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3 Lord, search my soul, try ev'ry thought:
Tho' my own heart accuse me not
Of walking in a false disguise;
I beg the trial of thine eyes.

4 Doth secret mischief lurk within?
Do I indulge some unknown sin?
O turn my feet whene'er I stray!
And lead me in thy perfect way.

PSALM 140. S. M.

A complaint against personal enemies.

1 MY God, while impious men,

With malice in their heart, My peace destroy, my life defame, Thy guardian grace impart.

2 With poison in their lips,
And with a serpent's tongue,
They sting my fainting soul to death,
And make my name their song.
3 Ceaseless they lie in wait

My footsteps to betray;
They hide their snare, they set their gin,
Beside my peaceful way.

4 O hear my humble cry!

Their fondest hope destroy;

Their arts confound, their plots disclose,
And blast their envious joy.

5 On their own heads shall fall
The mischiefs they devise;

Thy hand shall take them in their net,
Their slanders, and their lies.

6 As coals the wood consume,
As pits receive their slain;

So shall the men of malice sink,
And never rise again.

7 The Lord, who hates the proud, Shall scorch the sland'rous tongue; Shall hunt the wicked from the earth, And well requite their wrong.

8 Thou wilt sustain the poor, And bid th' afflicted sing; Before thee, shall thy children dwell, Their Father, and their King.

PSALM 141. L. M.

Brotherly reproof. A morning or evening Psalm.

1 MY God, accept my early vows,

Like morning incense in thy house;

And let my nightly worship rise

Sweet as the ev'ning sacrifice.

2 Watch o'er my lips, and guard them, Lord,
From ev'ry rash and heedless word;
Nor let my feet incline to tread
The guilty path, where sinners lead.
3 O may the righteous, when I stray,
Smite and reprove my wand'ring way!
Their gentle words, like ointment shed,
Shall never bruise but cheer my head.
4 When I behold them prest with grief,
I'll cry to heav'n for their relief;
And by my warm petitions prove
How much I prize their faithful love.
PSALM 142. C. M.

God is the hope of the helpless.

1 TO God I made my sorrows known,

From God I sought relief;

In long complaints before his throne
I pour'd out all my grief.

2 My soul was overwhelm'd with woes,
My heart began to break :

My God, who all my burdens knows,
Knows ev'ry way I take.

3 On ev'ry side I cast mine eye,
And found my helpers gone;
While friends and strangers pass'd me by
Neglected or unknown.

4 Then did I raise a louder cry,
And call'd thy mercy near;
"Thou art my portion, when I die :
"Be thou my refuge here."

5 Lord, I am brought exceeding low;
Now let thine ear attend,

And make my foes, who vex me, know,
I've an Almighty Friend.

6 From my sad prison set me free;
Then shall I praise thy name:
And holy men shall join with me,
Thy kindness to proclaim.

1

MY

PSALM 143. L. M.

Mourning under afflictions in mind and body. Y righteous Judge, my gracious God! Hear, when I spread my hands abroad, And cry for succour from thy throne: O make thy truth and mercy known! 2 Let judgment not against me pass; Behold thy servant pleads thy grace : Should justice call us to thy bar, No living man is guiltless there. 3 Look down in pity, Lord, and see. The mighty woes that burden me: Down to the dust my life is brought, Like one long buried and forgot. I dwell in darkness and unseen, My heart is desolate within ;

My thoughts in musing silence trace The ancient wonders of thy grace. 5 Thence I derive a glimpse of hope To bear my sinking spirits up; I stretch my hands to God again, And thirst, like parched lands, for rain. 6 For thee I thirst, I pray, I mourn; When will thy smiling face return? Shall all my joys on earth remove? And God forever hide his love? 7 My God, thy long delay, to save, Will sink thy pris'ner to the grave; My heart grows faint, and dim mine eye; Make haste to help before I die. 8 The night is witness to my tears, Distressing pains, distressing fears: O, might I hear thy morning voice, How would my wearied pow'rs rejoice! 9 In thee I trust, to thee I sigh, And raise my grieved soul on high; For thee sit waiting all the day, And wear the tiresome hours away. 10 Break off my fetters, Lord, and show Which is the path, my feet should go; If snares and foes beset the road, I flee to hide me near my God. 11 Teach me to do thy holy will, And lead me to thy heav'nly hill; Let the Good Spirit of thy love Conduct me to thy courts above. 12 Then shall my soul no more complain; The tempter then shall rage in vain : And flesh, that was my foe before, Shall never vex my spirit more.

1

PSALM 144. First Part. C. M.
Victory in the spiritual warfare.

FO

OR ever blessed be the Lord,
My Saviour and my shield;
He sends his Spirit with his word,
To arm me for the field.

2 When sin and hell their force unite,
He makes my soul his care;
Instructs me to the heav'nly fight,
And guards me thro' the war.
3 A friend and helper so divine,
Does my weak courage raise;
He makes the glorious vict'ry mine;
And his shall be the praise..

1

PSALM 14. Second Part. C. M.
The vanity of man.

LORD,

ORD, what is man, poor feeble man,
Born of the earth at first!

His life a shadow, light and vain,

Still hast'ning to the dust.

2 O what is feeble dying man,

Or any of his race,

That God should make it his concern
To visit him with grace!

3 That God, who darts his lightnings down; Who shakes the worlds above;

While mountains tremble at his frown:
How wondrous is his love!

PSALM 144. Third Part. L. M.
The happy nation.

1 HAPPY the city, where their sons
Like pillars round a palace set,

And daughters, bright as polish'd stones, Give strength and beauty to the state.

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