,
And to my laws submit,

whence

Eternal succour flows;

8 Whose friendly streams to us Supplies in want convey;

A healing spring, a spring to cleanse, And wash our guilt away.

For evermore shall sit.

13, 14 For Sion does, in God's e