6 Bleft Object of my Soul's Defire,
To thee my grateful Thoughts afpire;
On thee my ftedfaft Hope I build;
My God, my Reft, my Rock, my Shield.
PSALM XVIII. Second Verfion: First Part. WATTS.
Sincerity proved and rewarded.
ORD, thou haft feen my Soul fincere, Haft made thy Truth and Love appear Before mine Eyes I fet thy Laws,
And thou haft own'd my righteous Caufe.
2 Since I have learnt thy holy Ways,
I've walk'd upright before thy Face;
Or if my Feet did e'er depart,
'Twas never with a wicked Heart.
3 What fore Temptations broke my Reft!
What Wars and Strugglings in my Breaft!
But thro' thy Grace that reigns within
I hope to conquer ev'ry Sin.
4 With an impartial Hand the Lord
Deals out to Mortals their Reward:
The kind and faithful Souls fhall find
A God as faithful and as kind.
The Juft and Pure fhall ever fay
Thou art more pure, more just than they:
And Ill to all who Ill intend,
In full Proportion shall defcend.
PSALM XVIII. Second Verfion. Second Part.
UST are thy Ways, and true thy Word,
Great Rock of my secure Abode :
Who is a God befide the Lord ?
Or where's a Refuge like our God?.
2 'Tis he who girds me with his Might,
Gives me his holy Sword to wield;
And while against all Sin I fight,
Spreads his Salvation for my Shield.
3 He lives, and bleffed be my Rock,
The God of my Salvation lives,
The dark Defigns of Hell are broke;
Sweet is the Peace my Father gives.
4 Before the Scoffers of the Age
I will exalt my Father's Name,
Nor tremble at their mighty Rage,
But meet Reproach, and bear the Shame.
5 To David and his Royal Seed
Thy Grace for ever fhall extend;
Thy Love to Saints in Chrift their Head
Knows not a Limit, nor an End.
PSALM XVIII. Third Verfion.
Public Thanksgiving for Protection in Time of War.
HEN God our Leader fhines in Arms,
What mortal Heart can bear
The Thunder of his loud Alarms,
The Light'ning of his Spear?
2 He speaks, and at his fierce Rebuke
Whole Armies are dismay'd;
His Voice, his Frown, his angry Look,
Strikes all their Courage dead.
He forms our Gen'rals for the Field,
With all their dreadful Skill;
Inftructs their Hands the Sword to wield,
And makes their Hearts of Steel.
"Tis by his Aid our Troops prevail,
And break united Pow'rs;
Or burn their boafted Fleets, or scale
The proudest of their Tow'rs.
The Lord our Saviour ever lives;
His Name be ever bleft;
'Tis his own Arm Deliv'rance gives,
And gives our Country Reft.
6 On Kings who reign as David did
He pours his Bleffings down;
Secures their Honors to their Seed,
And well fupports their Crown.
PSALM XVIII. Fourth Verfion. DODDRIDGE. Triumph in God's Protection.
EGIONS of Foes befet me round,
While
While marching o'er this dang'rous Ground;
Yet in JEHOVAH's Aid I truft,
And in his Pow'r fuperior boast.
2 My Buckler he; his Shield is fpread
To cover this defenceless Head :
Now let the fierceft Foes affail,
Their Darts I count as rattling Hail.
3 He is my Rock, and he my Tow'r;
The Bafe how firm! the Walls how fure!
The Battlements how high they rife!
And hide their Summits in the Skies.
4 Deliv'rances to God belong;
He is my Strength, and he my Song;
The Horn of my Salvation he,
And all my Foes difpers'd fhall flee.'
Thro' the long March my Lips fhall fing
My great Protector, and my King,
'Till Zion's Mount my Feet afcend,
And all my painful Warfare end.
6 Rais'd on the fhining Turrets there,
Thro' all the Profpect wide and fair,
A Land of Peace his Hofts furvey,
And blefs the Grace, that led the Way.
PSALM XIX. Firft Verfion. First Part. MERRICK.
The Glory of God in his Works.
COD the Heav'ns aloud proclaim
Thro' their wide-extended Frame,
And the Firmament each Hour
Speaks the Wonders of his Pow'r
2 Day to the fucceeding Day
Joys the Notice to convey,
And the Nights, in ceafelefs Round,
Each to each repeat the Sound,
3 Prompt, without or Speech or Tongue,
In his Praife to form the Song;
Joy to Earth, their Notes extend
Far as to her utmost End;
Earth the Heav'n-taught Knowledge boasts
Through her many-languag'd Coasts,
While the Sun above her Head
Sees his Tabernacle spread;
5 And from out his Chamber bright
Like a Bridegroom fprings to Sight:
See him with gigantic Pace
Joyous run his deftin'd Race ;
6 Now to fartheft Regions borne
Onward speed, and now return,
And to all, with welcome Ray,
Life, and genial Warmth convey.
7 Mighty Lord of Earth and Skies,
Vast thy Works, immenfely wife;
Good thou art, no Tongue can frame
Honors equal to thy Name.
PSALM XIX. First Verfion. Second Part.
The Excellency of Scripture.
ARMTH and Life each thankful Heart
W Feels thy Law, great God, impart;
Clear from ev'ry Spot it thines,
And the guilt-ftain'd Thought refines;
Truth's firm Base its Frame upholds,
While it Mysteries unfolds,
Which the docile Mind explores,
And to heav'nly Science foars.
2 Preft with Sorrows, Doubts, and Fears,
What like this the Spirit chears ?.
What fo perfect, what fo
pure ?
What to Reason's Eye obfcure
Can fuch wond'rous Light afford
As the Dictates of thy Word ?
Where thy Fear its Fruit matures,
Fruit, that endless Years endures.
D
3 There the Mind, to Vice a Foe, Pants thy bleft Decrees to know, And its Will to thine fubdu'd,
Owns them wife, and juft, and good;
Nor can Gold fuch Worth acquire
From the fev'nth exploring Fire,
Nor the Labor of the Bees
E'er in Sweetness vie with thefe:
What fo perfect, what fo pure?
What to Reafon's Eye obfcure
Can fuch wond'rous Light afford
As the Dictates of thy Word?
Taught by them, thy Servant's Breaft
Joys the Bleflings to atteft
Heap'd on thofe whofe Hearts fincere
Learn thy Precepts to revere.
PSALM XIX. First Version. Third Part.
Defiring to be delivered from fecret and presumptuous Sin
URGE me from the Guilt that lies
Wrapt within my Heart's Difguife;
Let me thence, by thee renew'd,
Each prefumptuous Sin exclude:
2 Let my Tongue, from Error free,
Speak the Words approv'd by thee;
To thy all-obferving Eyes
Let my Thoughts accepted rife.
So Lot fhall ne'er be join'd
my
With the Men whose impious Mind,
Fearless of thy just Command,
Braves the Judgments of thy Hand.
4 While I thus thy Name adore,
And thy healing Grace implore,
Bleft Redeemer, bow thine Ear,
God my Strength, propitious hear.
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