PART II.

12 Blessed is the man, whom thou, O Lord, In kindness dost chastise,

And by thy sacred rules to walk
Dost lovingly advise.

13 This man shall rest and safety find
In seasons of distress ;

Whilst God prepares a pit for those
That stubbornly transgress.

14 For God will never from his saints
His favour wholly take;
His own possession and his lot
He will not quite forsake.

15 The world shall then confess thee just
In all that thou hast done;

And those that choose thy upright ways
Shall in those paths go on.

16 Who will appear in my behalf,
When wicked men invade?

Or who, when sinners would oppress,
My righteous cause shall plead?

17, 18, 19 Long since had I in silence slept, But that the Lord was near,

To stay me when I slipped; when sad,
My troubled heart to cheer.

20 Wilt thou, who art a God most just,
Their sinful throne sustain,
Who make the law a fair pretence
Their wicked ends to gain?

21 Against the lives of righteous men
They form their close design;
And, blood of innocents to spill,
In solemn league combine.

22 But my defence is firmly placed
In God, the Lord most high:
He is my Rock, to which I may
For refuge always fly.

23 The Lord shall cause their ill designs
On their own heads to fall;

He in their sins shall cut them off;
Our God shall slay them all.

PSALM 95.

COME, loud anthems let us sing,
Loud thanks to our Almighty King;
For we our voices high should raise,
When our salvation's Rock we praise.
2 Into his presence let us haste,
To thank him for his favours passed;
To him address, in joyful songs,
The praise that to his name belongs.
3 For God the Lord, enthroned in state,
Is, with unrivalled 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 skies
Subjected to his empire lies.

5 The rolling ocean's vast abyss,
By the same sovereign right, is his;
"Tis moved by his almighty hand,
That formed and fixed 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 :
If then you'll, like his flock, draw near,
To-day, if you his voice will hear,—
8 Let not your hardened hearts renew
Your fathers' crimes and judgments too;
Nor here provoke my wrath, as they
In desert plains of Meribah.

9 When through the wilderness they moved,
And me with fresh temptations proved,
They still, through unbelief, rebelled,
Whilst they my wondrous works beheld.
10 They forty years my patience grieved,
Though daily I their wants relieved.
Then 'Tis a faithless race, I said,
Whose heart from me has always strayed :-

11 They ne'er will tread my righteous path: Therefore to them, in settled wrath, Since they despised my rest, 1 sware, That they should never enter there.

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PSALM 96.

ING to the Lord a new-made song;

SING

Let earth, in one assembled throng, Her common Patron's praise resound: 2 Sing to the Lord, and bless his name; From day to day his praise proclaim,

Who us has with salvation crowned: 3 To heathen lands his fame rehearse, His wonders to the universe.

4 He's great, and greatly to be praised;
In majesty and glory raised
Above all other deities:
5 For pageantry and idols all

Are they, whom gods the heathen call; He only rules, who made the skies: 6 With majesty and honour crowned, Beauty and strength his throne surround. 7 Be therefore both to him restored By you, who have false gods adored ; Ascribe due honour to his name:

8 Peace-offerings on his altar lay,
Before his throne your homage pay,
Which he, and he alone, can claim;

9 To worship at his sacred court,
Let all the trembling world resort.
10 Proclaim aloud, Jehovah reigns,
Whose power the universe sustains,

And banished justice will restore; 11 Let, therefore, heaven new joys confess; And heavenly mirth let earth express; Its loud applause the ocean roar ;

Its mute inhabitants rejoice, And for this triumph find a voice. 12 For joy let fertile valleys sing, The cheerful groves their tribute bring, The tuneful choir of birds awake,

13 The Lord's approach to celebrate, Who now sets out, with awful state, His circuit through the earth to take :

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From heaven to judge the world he's come,
With justice to reward and doom.

PSALM 97.

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

2 Darkness, and clouds of awful shade,
His dazzling glory shroud in state;
Justice and truth his guards are made,
And fixed by his pavilion wait.

3 Devouring fire, before his face,

His foes around with vengeance struck;
4 His lightnings set the world on blaze;
Earth saw it, and with terror shook.
5 The proudest hills his presence felt;

Their height nor strength could help afford;
The proudest hills like wax did melt
In presence of the Almighty Lord.

6 The heavens, his righteousness to show,
With storms of fire our foes pursued,
And all the trembling world below
Have his descending glory viewed.
7 Confounded be their impious host,
Who make the gods to whom they pray;
All who of pageant idols boast:

To him, ye gods, your worship pay. 8 Glad Sion of thy triumph heard,

And Judah's daughters were o'erjoyed, Because thy righteous judgments, Lord, Have pagan pride and power destroyed. 9 For thou, O God, art seated high,

Above earth's potentates enthroned;
Thou, Lord, unrivalled in the sky,
Supreme by all the gods art owned.
10 Ye who to serve this Lord aspire,

Abhor what's ill, and truth esteem;
He'll keep his servants' souls entire,
And them from wicked hands redeem.
11 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.

12 Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord;
Memorials of his holiness

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

SING

PSALM 98.

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 the astonished world Displayed 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 power
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 hymn's soft melody,
Into the concert bring

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

7 Let the loud ocean roar her joy,
With all the seas contain;
The earth, and her inhabitants,
Join concert with the main.

8 With joy let riv'lets swell to streams,
To spreading torrents they,

And echoing vales from hill to hill
Redoubled shouts convey,-

9 To welcome down the world's great Judge,

Who does with justice come,

And with impartial equity,
Both to reward and doom.