6 [Let sinners and their wicked rage
Be humbled to the dust;
Shall not the God of truth engage
To vindicate the just?
7 He knows the heart, he tries the reins,
He will defend th' upright:
His sharpest arrows he ordains
Against the sons of spite.
8 For me their malice digg'd a pit,
But there themselves are cast;
My God makes all their mischief light
On their own heads at last.]
9 That cruel persecuting race
Must feel his dreadful sword;
Awake, my soul, and praise the grace
And justice of the Lord.
Psalm 8:1. S. M.
God's sovereignty and goodness; and
man's dominion over the creatures.
1 O Lord, our heavenly King,
Thy name is all divine;
Thy glories round the earth are spread,
And o'er the heavens they shine.
2 When to thy works on high
I raise my wondering eyes,
And see the moon complete in light
Adorn the darksome skies:
3 When I survey the stars,
And all their shining forms,
Lord, what is man, that worthless thing,
Akin to dust and worms?
4 Lord, what is worthless man,
That thou shouldst love him so?
Next to thine angels he is plac'd,
And lord of all below.
5 Thine honours crown his head,
While beasts like slaves obey,
And birds that cut the air with wings,
And fish that cleave the sea.
6 How rich thy bounties are!
And wondrous are thy ways:
Of dust and worms thy power can frame
A monument of praise.
7 [Out of the mouths of babes
And sucklings thou canst draw
Surprising honours to thy name,
And strike the world with awe.]
8 O Lord, our heavenly King,
Thy name is all divine:
Thy glories round the earth are spread,
And o'er the heavens they shine.
Psalm 8:2. C. M.
Christ's condescension and
glorification; or, God made man.
1 O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous great
Is thine exalted name!
The glories of thy heavenly state
Let men and babes proclaim.
2 When I behold thy works on high,
The moon that rules the night,
And stars that well adorn the sky,
Those moving worlds of light;
3 Lord, what is man, or all his race,
Who dwells so far below,
That thou shouldst visit him with grace,
And love his nature so?
4 That thine eternal Son should bear
To take a mortal form,
Made lower than his angels are,
To save a dying worm!
5 [Yet while he liv'd on earth unknown,
And men would not adore,
Th' obedient seas and fishes own
His Godhead and his power.
6 The waves lay spread beneath his feet;
And fish, at his command,
Bring their large shoals to Peter's net,
Bring tribute to his hand.
7 These lesser glories of the Son
Shone thro' the fleshly cloud;
Now we behold him on his throne,
And men confess him God.]
8 Let him be crown'd with majesty,
Who bow'd his head to death;
And be his honours sounded high,
By all things that have breath.
9 Jesus, our Lord, how wondrous great
Is thine exalted name!
The glories of thy heavenly state
Let the whole earth proclaim.
Psalm 8:3. 1 2. paraphrased.
First Part. L. M.
The Hosanna of the children;
or, Infants praising God.
1 Almighty Ruler of the skies,
Thro' the wide earth thy name is spread,
And thine eternal glories rise
O'er all the heavens thy hands have made.
2 To thee the voices of the young
A monument of honour raise;
And babes, with uninstructed tongue,
Declare the wonders of thy praise.
3 Thy power assists their tender age
To bring proud rebels to the ground,
To still the bold blasphemer's rage,
And all their policies confound.
4 Children amidst thy temple throng
To see their great Redeemer's face;
The Son of David is their song,
And young hosannas fill the place.
3 The frowning scribes and angry priests
In vain their impious cavils bring;
Revenge sits silent in their breasts,
While Jewish babes proclaim their king.
Psalm 8:4. 3 &c. paraphrased.
Second Part. L. M.
Adam and Christ, lords of
the old and the new creation.
1 Lord, what was man, when made at first,
Adam the offspring of the dust,
That thou shouldst set him and his race
But just below an angel's place?
2 That thou shouldst raise his nature so
And make him lord of all below;
Make every beast and bird submit,
And lay the fishes at his feet?
3 But O, what brighter glories wait
To crown the second Adam's state!
What honours shall thy Son adorn
Who condescended to be born!
4 See him below his angels made,
See him in dust amongst the dead,
To save a ruin'd world from sin;
But he shall reign with power divine.
5 The world to come, redeem'd from all
The miseries that attend the fall,
New made, and glorious, shall submit
At our exalted Saviour's feet.
Psalm 9:1. First Part.
Wrath and mercy from the judgment-seat.
1 With my whole heart I'll raise my song,
Thy wonders I'll proclaim;
Thou sov'reign judge of right and wrong
Wilt put my foes to shame.
2 I'll sing thy majesty and grace;
My God prepares his throne
To judge the world in righteousness
And make his vengeance known.
3 Then shall the Lord a refuge prove
For all the poor opprest,
To save the people of his love,
And give the weary rest.
4 The men, that know thy name will trust
In thy abundant grace;
For thou hast ne'er forsook the just,
Who humbly seek thy face.
5 Sing praises to the righteous Lord,
Who dwells on Zion's hill,
Who executes his threatening word,
And doth his grace fulfil.
Psalm 9:2. 10. Second Part.
The wisdom and equity of providence.
1 When the great Judge, supreme and just,
Shall once inquire for blood,
The humble souls, that mourn in dust,
Shall find a faithful God.
2 He from the dreadful gates of death
Does his own children raise:
In Zion's gates, with cheerful breath,
They sing their Father's praise.
3 His foes shall fail with heedless feet
Into the pit they made;
And sinners perish in the net
That their own hands had spread.
4 Thus by thy judgments, mighty God!
Are thy deep counsels known;
When men of mischief are destroy'd,
The snare must be their own.