5 To spend one sacred day
Where God and saints abide,
Affords diviner joy
Than thousand days beside;
Where God resorts,
I love it more
To keep the door
Than shine in courts.
6 God is our sun and shield,
Our light and our defence
With gifts his hands are fill'd,
We draw our blessings thence;
He shall bestow
On Jacob's race
Peculiar grace
And glory too.
7 The Lord his people loves;
His hand no good withholds
From those his heart approves,
From pure and pious souls:
Thrice happy he,
O God of hosts,
Whose spirit trusts
Alone in thee.
Psalm 85:1. 1-8. First Part.
Waiting for an answer to prayer; or,
Deliverance begun and completed.
1 Lord, thou hast call'd thy grace to mind,
Thou hast revers'd our heavy doom:
So God forgave when Israel sinn'd,
And brought his wandering captives home.
2 Thou hast begun to set us free,
And made thy fiercest wrath abate;
Now let our hearts be turn'd to thee,
And thy salvation be complete.
3 Revive our dying graces, Lord,
And let thy saints in thee rejoice;
Make known thy truth, fulfil thy word,
We wait for praise to tune our voice.
4 We wait to hear what God will say;
He'll speak, and give his people peace;
But let them run no more astray,
Lest his returning wrath increase.
Psalm 85:2. 9 &c. Second Part.
Salvation by Christ.
1 Salvation is for ever nigh
The souls that fear and trust the Lord;
And grace descending from on high,
Fresh hopes of glory shall afford.
2 Mercy and truth on earth are met,
Since Christ the Lord came down from heaven;
By his obedience, so complete,
Justice is pleas'd, and peace is given.
3 Now truth and honour shall abound,
Religion dwell on earth again,
And heavenly influence bless the ground
In our Redeemer's gentle reign.
4 His righteousness is gone before
To give us free access to God;
Our wandering feet shall stray no more,
But mark his steps and keep the road.
Psalm 86. 8-13.
A general song of praise to God.
1 Among the princes, earthly gods,
There's none hath power divine;
Nor is their nature, mighty Lord,
Nor are their works like thine.
2 The nations thou hast made shall bring
Their offerings round thy throne;
For thou alone dost wondrous things,
For thou art God alone.
3 Lord, I would walk with holy feet;
Teach me thine heavenly ways,
And my poor scatter'd thoughts unite
In God my Father's praise.
4 Great is thy mercy, and my tongue
Shall those sweet wonders tell,
How by thy grace my sinking soul
Rose from the deeps of hell.
Psalm 87.
The church the birth-place of the saints; or,
Jews and Gentiles united in the Christian Church.
1 God in his earthly temple lays
Foundations for his heavenly praise:
He likes the tents of Jacob well,
But still in Zion loves to dwell.
2 His mercy visits every house
That pay their night and morning vows;
But makes a more delightful stay
Where churches meet to praise and pray.
3 What glories were describ'd of old!
What wonders are of Zion told!
Thou city of our God below,
Thy fame shall Tyre and Egypt know.
4 Egypt and Tyre, and Greek and Jew,
Shall there begin their lives anew:
Angels and men shall join to sing
The hill where living waters spring.
5. When God makes up his last account
Of natives in his holy mount,
'Twill be an honour to appear
As one new-born or nourish'd there.
Psalm 89:1. First Part. L. M.
The covenant made with Christ; or, the true David.
1 For ever shall my song record
The truth and mercy of the Lord;
Mercy and truth for ever stand,
Like heaven, establish'd by his hand.
2 Thus to his Son he sware, and said,
"With thee my covenant first is made;
"In thee shall dying sinners live,
"Glory and grace are thine to give.
3 "Be thou my prophet, thou my priest;
"Thy children shall be ever blest;
"Thou art my chosen king; thy throne
"Shall stand eternal like my own.
4 "There's none of all my sons above,
"So much my image or my love;
"Celestial powers thy subjects are,
"Then what can earth to thee compare?
5 "David, my servant, whom I chose
"To guard my flock, to crush my foes,
"And rais'd him to the Jewish throne,
"Was but a shadow of my Son."
6 Now let the church rejoice and sing
Jesus her Saviour and her King:
Angels his heavenly wonders show,
And saints declare his works below.
Psalm 89:2. First Part. C. M.
The faithfulness of God.
1 My never-ceasing songs shall show
The mercies of the Lord,
And make succeeding ages know
How faithful is his word.
2 The sacred truths his lips pronounce
Shall firm as heaven endure;
And if he speak a promise once,
Th' eternal grace is sure.
3 How long the race of David held
The promis'd Jewish throne!
But there's a nobler covenant seal'd
To David's greater Son.
4 His seed for ever shall possess
A throne above the skies;
The meanest subject of his grace
Shall to that glory rise.
5 Lord God of hosts, thy wondrous ways
Are sung by saints above;
And saints on earth their honours raise
To thine unchanging love.
Psalm 89:3. 7 &c. Second Part.
The power and majesty of God;
or, Reverential worship.
1 With reverence let the saints appear
And bow before the Lord,
His high commands with reverence hear,
And tremble at his word.
2 How terrible thy glories be!
How bright thine armies shine!
Where is the power that vies with thee?
Or truth compar'd to thine?
3 The northern pole and southern rest
On thy supporting hand;
Darkness and day from east to west
Move round at thy command.
4 Thy words the raging wind control,
And rule the boisterous deep;
Thou mak'st the sleeping billows roll,
The rolling billows sleep.
5 Heaven, earth, and air, and sea are thine,
And the dark world of hell:
How did thine arm in vengeance shine
When Egypt durst rebel!
6 Justice and judgment are thy throne,
Yet wondrous is thy grace;
While truth and mercy join'd in one
Invite us near thy face.
Psalm 89:4. 15 &c. Third Part.
A blessed gospel.
1 Blest are the souls that hear and know
The gospel's joyful sound;
Peace shall attend the path they go,
And light their steps surround.
2 Their joy shall bear their spirits up
Thro' their Redeemer's Name;
His righteousness exalts their hope,
Nor Satan dares condemn.
3 The Lord, our glory and defence,
Strength and salvation gives;
Israel, thy king for ever reigns,
Thy God for ever lives.
Psalm 89:5. 19 &c. Fourth Part.
Christ's mediatorial kingdom; or,
His divine and human nature.
1 Hear what the Lord in vision said,
And made his mercy known:
"Sinners, behold your help is laid
"On my almighty Son.
2 "Behold the man my wisdom chose
"Among your mortal race;
"His head my holy oil o'erflows,
"The Spirit of my grace.
3 "High shall he reign on David's throne,
"My people's better King;
"My arm shall beat his rivals down,
"And still new subjects bring.
4 "My truth shall guard him in his way,
"With mercy by his side,
"While, in my name thro' earth and sea
"He shall in triumph ride.
5 "Me for his Father and his God
"He shall for ever own,
"Call me his rock, his high abode;
"And I'll support my Son.
6 "My first-born Son array'd in grace
"At my right-hand shall sit;
"Beneath him angels know their place,
"And monarchs at his feet.
7 "My covenant stands for ever fast,
"My promises are strong;
"Firm as the heavens his throne shall last,
"His seed endure as long."
Psalm 89:6. 30 &c. Fifth Part.
The covenant of grace unchangeable;
or, Afflictions without rejection.
1 "Yet (saith the Lord) if David's race,
"The children of my Son,
"Should break my laws, abuse my grace,
"And tempt mine anger down;
2 "Their sins I'll visit with the rod,
"And make their folly smart;
"But I'll not cease to be their God,
"Nor from my truth depart.
3 "My covenant I will ne'er revoke,
"But keep my grace in mind;
"And what eternal love hath spoke
"Eternal truth shall bind.
4 "Once have I sworn (I need no more)
"And pledg'd my holiness
"To seal the sacred promise sure
"To David and his race.
5 "The sun shall see his offspring rise
"And spread from sea to sea,
"Long as he travels round the skies
"To give the nations day.
6 "Sure as the moon that rules the night
"His kingdom shall endure,
"Till the fix'd laws of shade and light
"Shall be observ'd no more."
Psalm 89:7. 47 &c. Sixth Part.
Mortality and hope.
A funeral psalm.
1 Remember, Lord, our mortal state,
How frail our life, how short the date!
Where is the man that draws his breath
Safe from disease, secure from death?
2 Lord, while we see whole nations die,
Our flesh and sense repine and cry,
"Must death for ever rage and reign?
"Or hast thou made mankind in vain?
3 "Where is thy promise to the just?
"Are not thy servants turn'd to dust?"
But faith forbids these mournful sighs,
And sees the sleeping dust arise.
4 That glorious hour, that dreadful day
Wipes the reproach of saints away,
And clears the honour of thy word;
Awake our souls, and bless the Lord.
Psalm 89:8. 47 &c. Last Part.
As the 113th Psalm.
Life, death, and the resurrection.
1 Think, mighty God, on feeble man,
How few his hours, how short his span!
Short from the cradle to the grave:
Who can secure his vital breath
Against the bold demands of death,
With skill to fly, or power to save?
2 Lord, shall it be for ever said,
"The race of man was only made
"For sickness, sorrow, and the dust?"
Are not thy servants day by day
Sent to their graves, and turn'd to clay?
Lord, where's thy kindness to the just?
3 Hast thou not promis'd to thy Son
And all his seed a heavenly crown?
But flesh and sense indulge despair;
For ever blessed be the Lord,
That faith can read his holy word,
And find a resurrection there.
4 For ever blessed be the Lord,
Who gives his saints a long reward
For all their toil, reproach and pain;
Let all below and all above
Join to proclaim thy wondrous love,
And each repeat their loud Amen.
Psalm 90:1. L. M.
Man mortal, and God eternal.
A mournful song at a funeral.
1 Thro' every age, eternal God,
Thou art our rest, our safe abode;
High was thy throne ere heaven was made,
Or earth thy humble footstool laid.
2 Long hadst thou reign'd ere time began,
Or dust was fashion'd to a man;
And long thy kingdom shall endure
When earth and time shall be no more.
3 But man, weak man, is born to die,
Made up of guilt and vanity;
Thy dreadful sentence, Lord, was just,
"Return, ye sinners, to your dust."
4 [A thousand of our years amount
Scarce to a day in thine account;
Like yesterday's departed light,
Or the last watch of ending night.]