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From HORACE9.

Joking decides great things, Stronger and better oft than earnest can1o.

From SOPHOCLES".

'Tis you that say it, not I. You do the deeds, And your ungodly deeds find me the words'.

From SENECA'3.

There can be slain

No sacrifice to God more acceptable, Than an unjust and wicked king14.

PSALM 1.

Done into verse, 1653.

BLESS'D is the man who hath not walk'd astray
In counsel of the wicked, and i' the way
Of sinners hath not stood, and in the seat
Of scorners hath not sat. But in the great
Jehovah's law is ever his delight,
And in his law he studies day and night.
He shall be as a tree which planted grows
By watery-streams, and in his season knows
To yield his fruit, and his leaf shall not fall,
And what he takes in hand shall prosper all.
Not so the wicked, but as chaff which fann'd
The wind drives, so the wicked shall not stand
In judgment, or abide their trial then,
Nor sinners in the assembly of just men.
For the Lord knows the upright way of the just,
And the way of bad men to ruin must.

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[sway'd,

As thy possession I on thee bestow The Heathen; and, as thy conquest to be Earth's utmost bounds: them shalt thou bring full low

With iron sceptre bruis'd, and them disperse Like to a potter's vessel shiver'd so.

And now be wise at length, ye kings averse,

Be taught, ye judges of the Earth; with fear Jehovah serve, and let your joy converse With trembling; kiss the Son lest he appear In anger, and ye perish in the way,

If once his wrath take fire, like fuel sere. Happy all those who have in him their stay.

PSALM III. Aug. 9, 1653.

When he fled from Absalom.

LORD, how many are my foes!

How many those,

That in arms against me rise;
Many are they,

That of my life distrustfully thus say;
No help for him in God there lies.
But thou, Lord, art my shield, my glory,
Thee through my story,

The exalter of my head I count;
Aloud I cried

Unto Jehovah; he full soon replied,
And heard me from his holy mount.
I lay and slept; I wak'd again;
For my sustain
Was the Lord.

Of many millions

The populous rout

I fear not, though, encamping round about, They pitch against me their pavilions. Rise, Lord; save me, my God; for thou

Hast smote ere now

On the cheek-bone all my foes,

Of men abhorr'd

Hast broke the teeth.

[Lord;

This help was from the

Thy blessing on thy people flows.

PSALM IV. Aug.10, 1653.

ANSWER me when I call,
God of my righteousness;
In straits and in distress,
Thou didst me disenthrall
And set at large; now spare,

Now pity me, and hear my earnest prayer.
Great ones, how long will ye

My glory have in scorn?
How long be thus forborn
Still to love vanity?

To love, to seek, to prize,

Thing false and vain, and nothing else but Yet know the Lord hath chose,

Chose to himself apart,

The good and meek of heart ; (For whom to choose he knows) Jehovah from on high

[lies,

Will hear my voice, what time to him I cry. Be aw'd, and do not sin;

Speak to your hearts alone,

Upon your beds, each one,
And be at peace within.

14 From Tenure of Kings, &c. Pr. W. vol. i. Offer the offerings just

315.

Of righteousness, and in Jehovah trust.

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My soul; O save me for thy goodness sake:
For in death no resemblance is of thee;

Who in the grave can celebrate thy praise?
Wearied I am with sighing out my days;
Nightly my couch I make a kind of sea;
My bed I water with my tears; mine eye
Through grief consumes, is waxen old and
dark

I' the midst of all my enemies that mark.
Depart, all ye that work iniquity,

De part from me; for the voice of my weeping
The Lord hath heard; the Lord hath heard
my prayer;
My supplication with acceptance fair

Thou, Lord, alone, in safety mak'st me dwell. The Lord will own, and have me in his keeping.

PSALM V. Aug. 12, 1653.

JEHOVAH, to my words give ear,

My meditation weigh;

The voice of my complaining hear,

My King and God; for unto thee I pray. Jehovah, thou my early voice

Shalt in the morning hear:

I' the morning I to thee with choice

Mine enemies shall all be blank and dash'd With much confusion; then, grown red with

shame,

They shall return in haste the way they came, And in a moment shall be quite abash'd.

PSALM VII. Aug. 14, 1653.

Upon the words of Chush the Benjamite against him,

Will rank my prayers, and watch till thou appear. LORD, my God, to thee I fly;

For thou art not a God that takes

In wickedness delight;

Evil with thee no biding makes;

Fools or mad men stand not within thy sight.
All workers of iniquity

Thou hat'st; and them unblest
Thou wilt destroy that speak a lye;

The bloody and guileful man God doth detest.
But will, in thy mercies dear,

Thy numerous mercies, go

Into thy house; I, in thy fear,

Will towards thy holy temple worship low.
Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,

Lead me, because of those
That do observe if I transgress;

Set thy ways right before, where my step goes. For,in his faltering mouth unstaile,

No word is firm or sooth; Their inside, troubles miserable;

[smooth.

An open grave their throat, their tongue they
God, find them guilty, let them fall

By their own counsels quell'd;
Push them in their rebellions all
Still on; for against thee they have rebell'd.
Then all who trust in thee, shall bring

Their joy; while thou from blame
Defend'st them, they shall ever sing

And shall triumph in thee, who love thy name.
For thou, Jehovah, wilt be found

To bless the just man still;
As with a shield, thou wilt surround
Him with thy lasting favour and good will.

PSALM VI. Aug. 13, 1653.

LORD, in thine anger do not reprehend me
Nor in thy hot displeasure me correct;
Pity me, Lord, for I am much deject,
And very weak and faint; heal and amend me:

Save me and secure me under
Thy protection while I cry;
Lest, as a lion, (and no wonder)
He haste to tear my soul asunder,
Tearing, and no rescue nigh.

Lord, my God, if I have thought
Or done this; if wickedness
Be in my hands; if I have wrought
Ill to him that meant me peace;
Or to him have render'd less,
And not freed my foe for nought;

Let the enemy pursue my soul,
And overtake it; let him tread
My life down to the earth, and roll
In the dust my glory dead,
In the dust; and, there out-spread,
Lodge it with dishonour foul.
Rise, Jehovah, in thine ire,

Rouse thyself amidst the rage
Of my foes that urge like fire;
And wake for me, their fury asswage;
Judgment here thou didst engage
And command, which I desire.

So the assemblies of each nation
Will surround thee, seeking right;
Thence to thy glorious habitation
Return on high, and in their sight.
Jehovah judgeth most upright
All people from the world's foundation.

Judge me, Lord; be judge in this
According to my righteousness,
And the innocence which is
Upon me: cause at length to cease
Of evil men the wickedness
And their power that do amiss.

But the just establish fast,

Since thou art the just God that tries
Hearts and reins. On God is cast
My defence, aud in him lies,
In him who, both just and wise,
Saves the upright of heart at last.

God is a just judge and severe,
And God is every day offended;
If the unjust will not forbear,

His sword he whets, his bow hath bended Already, and for him intended

The tools of death, that waits him near.

(His arrows purposely made he
For them that persecute.) Behold,
He travels big with vanity;
Trouble he hath conceiv'd of old,

As in a womb; and from that mould
Hath at length brought forth a lie.

He digg'd a pit, and delv'dit deep,
And fell into the pit he made;

His mischief, that due course doth keep,
Turns on his head; and his ill trade
Of violence will, undelay'd.

Fall on his crown with ruin steep.

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April, 1648. J. M;

Nine of the Psalms done into metre, wherein all ut what is in a different character, are the very words of the text, translated from the original. PSALM LXXX.

1. THOU Shepherd, that dost Israel keep, Give ear in time of need;

Who leadest like a flock of sheep

Thy loved Joseph's seed;

That sitt'st between the cherubs bright,
Between their wings out-spread;
Shine forth, and from thy cloud give light,
And on our foes thy dread.

2. In Ephraim's view and Benjamin's,
And in Manasse's sight,

Awake thy strength, come, and be seen
To save us by thy might.

3. Turn us again, thy grace divine
To us, O God, vouchsafe;
Cause thou thy face on us to shine,

And then we shall be safe.

4. Lord God of Hosts, how long wilt thou,
How long wilt thou declare

Thy smoking wrath, and angry brow
Against thy people's prayer!

5. Thou feed'st them with the bread of tears;
Their bread with tears they eat;

And mak'st them largely drink the tears
Wherewith their cheeks are wet.

6. A strife thou mak'st us and a prey
To every neighbour foe;

Among themselves they laugh, they play,
And flouts at us they throw.
7. Return us, and thy grace divine,
O God of Hosts, vouchsafe;
Cause thou thy face on us to shine,

And then we shall be safe.

8. A vine from Egypt thou hast brought,
Thy free love made it thine,

And drov'st out nations, proud and haut,
To plant this lovely vine.

9. Thou didst prepare for it a place,
And root it deep and fast,
That it began to grow apace,

And fill'd the land at last.

10. With her green shade that cover'd all,
The bills were over-spread;

Her boughs as high as cedars tall
Advanc'd their lofty head.

11. Her branches on the western side
Down to the sea she sent,

And upward to that river wide

Her other branches went.

12. Why hast thou laid her hedges low,
And broken down her fence,
That all may pluck her, as they go,
With rudest violence?

13. The tusked boar out of the wood
Up turns it by the roots;

Wild beasts there brouze, and make their food
Her grapes and tender shoots.

14. Return now, God of Hosts, look down
From Heaven, thy seat divine;
Behold us, but without a frown,

And visit this thy vine.

15. Visit this vine, which thy right hand
Hath set, and planted long,
And the young branch, that for thyself
Thou hast made firm and strong.

16. But now it is consum'd with fire,

And cut with axes down;

They perish at thy dreadful ire,

At thy rebuke and frown.

17. Upon the man of thy right hand
Let thy good hand be laid;
Upon the son of man, whom thou
Strong for thyself bast made.

18. So shall we not go back from thee
To ways of sin and shame;
Quicken us thou; then gladly we
Shall call upon thy name.
19. Return us, and thy grace divine,
Lord God of Hosts, vouchsafe;
Cause thou thy face on us to shine,
And then we shall be safe.

PSALM LXXXI.

1. To God our strength sing loud, and clear, Sing loud to God our King;

To Jacob's God, that all may hear,

Loud acclamations ring.

2. Prepare a hymn, prepare a song,
The timbrel hither bring;
The cheerful psaltery bring along,
And harp with pleasant string.
3. Blow, as is wont, in the new moon
With trumpets' lofty sound,
The appointed time, the day whereon
Our solemn feast comes round.
4. This was a statute given of old
For Israel to observe;

A law of Jacob's God, to hold,

From whence they might not swerve. 5. This he a testimony ordain'd

In Joseph, not to change,

When as he pass'd through Egypt land;
'The tongue I heard was strange.
6. From burden, and from slavish toil,
1 set his shoulder free :

His hands from pots, and miry soil,
Deliver'd were by me.

7. When trouble did thee sore assail,
On me then didst thou call;
And I to free thee did not fail,
And led thee out of thrall.
I answer'd thee in thunder deep,
With clouds encompass'd round;
I tried thee at the water steep
Of Meriba renown'd.

8. Hear, O my People, hearken well;
I testify to thee,

Thon ancient stock of Israel,

If thou wilt list to me:

9. Throughout the land of thy abode No alien God shall be,

Nor shalt thou to a foreign God

In honour bend thy knee.

10. I am the Lord thy God, which brought Thee out of Egypt land;

Ask large enough, and I, besought,
Will grant thy full demand.

11. And yet my people would not hear,
Nor hearken to my voice;

And Israel, whom I lov'd so dear,
Mislik'd me for his choice.

12. Then did I leave them to their will,
And to their wandering mind;
Their own conceits they follow'd still,
Their own devices blind.

13. O, that my people would be wise,
To serve me all their days!
And O, that Israel would advise
To walk my righteous ways!

14. Then would I soon bring down their foes, That now so proudly rise;

And turn my hand against all those,

That are their enemies.

15. Who hate the Lord should then be fain To bow to him and bend;

But they, his people, should remain,

Their time should have no end.

16. And he would feed them from the shock
With flower of finest wheat,

And satisfy them from the rock
With honey for their meat.

PSALM LXXXII.

1. GOD in the great assembly stands
Of kings and lordly states;
Among the gods, on both his hands,
He judges and debates.

2. How long will ye pervert the right
With judgment false and wrong,
Favouring the wicked by your might,

Who thence grow bold and strong?
3. Regard the weak and fatherless,
Despatch the poor man's cause:
And raise the man in deep distress
By just and equal laws.

4. Defend the poor and desolate,
And rescue from the hands
Of wicked men the low estate

Of him that help demands.

5. They know not, nor will understand,
In darkness they walk on;

The Earth's foundations all are mov'd,
And out of order gone.

6. I said that ye were gods, yea all
The sons of God Most High;

7. But ye shall die like men, and fall As other princes die.

8. Rise, God; judge thou the Earth in sight, This wicked Earth redress;

For thou art he who shall by right
The nations all possess.

PSALM LXXXIII.

1. BE not thou silent now at length,
O God, hold not thy peace;
Sit thou not still, O God of strength,
We cry, and do not cease.

2. For lo, thy furious foes now swell,
And storm outrageously;

And they that hate thee, proud and fell,
Exalt their heads full high.

3. Against thy people they contrive
Their plots and counsels deep;
Them to ensnare they chiefly strive,
Whom thou dost hide and keep.

4. Come, let us cut them off, say they, Till they no nation be;

That Israel's name for ever may

Be lost in memory.

5. For they consult with all their might,
And all, as one in mind,
Themselves against thee they unite,
And in firm union bind.

6. The tents of Edom, and the brood,
Of scornful Ishmael,
Moab, with them of Hagar's blood
That in the desart dwell,

7. Gebal and Ammon there conspire,

And hateful Amalec,
The Philistines, and they of Tyre,

Whose bounds the sea doth check.

8. With them great Ashur also bands, And doth confirm the knot:

All these have lent their armed hands

To aid the sons of Lot.

9. Do to them as to Midian bold, That wasted all the coast;

To Sisera; and, as is told,

Thou didst to Jabin's host,

When, at the brook of Kishon old,
They were repuls'd and slain,

10. At Endor quite cut off, and roll'd
As dung upon the plain.

11. As Zeb and Oreb evil sped,
So let their princes speed;
As Zeba and Zalmunna bled,
So let their princes bleed.

12. For they amidst their pride have said,
By right now shall we seize
God's houses, and will now invade
Their stately palaces.

13. My God, oh make them as a wheel,
No quiet let them find;
Giddy and restless let them reel

Like stubble from the wind.

14. As when an aged wood takes fire
Which on a sudden strays,

The greedy flame runs higher and higher
Till all the mountains blaze;

15. So with thy whirlwind them pursue,
And with thy tempest chase;

16. And, till they yield thee honour due, Lord, fill with shame their face.

17. Asham'd, and troubled, let them be, Troubled, and sham'd for ever;

Ever confounded, and so die

With shame, and'scape it never.

18. Then shall they know, that thou, whose name Jehovah is alone,

Art the Most High, and thou the same
O'er all the Earth art One.

PSALM LXXXIV.

1. How lovely are thy dwellings fair! O Lord of Hosts, how dear

The pleasant tabernacles are,

Where thou dost dwell so near!

2. My soul doth long and almost die
Thy courts, O Lord, to see ;
My heart and flesh aloud do cry,

O living God, for thee.

3. There even the sparrow, freed from wrong,

Hath found a house of rest;

The swallow there, to lay her young
Hath built her brooding nest;

Even by thy altars, Lord of Hosts,
They find their safe abode;

And home they fly from round the coasts
Toward thee, my King, my God.

4. Happy, who in thy house reside, Where thee they ever praise!

5. Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide, And in their hearts thy ways!

6. They pass through Baca's thirsty vale, That dry and barren ground;

As through a fruitful watery dale,

Where springs and showers abound.

7. They journey on from strength to strength With joy and gladsome cheer,

Till all before our God at length

In Sion do appear.

8. Lord God of Hosts, hear now my prayer, O Jacob's God give ear;

9. Thou God, our shield, look on the face
Of thy anointed dear.

10. For one day in thy courts to be,
Is better, and more blest,
Than in the joys of vanity

A thousand days at best.

I, in the temple of my God,

Had rather keep a door,

Than dwell in tents, and rich abode,

With sin for evermore.

11. For God, the Lord, both sun and shield, Gives grace and glory bright;

No good from them shall be withheld
Whose ways are just and right.

12. Lord God of Hosts, that reign'st on high; That man is truly blest,

Who only on thee doth rely,
And in thee only rest.

PSALM LXXXV.

1. THY land to favour graciously
Thou hast, not, Lord, been slack;
Thou hast from hard captivity
Returned Jacob back.

2. The iniquity thou didst forgive
That wrought thy people woe;
And all their sin, that did thee grieve,
Hast hid where none shall know,

3. Thine anger all thou had'st remov'd,
And calmly didst return

From thy fierce wrath which we had prov'd Far worse than fire to burn.

4. God of our saving health and peace,
Turn us, and us restore;

Thine indignation cause to cease
Towards us, and chide no more.
5. Wilt thou be angry without end,
For ever angry thus ?

Wilt thou thy frowning ire extend
From age to age on us?

6. Wilt thou not turn and hear our voice,
And us again revive,

That so thy people may rejoice

By thee preserv'd alive?

7. Cause us to see thy goodness, Lord, To us thy mercy shew;

Thy saving health to us afford,

And life in us renew.

8. And now, what God the Lord will speak, I will go straight and hear,

For to his people he speaks peace,

And to his saints full dear,

To his dear saints he will speak peace ;

But let them never more

Return to folly, but surcease,
To trespass as before.

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