7 The mighty God, the wise, and just,
Knows that our frame is feeble dust;
And will no heavy loads impose
Beyond the strength that he bestows.
8 He knows how soon our nature dies,
Blasted by every wind that flies;
Like grass we spring, and die as soon,
Or morning flowers that fade at noon.
9 But his eternal love is sure
To all the saints, and shall endure:
From age to age his truth shall reign,
Nor children's children hope in vain.
Psalm 103:3. 1-7. First Part, S. M.
Praise for spiritual and temporal mercies.
1 O Bless the Lord, my soul;
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his Name,
Whose favours are divine.
2 O bless the Lord, my soul;
Nor let his mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.
3 'Tis he forgives thy sins,
'Tis he relieves thy pain,
'Tis he that heals thy sicknesses,
And makes thee young again.
4 He crowns thy life with love,
When ransom'd from the grave;
He that redeem'd my soul from hell
Hath sovereign power to save.
5 He fills the poor with good;
He gives the sufferers rest;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for th' opprest.
6 His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known;
But sent the world his truth and grace
By his beloved Son.
Psalm 103:4. 8-18. Second Part. S. M.
Abounding compassion of God; or,
Mercy in the midst of judgment.
1 My soul, repeat his praise
Whose mercies are so great,
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
2 God will not always chide;
And when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
3 High as the heavens are rais'd
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
4 His power subdues our sins;
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.
5 The pity of the Lord
To those that fear his Name,
Is such as tender parents feel;
He knows our feeble frame.
6 He knows we are but dust,
Scatter'd with every breath;
His anger, like a rising wind,
Can send us swift to death.
7 Our days are as the grass,
Or like the morning flower;
If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field,
It withers in an hour.
8 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.
Psalm 103:5. 19-22. Third Part. S. M.
God's universal dominion;
or, Angels praise the Lord.
1 The lord, the sovereign King,
Hath fix'd his throne on high;
O'er all the heavenly world he rules,
And all beneath the sky.
2 Ye angels great in might,
And swift to do his will,
Bless ye the Lord, whose voice ye hear,
Whose pleasure ye fulfil.
3 Let the bright hosts who wait
The orders of their King,
And guard his churches when they pray,
Join in the praise they sing.
4 While all his wondrous works,
Thro' his vast kingdoms shew
Their Maker's glory, thou, my soul,
Shalt sing his graces too.
Psalm 104.
The glory of God in creation and providence.
1 My soul, thy great Creator praise;
When cloth'd in his celestial rays
He in full Majesty appears,
And, like a robe, his glory wears.
Note, This psalm may be sung to the tune of the old 112th or 127th
Psalm, by adding the two following lines to every stanza, viz.
Great is the Lord; what tongue can frame
An equal honour to his Name?
Otherwise it must be sung as the 100th psalm.
2 The heavens are for his curtains spread,
Th' unfathom'd deep he makes his bed;
Clouds are his chariot, when he flies
On winged storms across the skies.
3 Angels, whom his own breath inspires,
His ministers are flaming fires;
And swift as thought their armies move
To bear his vengeance, or his love.
4 The world's foundations by his hand
Are pois'd, and shall for ever stand;
He binds the ocean in his chain,
Lest it should drown the earth again.
5 When earth was cover'd with the flood,
Which high above the mountains stood,
He thunder'd, and the ocean fled,
Confin'd to its appointed bed.
6 The swelling billows know their bound,
And in their channels walk their round;
Yet thence convey'd by secret veins,
They spring on hills, and drench the plains.
7 He bids the crystal fountains flow,
And cheer the vallies as they go;
Tame heifers there their thirst allay,
And for the stream wild asses bray.
8 From pleasant trees which shade the brink
The lark and linnet light to drink;
Their songs the lark and linnet raise;
And chide our silence in his praise.