PSALM VI.

1 THY dreadful anger, Lord, restrain,
And spare a wretch forlorn;
Correct me not in thy fierce wrath,
Too heavy to be borne.

2 Have mercy, Lord, for I grow faint,
Unable to endure

The anguish of my aching bones,
Which thou alone canst cure.

3 My tortur'd flesh distracts my mind,
And fills my soul with grief;
But, Lord, how long wilt thou delay
To grant me thy relief?

4 Thy wonted goodness, Lord, repeat,
And ease my troubled soul;
Lord, for thy wondrous mercy's sake
Vouchsafe to make me whole.

5 For after death no more can I
Thy glorious acts proclaim;
No pris'ner of the silent grave
Can magnify thy Name.

6 Quite tir'd with pain, with groaning faint, No hope of ease I see;

The night, that quiets common griefs,
Is spent in tears by me.

7 My beauty fades, my sight grows dim,
My eyes with weakness close;

Old age o'ertakes me, whilst I think
On my insulting foes.

8 Depart, ye wicked, in my wrongs
Ye shall no more rejoice;

For God, I find, accepts my tears,
And listens to my voice.

9, 10 He hears and grants my humble pray'r; And they that wish my fall,

Shall blush and rage to see that God
Protects me from them all.

PSALM VII.

Lord my God, since I have plac'd
My trust alone in thee,

From all my persecutors' rage

Do thon deliver me.

2 To save me from my threat'ning foe,
Lord, interpose thy pow'r;

Lest, like a savage lion, he
My helpless soul devour.

3, 4 If I am guilty, or did e'er

Against his peace combine;
Nay, if I have not spar'd his life,
Who sought unjustly mine:

5 Let then to persecuting foes

My soul become a prey;

Let them to earth tread down my life,
In dust my honour lay.
Arise, and let thine anger, Lord,
In my defence engage;
Exalt thyself above my foes
And their insulting rage:
Awake, awake, in my behalf,
The judgment to dispense,
Which thou hast righteously ordain'd
For injur'd innocence.

7 So to thy throne adoring crowds
Shall still for justice fly;

O! therefore for their sakes resume
Thy judgment-seat on high.
Impartial Judge of all the world,

trust my cause to thee;

According to my just deserts,
So let thy sentence be.

9 Let wicked arts and wicked men
Together be o'erthrown;

But guard the just, thou God, to whom
The hearts of both are known.

10, 11 God me protects, nor only me,
But all of upright heart;

And daily lays up wrath for those
Who from his laws depart.

12 If they persist, he whets his sword,
His bow stands ready bent;

13 E'en now, with swift destruction wing'd, His pointed shafts are sent.

14 The plots are fruitless, which my foe Unjustly did conceive;

15 The pit he digg'd for me has prov'd His own untimely grave.

16 On his own head his spite returns,
Whilst I from harm am free;

On him the violence is fall'n
Which he design'd for me.

17 Therefore will I the righteous ways
Of Providence proclaim;

I'll sing the praise of God most High,
And celebrate his name.

1

PSALM VIII.

Thou, to whom all creatures bow
Within this earthly frame,

Through all the world how great art thon!

How glorious is thy Name!

In heav'n thy wondrous acts are sung,
Nor fully reckon'd there;

2 And yet thou mak'st the infant tongue
Thy boundless praise declare:

Through thee the weak confound the strong,
And crash their haughty foes;

And so thou quell'st the wicked throng,
That thee and thine oppose.

3 When heav'n, thy beauteous work on high, Employs my wond'ring sight;

The moon that nightly rules the sky,
With stars of feebler light;

4 What's man, (say 1,) that, Lord, thou lov'st To keep him in thy mind?

Or what his offspring, that thou prov'st
To them so wondrous kind?

5 Him next in pow'r thou didst create
To thy celestial train;

6 Ordain'd with dignity and state O'er all thy works to reign.

7 They jointly own his pow'rful sway; The beasts that prey or graze;

8 The bird that wings its airy way;
The fish that cuts the seas.

9 O thou, to whom all creatures bow
Within this earthly frame,
Through all the world how great art thou!
How glorious is thy Name!

PSALM IX.

To celebrate thy praise, O Lord,
I will my heart prepare;
To all the list'ning world thy works,
Thy wondrous works, declare.

2 The thought of them shall to my soul
Exalted pleasure bring;

Whilst to thy Name, O thou most High,
Triumphant praise I sing.

3 Thou mad'st my haughty foes to turn
Their backs in shameful flight;
Struck with thy presence, down they fell,
They perish'd at thy sight.

4 Against insulting foes advanc'd,

Thou didst my cause maintain; My right asserting from thy throne, Where truth and justice reign.

5 The insolence of heathen pride
Thou hast reduc'd to shame;

Their wicked offspring quite destroy'd,
And blotted out their name.

6 Mistaken foes! your haughty threats
Are to a period come;

Our city stands, which you design'd
To make our common tomb.

7, 8 The Lord for ever lives, who has
His righteous throne prepar'd,
Impartial justice to dispense,
To punish or reward.

9 God is a constant sure defence
Against oppressing rage;

As troubles rise, his needful aids
In our behalf engage.

10 All those who have his goodness prov'd
Will in his truth confide;
Whose mercy ne'er forsook the man
That on his help relied.

11 Sing praises, therefore, to the Lord,
From Sion, his abode;

Proclaim his deeds, till all the world
Confess no other God.

The Second Part.

12 When he enquiry makes for blood,
He calls the poor to mind;
The injur'd humble man's complaint
Relief from him shall find.

13 Take pity on my troubles, Lord,
Which spiteful foes créate,
Thou, that hast rescu'd me so oft
From death's devouring gate.

14 In Sion then I'll sing thy praise,
To all that love thy Name;
And with loud shouts of grateful joy
Thy saving pow'r proclaim.
15 Deep in the pit they digg'd for me
The heathen pride is laid;

Their guilty feet to their own snare
Insensibly betray'd.

16 Thus, by the just returns he makes,
The mighty Lord is known;

While wicked men by their own plots
Are shamefully o'erthrown.

17 No single sinner shall escape
By privacy obscur'd;

Nor nation from his just revenge
By numbers be secur'd.

18 His suff'ring saints, when most distrest,
He ne'er forgets to aid;
Their expectations shall be crown'd,
Though for a time delay'd.

19 Arise, O Lord, assert thy pow'r,
And let not man o'ercome;
Descend to judgment, and pronounce
The guilty heathen's doom.

20 Strike terror through the nations round,
Till, by consenting fear,

They to each other, and themselves,
But mortal men appear.

PSALM X.

1 THY presence why withdraw'st thou, Lord! Why hid'st thou now thy face,

When dismal times of deep distress
Call for thy wonted grace?

2 The wicked, swell'd with lawless pride,
Have made the poor their prey;
O let them fall by those designs
Which they for others lay.

3 For straight they triumph, if success
Their thriving crimes attend;
And sordid wretches, whom God hates,
Perversely they commend,

4 To own a pow'r above themselves
Their haughty pride disdains;

And therefore in their stubborn mind
No thought of God remains.

5 Oppressive methods they pursue,
And all their foes they slight;
Because thy judgments, unobserv'd,
Are far above their sight.

6 They fondly think their prosp❜rous state
Shall unmolested be;

They think their vain designs shall thrive,
From all misfortune free.

7 Vain and deceitful is their speech,
With curses fill'd and lies;

By which the mischief of their heart
They study to disguise.

8 Near publick roads they lie conceal'd,
And all their art employ,

The innocent and poor at once
To rifle and destroy.

9 Not lions, couching in their dens,
Surprise their heedless prey

With greater cunning, or express
More savage rage than they.

10 Sometimes they act the harmless man,
And modest looks they wear;
That, so deceiv'd, the poor may less
Their sudden onset fear.

The Second Part.

11 For God, they think, no notice takes
Of their unrighteous deeds;
He never minds the suff'ring poor,
Nor their oppression heeds.