PSALM 107. L. M. FIRST PART. Shoel. [*] Israel led to Canaan; Christians to Heaven.
1 IVE thanks to God:-he reigns above;
G Kind are his thoughts, his name is love;
His mercy ages past have known,
And ages long to come shall own.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord
The wonders of his grace record:
Israel, the nation whom he chose,
And rescu'd from their mighty foes.
3 [When God's almighty arm had broke
Their fetters and th' Egyptian yoke;
They trac'd the desert, wand'ring round
A wild and solitary ground!
4 There they could find no leading road,
Nor city for a fix'd abede;
Nor food, nor fountain to assuage
Their burning thirst, or hunger's rage.] 5 In their distress, to God they cry'd; God was their Saviour and their Guide: He led their march far wand'ring round; 'Twas the right path to Canaan's ground. 6 So, when our first release we gain From sin's own yoke, and Satan's chain, We have this desert world to pass, A dang'rous and a tiresome place. 7 He feeds and clothes us all the way, He guides our footsteps, lest we stray; He guards us with a powerful hand, And brings us to the heav'nly land. o 80 let us, then, with joy record
The truth and goodness of the Lord! e How great his works! how kind his ways! u Let ev'ry tongue pronounce his praise.
L. M. SECOND PART. Bath. [*]
Correction for Sin; Release by Prayer.
FROM age to age, exalt his name;
God and his grace are still the same;
He fills the hungry soul with food,
And feeds the poor with ev'ry good.
e 2 But, if their hearts rebel, and rise
Against the God who rules the skies;
If they reject his heav'nly word,
And slight the counsels of the Lord;-
-3 He'll bring their spirits to the ground,
And no deliv'rance shall be found;
a Laden with grief, they waste their breath,
In darkness and the shades of death.
-4 Then to the Lord they raise their cries;
o He makes the dawning light arise,
And scatters all that dismal shade
That hung so heavy round their head.
5 He cuts the bars of brass in two,
And lets the smiling pris'ner through;
Takes off the load of guilt and grief,
And gives the lab'ring soul relief.
06 O may the sons of men record
The wondrous goodness of the Lord!
e How great his works! how kind his ways'
u Let ev'ry tongue pronounce his praise.
L. M. THIRD PART. [*]
Intemperance punished and pardoned.
VAIN man, on foolish pleasures bent,
Prepares for his own punishment;
What pains, what loathsome maladies
From luxury and lust arise?
2 The drunkard feels his vitals waste;
Yet drowns his health to please his taste:
Till all his active pow'rs are lost,
And fainting life draws near the dust.
3 The glutton groans and loaths to eat;
His soul abhors delicious meat;
Nature with heavy loads opprest,
Would yield to death to be releas'd.
4 Then how the fright'ned sinners fly
To God for help, with earnest cry!
He hears their groans, prolongs their breath,
And saves them from approaching death.
5 No med'cines could effect the cure,
So quick, so easy, or so sure:
The deadly sentence God repeals,
He sends his sov'reign word and heals.
6 O may the sons of men record
The wondrous goodness of the Lord;
And let their thankful off'ring prove
How they adore their Maker's love.]
L. M. FOURTH PART. Oporto. [*]
Deliverance from Storm and Shipwreck.
WOULD you behold the works of God,
His wonders in the world abroad
Go with the mariners, and trace
The unknown regions of the seas.
2 They leave their native shores behind,
And seize the favour of the wind;
• Till God commands-and tempests rise,
That heave the ocean to the skies.
o 3 Now to the heavens they mount amain,
e Now sink to dreadful deeps again;
-What strange affrights young sailors feel,
And like a stagg'ring drunkard reel!
e 4 When land is far, and death is nigh,
p Lost to all hope, to God they cry;
His mercy hears their loud address,
o And sends salvation in distress.
o 5 He bids the winds their wrath assuage,
The furious waves forget their rage:
-"Tis calm;-and sailors smile to see
The haven where they wish'd to be.
o 60 may the sons of men record
The wondrous goodness of the Lord!
—Let them their private off'rings bring,
o And in the church his glory sing.
C. M. Wareham. [*]
The Mariner's Psalm.
HY works of glory, mighty Lord,
Thy wonders in the deeps,
The sons of courage shall record,
Who trade in floating ships.
2 At thy command the winds arise,
And swell the tow'ring waves;
The men, astonish'd, mount the skies,
And sink in gaping graves.
-3 [Again they climb the wat'ry hills,
And plunge in deeps again;
Each like a tott'ring drunkard reels,
And finds his courage vain.
d 4 Frighted to hear the tempest roar,
They pant with flutt'ring breath;
And hopeless of the distant shore,
Expect immediate death.]
-5 Then to the Lord they raise their cries,
0 He hears the loud request;
g And orders silence through the skies, And lays the floods to rest.
u 6 Sailors rejoice to lose their fears,
And see the storm allay'd;
Now to their eyes the port appears;
There let their vows be paid.
-7 Tis God who brings them safe to land;
Let stupid mortals know,
That waves are under his command,
And all the winds that blow.
0 8 0 that the sons of men would praise
The goodness of the Lord!
-And those, who see thy wondrous ways,
Thy wondrous love record.
L. M. FOURTH PART. Moreton. Leeds. [*] Colonies and Nations blest and punished.
VHEN God, provok'd with daring crimes,
Scourges the madness of the times,
He turns their fields to barren sand,
And dries the rivers from the land.
2 His word can raise the springs again,
And make the wither'd mountains green;
Send show'ry blessings from the skies,
And harvests in the desert rise.]
3 Where nothing dwelt, but beasts of prey,
Or men as fierce and wild as they,
God bids the oppress'd and poor repair,
And builds them towns and cities there.
4 They sow the fields, and trees they plant,
Whose yearly fruit supplies their want;
Their race grows up from fruitful stocks,
Their wealth increases with their flocks.
5 Thus they are blest: but if they sin, e He lets the heathen nations in; A savage crew invades their lands, Their princes die by barb'rous hands. a 6 Their captive sons expos'd to scorn, Wander, unpity'd and forlorn:
The country lies unfenc'd, untill'd, And desolation spreads the field. -7 Yet, if th' humble nation mourns, Again his dreadful hand he turns; • Again he makes their cities thrive, And bids the dying churches live. 8 [The righteous with a joyful sense, Admire the works of providence; And tongues of atheists shall no more Blaspheme the God whom saints adore.] e 9 How few with pious care record These wondrous dealings of the Lord! -But wise observers still shall find The Lord is holy, just and kind.
PSALM 109. C. M. Abridge. [*]
Love to enemies; Example of CHRIST.
MOD of my mercy and my praise,
GOD
Thy glory is my song:
Though sinners speak against thy grace,
With a blaspheming tongue.
-2 When, in the form of mortal man,
Thy Son on earth was found,
e With cruel slanders false and vain,
They compass'd him around.
-3 Their mis'ries his compassion move, Their peace he still pursu'd;
e They render hatred for his love, And evil for his good.
-4 Their malice rag'd without a cause; Yet with his dying breath,
-He pray'd for murd'rers on his cross,
And blest his foes in death.
e 5 Lord, shall thy bright example shine,
In vain before my eyes?
-Give me a soul akin to thine,
To love mine enemies.
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