5 Let Babel fear when Sion prays;
Babel, prepare for long distress
When Sion's God himself arrays
In terror, and in righteousness.
6 With dreadful glory God fulfils
What his afflicted saints request;
And with almighty wrath reveals
His love to give his churches rest.
7 Then shall the flocking nations run
To Sion's hill, and own their Lord;
The rising and the setting sun
Shall see their Saviour's name ador'd.
Psalm 65:2. 5-13. Second Part. L. M.
Divine providence in air, earth, and sea;
or, The God of nature and grace.
1 The God of our salvation hears
The groans of Sion mix'd with tears;
Yet when he comes with kind designs,
Thro' all the way his terror shines.
2 On him the race of man depends,
Far as the earth's remotest ends,
Where the Creator's Name is known
By nature's feeble light alone.
3 Sailors, that travel o'er the flood,
Address their frighted souls to God;
When tempests rage and billows roar
At dreadful distance from the shore.
4 He bids the noisy tempest cease;
He calms the raging crowd to peace,
When a tumultuous nation raves
Wild as the winds, and loud as waves.
5 Whole kingdoms shaken by the storm
He settles in a peaceful form;
Mountains establish'd by his hand,
Firm on their old foundations stand.
6 Behold his ensigns sweep the sky,
New comets blaze and lightnings fly,
The heathen lands, with swift surprise,
From the bright horrors turn their eyes.
7 At his command the morning-ray
Smiles in the east, and leads the day;
He guides the sun's declining wheels
Over the tops of western hills.
8 Seasons and times obey his voice;
The evening and the morn rejoice
To see the earth made soft with showers,
Laden with fruit and drest in flowers.
9 'Tis from his watery stores on high
He gives the thirsty ground supply;
He walks upon the clouds, and thence
Doth his enriching drops dispense.
10 The desert grows a fruitful field,
Abundant food the vallies yield;
The vallies shout with cheerful voice,
And neighb'ring hills repeat their joys.
11 The pastures smile in green array;
There lambs and larger cattle play;
The larger cattle and the lamb
Each in his language speaks thy Name.
12 Thy works pronounce thy power divine,
O'er every field thy glories shine;
Thro' every month thy gifts appear;
Great God! thy goodness crowns the year.
Psalm 65:3. First Part. C. M.
A prayer-hearing God, and the Gentiles called.
1 Praise waits in Sion, Lord, for thee;
There shall our vows be paid:
Thou hast an ear when sinners pray,
All flesh shall seek thine aid.
2 Lord, our iniquities prevail,
But pardoning grace is thine,
And thou wilt grant us power and skill
To conquer every sin.
3 Bless'd are the men whom thou wilt choose
To bring them near thy face,
Give them a dwelling in thine house
To feast upon thy grace.
4 In answering what thy church requests
Thy truth and terror shine,
And works of dreadful righteousness
Fulfil thy kind design.
5 Thus shall the wondering nations see
The Lord is good and just;
And distant islands fly to thee,
And make thy Name their trust.
6 They dread thy glittering tokens, Lord,
When signs in heaven appear;
But they shall learn thy holy word,
And love as well as fear.
Psalm 65:4. Second Part. C. M.
The providence of God in air, earth,
and sea; or, The blessing of rain.
1 'Tis by thy strength the mountains stand,
God of eternal power;
The sea grows calm at thy command,
And tempests cease to roar.
2 Thy morning light and evening shade
Successive comforts bring;
Thy plenteous fruits make harvest glad,
Thy flowers adorn the spring.
3 Seasons and times, and moons and hours,
Heaven, earth, and air are thine;
When clouds distil in fruitful showers,
The author is divine.
4 Those wandering cisterns in the sky,
Borne by the winds around,
With watery treasures well supply
The furrows of the ground.
5 The thirsty ridges drink their fill,
And ranks of corn appear;
Thy ways abound with blessings still,
Thy goodness crowns the year.
Psalm 65:5. Third Part. C. M.
The blessing: of the spring; or, God gives
rain. A psalm for the husbandman.
1 Good is the Lord, the heavenly King,
Who makes the earth his care,
Visits the pastures every spring,
And bids the grass appear.
2 The clouds, like rivers rais'd on high,
Pour out, at thy command,
Their watery blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.
3 The soften'd ridges of the field
Permit the corn to spring;
The vallies rich provision yield,
And the poor labourers sing.
4 The little hills on every side
Rejoice at falling showers;
The meadows, drest in all their pride,
Perfume the air with flowers.
5 The barren clods, refresh'd with rain,
Promise a joyful crop;
The parching grounds look green again,
And raise the reaper's hope.
6 The various months thy goodness crowns;
How bounteous are thy ways;
The bleating flocks spread o'er the downs,
And shepherds shout thy praise.
Psalm 66:1. First Part.
Governing power and goodness;
or, Our graces tried by afflictions.
1 Sing, all ye nations, to the Lord,
Sing with a joyful noise;
With melody of sound record
His honours, and your joys.
2 Say to the power that shakes the sky,
"How terrible art thou!
"Sinners before thy presence fly,
"Or at thy feet they bow."
3 [Come, see the wonders of our God,
How glorious are his ways:
In Moses' hand he puts his rod,
And cleaves the frighted seas.
4 He made the ebbing channel dry,
While Israel pass'd the flood;
There did the church begin their joy,
And triumph in their God.]
5 He rules by his resistless might:
Will rebel mortals dare
Provoke th' Eternal to the fight,
And tempt that dreadful war?
6 O bless our God and never cease;
Ye saints, fulfil his praise;
He keeps our life, maintains our peace,
And guides our doubtful ways.
7 Lord, thou hast prov'd our suffering souls,
To make our graces shine;
So silver bears the burning coals
The metal to refine.
8 Thro' watery deeps and fiery ways
We march at thy command,
Led to possess the promis'd place
By thine unerring hand.
Psalm 66:2. 13-20. Second Part.
Praise to God for hearing prayer.
1 Now shall my solemn vows be paid
To that Almighty power,
That heard the long requests I made
In my distressful hour.
2 My lips and cheerful heart prepare
To make his mercies known;
Come, ye that fear my God, and hear
The wonders he has done.
3 When on my head huge sorrows fell,
I sought his heavenly aid,
He sav'd my sinking soul from hell,
And death's eternal shade.
4 If sin lay cover'd in my heart,
While prayer employ'd my tongue,
The Lord had shewn me no regard,
Nor I his praises sung.
5 But God, (his Name be ever blest)
Hath set my spirit free,
Nor turn'd from him my poor request,
Nor turn'd his heart from me.
Psalm 67.
The nation's prosperity and the church's increase.
1 Shine, mighty God, on Britain shine
With beams of heavenly grace;
Reveal thy power thro' all our coasts,
And shew thy smiling face.
2 [Amidst our isle, exalted high,
Do thou our glory stand,
And like a wall of guardian fire
Surround the favourite land.]
3 When shall thy Name, from shore to shore,
Sound all the earth abroad,
And distant nations know and love
Their Saviour and their God?
4 Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,
Sing loud with solemn voice;
While British tongues exalt his praise,
And British hearts rejoice.
5 He the great Lord, the sovereign Judge,
That sits enthron'd above,
Wisely commands the worlds he made
In justice and in love.
6 Earth shall obey her Maker's will,
And yield a full increase;
Our God will crown his chosen isle
With fruitfulness and peace.
7 God the Redeemer scatters round
His choicest favours here,
While the creation's utmost bound
Shall see, adore, and fear.
Psalm 68:1. 1-6 32-35. First Part.
The vengeance and compassion of God.
1 Let God arise in all his might,
And put the troops of hell to flight,
As smoke that sought to cloud the skies
Before the rising tempest flies.
2 [He comes array'd in burning flames;
Justice and vengeance are his names:
Behold his fainting foes expire
Like melting wax before the fire.]
3 He rides and thunders thro' the sky;
His name Jehovah sounds on high:
Sing to his Name, ye sons of grace;
Ye saints, rejoice before his face.
4 The widow and the fatherless
Fly to his aid in sharp distress;
In him the poor and helpless find
A Judge that's just, a Father kind.
5 He breaks the captive's heavy chain,
And prisoners see the light again;
But rebels that dispute his will,
Shall dwell in chains and darkness still.