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2 Before thou brought'st the mountains forth,

Or th' earth and world didst frame, Thou always wast the mighty God, And ever art the saine.

3 Thou turnest man, O LORD, to dust, Of which he first was made; And when thou speak'st the word, 'Return,'

'Tis instantly obey'd.

4 For in thy sight a thousand years
Are like a day that's past;
Or like a watch in dead of night,
Whose hours unminded waste.

5 Thou sweep'st us off, as with a flood,

We vanish hence like dreams :

4 To satisfy and cheer our souls,
Thy early mercy send;
That we may all our days to come,
In joy and comfort spend.

5 To all thy servants, LORD, let this
Thy wondrous work be known;
And to our offspring yet unborn,
Thy glorious pow'r be shown.

6 Let thy bright rays upon us shine,
Give thou our work success;
The glorious work we have in hand
Do thou vouchsafe to bless.

Ε

PSALM 70.

From the xci. Psalm of David. PART I. (II. 2)

At first we grow like grass that feels, HE that has God his guardian made,

The sun's reviving beams;

6 But howsoever fresh and fair Its morning beauty shows,

'Tis all cut down and wither'd quite
Before the evening close.

7 We by thine anger are consum'd,
And by thy wrath dismay'd;
Our public crimes and secret sins
Before thy sight are laid.

8 Beneath thine anger's sad effects
Our drooping days we spend;
Our unregarded years break off,
Like tales that quickly end.

9 Our term of time is seventy years,
An age that few survive:

But if with more than common strength,

To eighty we arrive:

10 Yet then our boasted strength decays,

To sorrow turn'd and pain;
So soon the slender thread is cut,
And we no more remain.

PART II. (C. M.)

1 BUT who thine angers dread effects
Does as he ought, revere?
And yet thy wrath does fall or rise,
As more or less we fear.

2 So teach us, LORD, th' uncertain

sum

Of our short days to mind,

That to true wisdom all our hearts May ever be inclin'd.

30 to thy servants, LORD, return And speedily relent!

As we of our misdeeds, do thou
Of our just doom repent.

Shall under the Almighty's shade Secure and undisturb'd abide; Thus to my soul of him I'll say, He is my fortress and my stay.

My GoD, in whom I will confide.

2 His tender love and watchful care Shall free thee from the fowler's snare,

And from the noisome pestilence; He over thee his wings shall spread, And cover thy unguarded head;

His truth shall be thy strong defence. 3 No terrors that surprise by night Shall thy undaunted courage fright,

Nor deadly shafts that fly by day, Nor plague, of unknown rise, that kills In darkness, nor infectious ills

That in the burning noon-tide slay.

4 Because with well-plac'd confidence, Thou mak'st the LORD thy sure defence.

Thy refuge, even Gon most hig Therefore no ill on thee shall come, Nor to thy heav'n-protected home Shall overwhelming plagues draw nigh

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4 Thou shalt call on him in trouble,
He will hearken, he will save;
Here for grief reward thee double,
Crown with life beyond the grave.
PSALM 71. (C. M.)

From the xcii. Psalm of David.

Ho thank the LORD most high;
OW good and pleasant must it be

And with repeated hymns of praise
His name to magnify!

2 With ev'ry morning's early dawn
His goodness to relate;

And of his constant truth, each night, The glad effects repeat!

3 To ten-string'd instruments we'll

sing,

With tuneful psalteries join'd;
And to the harp, with solemn sounds,
For sacred use design'd.

4 For through thy wondrous works, O LORD,

Thou mak'st my heart rejoice; [glad, The thoughts of them shall make me And shout with cheerful voice.

5 How wondrous are thy works, O How deep are thy decrees! [LORD! Whose winding tracks, in secret laid, No careless sinner sees.

6 He little thinks, when wicked men, Like grass, look fresh and gay, How soon their short liv'd splendour For ever pass away. [must 7 But thou, my GoD, art still most And all thy lofty foes, [high; Who thought they might securely sin, Shall be o'erwhelm'd with woes. 8 But righteous men, like rising palms, Shall grow and flourish still; Thy flock shall spread, like cedars Ön Lebanon's high hill. [choice

9 These, plauted in the house of GOD,
Within his courts shall thrive;
Their vigour and their lustre both
Shall in old age revive.

10 Thus will the LORD his justice show;
And GoD, my strong defence,
Shall due rewards to all the world
Impartially dispense.

PSALM 72. (L. M.)
From the xciii. Psalm of David.
WITH glory clad, with strength

WITH array'd,

The LORD, that o'er all nature reigns, The world's foundation strongly laid, And the vast fabric still sustains.

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SA

PSALM 73.

From the xciv, Psalm of David.
PART I. (C. M.)

AY ye, the LORD shall not regard,
Shall not your sins discern?
Take heed, ye foolish and unwise;
When will ye wisdom learn?
2 Can he be deaf who form'd the ear,
Or blind, who fram'd the eye?
Shall earth's great Judge not punish
Who his known will defy? [those

3 He fathoms all the hearts of men,
To him their thoughts lie bare;
His eye surveys them all, and sees
How vain their counsels are.

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1 BLESS'D is the man whom thou, O
In kindness dost chastise, [LORD,
And by thy sacred rules to walk
Dost lovingly advise.

2 This man shall rest and safety find, In seasons of distress:

Whilst God prepares a pit for those

3

That stubbornly transgress.

For GOD will never from his saints
His favour wholly take;
His own possession and his lot

He will not quite forsake.

4 The world shall yet confess thee just In all that thou hast done:

And those that choose thy upright ways

Shall in those paths go on.

5 Long since had I in silence slept,
But that the Lord was near,
To stay me when I slipp'd; when sad,
My troubled heart to cheer.

6 My soul's defence is firmly plac'd
In GOD, the LORD most high:
He is my rock, to which I may
For refuge always fly.

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state,

Is, with unrivall'd glory, great;
A King superior far to all
Whom gods the heathen falsely call.
4 The depths of earth are in his hand,
Her secret wealth at his command;
The strength of hills that reach the
Subjected to his empire lies. [skies

5 The rolling ocean's vast abyss
By the same sov'reign right is his;
"Twas made by his almighty hand,
That form'd and fix'd the solid land.

6 O let us to his courts repair,
And bow with adoration there;
Down on our knees devoutly all
Before the LORD, our Maker, fall.
7 For he's our God, our shepherd he,
His flock and pasture sheep are we.
O then, ye faithful flock, to-day
His warning hear, his voice obey.

PSALM 75. (II. 8.)
From the xcvi. Psalm of David.
ING to the LORD a new-made song;
Let earth, in one assembled
throng,
[sound:

SING

re

Her common patron's praise Sing to the LORD, and bless his name, From day to day his praise proclaim,

Who us has with salvation crown'd: To heathen lands his fame rehearse, His wonders to the universe.

2 He's great, and greatly to be prais'd; In majesty and glory rais'd

Above all other deities;
For pageantry and idols all

Are they whom gods the heathen call;
He only rules who made the skies;
With majesty and honour crown'd,
Glory and strength his throne sur-6

round.

3 Be glory then to him restor'd By all who have false gods ador'd: Ascribe due honours to his Name,

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JEH

EHOVAH reigns, let all the earth In his just government rejoice; Let all the lands, with sacred mirth, In his applause unite their voice.

2 Darkness and clouds of awful shade His dazzling glory shroud in state; Judgment and righteousness are made The habitation of his seat.

3 For thou, O God, art seated high, Above earth's potentates enthron'd; Thou, LORD, unrivall'd in the sky, Supreme by all the gods art own'd, 4 Ye who to serve this LORD aspire, Abhor what's ill, and truth esteem;

He'll keep his servants' soul entire, And them from wicked hands redeein.

5 For seeds are sown of glorious light, A future harvest for the just; And gladness for the heart that's right,

To recompense its pious trust.

Rejoice, ye righteous, in the LORD;

Memorials of his holiness

Deep in your faithful breasts record, And with your thankful tongues confess.

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SING

ING to the LORD a new-made song, Who wondrous things has done; With his right hand and holy arm, The conquest he has won.

2 The LORD has through th' astonish'd world

Display'd his saving might,

And made his righteous acts appear,
In all the heathen's sight.

3 Of Israel's house his love and truth

Have ever mindful been;
Wide earth's remotest parts the pow'r
Of Israel's GOD have seen.

4 Let therefore earth's inhabitants
Their cheerful voices raise,
And all with universal joy

Resound their Maker's praise.

5 With harp and hymu's soft melody, Into the concert bring

The trumpet and shrill cornet's sound, Before th' Almighty King.

6 Let the loud ocean roar her joy, With all that seas contain;

The earth and her inhabitants

Join concert with the main.

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4 For he 's the LORD, supremely good, His mercy is for ever sure;

7 Let floods and torrents clap their His truth, which always firmly stood,

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From the xcix. Psalm of David.
EHOVAH reigns; let therefore all
The guilty nations quake:
On cherubs' wings he sits enthron'd;
Let earth's foundations shake.

2 On Sion's hill he keeps his court,
His palace makes her tow'rs;
And thence his sov'reignty extends
Supreme o'er earthly pow'rs.

3 Let therefore all with praise address
His great and dreadful Name,
And, with his unresisted might,
His holiness proclaim.

4 For truth and justice, in his reign,
Of strength and pow'r take place;
His judgments are with righteousness
Dispens'd to Jacob's race.
c 2

To endless ages shall endure.

PSALM 80.

From the cii. Psalm of David.

WH

PART 1. (C. M.)

HEN I pour out my soul in pray'r,
Do thou, O LORD, attend;

To thy eternal throne of grace
Let my sad cry ascend.

20 hide not thou thy glorious face
In times of deep distress;
Incline thine ear, and, when I call,
My sorrows soon redress.

3 My days, just hast'ning to their end,
Are like an ev'ning shade;
My beauty does, like wither'd grass,
With waning lustre fade.

4 But thine eternal state, O LORD,
No length of time shall waste;
The mnem'ry of thy wondrous works
From age to age shall last.

PART II. (C. M.)

1 GOD shall arise, and Sion view
With an unclouded face;
For now her time is come, his own
Appointed day of grace.

2 The name and glory of the LORD All heathen kings shall fear, When he shall Sion build again,

And in full state appear.

3 For God, from his abode on high, His gracious beams display'd;

The LORD from heav'n, his lofty throne,

Hath all the earth survey'd.

4 That they, in Sion, where he dwells,
Might celebrate his fame,
And thro' the holy city sing
Loud praises to his Name.

PART III. (C. M.)

1 THE strong foundations of the earth Of old by thee were laid;

Thy hands, O Lord, the arch of beav'n

With wondrous skill have made.

2 Whilst thou for ever shalt endure, They soon shall pass away;

And, like a garment often worn,
Shall tarnish and decay.

5 GoD will not always harshly chide,
But with his anger quickly part;
And loves his punishments to guide
More by his love than our desert.

6 As high as heav'n its arch extends
Above this little spot of clay,
So much his boundless love transcends
The small respects that we can pay.

7 As far as 'tis from east to west,
So far has he our sins remov'd;
Who, with a father's tender breast,
Has such as fear him always lov'd.
8 For God, who all our frame surveys,
Considers that we are but clay.

How fresh soe'er we seem, our days
Like grass or flow'rs must fade

away.

9 Whilst they are nipp'd with sudden blasts,

Nor can we find their former place, GOD's faithful mercy ever lasts

To those that fear him and their race.

10 This shall attend on such as still Proceed in his appointed way;

3 Like that, when thou ordain'st their And who not only know his will,

change,

To thy command they bend;
But thou continu'st still the same,
Nor have thy years an end.

4 Thou to the children of thy saints
Shalt lasting quiet give;
Whose happy race, securely fix'd,
Shall in thy presence live.

PSALM 81. (L. M.)
From the ciii. Psalm of David.

My God's holy Name for ever bless;

soul, inspir'd with sacred love,

Of all his favours mindful prove,

And still thy grateful thanks express.

2 'Tis he that all thy sins forgives,

And after sickness make thee sound; From danger he thy life retrieves,

By him with grace and mercy

crown'd.

3 He with good things thy mouth sup

plies,

Thy vigour eagle-like restores; He to the suffrer promptly flies,

But to it just obedience pay.

11 The LORD, the universal King,
In heav'n has fix'd his lofty throne
To him, ye angels, praises sing,

In whose great strength his pow'r is shown.

12 Ye that his just commands obey, And hear and do his sacred will, Ye hosts of his, this tribute pay, Who still what he ordains fulfil. 13 Let ev'ry creature jointly bless The mighty LORD; and thou, my heart,

With grateful joy thy thanks express
And in this concert bear thy part.

PSALM 82. (S. M.)
From the ciii. Psalm of David.

His grace to thee proclaim;

BLESS the LORD, my soul,

And all that is within me, join
To bless his holy Name.

20 bless the LORD, my soul,
His mercies bear in mind;

Who, wrong'd, his righteous help im- Forget not all his benefits,

plores.

4 The LORD abounds with tender love, And unexampled acts of grace;

His waken'd wrath doth slowly move, His willing mercy flies apace.

Who is to thee so kind.

3 He pardons all thy sins, Prolongs thy feeble breath; He healeth thine infirmities,

And ransoms thee from death.

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