Page images
PDF
EPUB

THE

1

PSALMS OF DAVID,

IMITATED IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE

NEW TESTAMENT.

PSALM 1.. C. M. York. Canterbury. [*]
The Way and End of the Righteous and of the Wicked.

LEST is the man who shuns the place,
Where sinners love to meet;

Who fears to tread their wicked ways,
And hates the scoffer's seat:

2 But in the statutes of the Lord,
Has plac'd his chief delight;
By day he reads or hears the word,
And meditates by night.

b 3 [He, like a plant of gen'rous kind,
By living waters set,

Safe from the storms and blasting wind,
Enjoys a peaceful state.]

o 4 Green as the leaf, and ever fair,
Will his profession shine;
While fruits of holiness appear,
Like clusters on the vine.

p 5 Not so the impious and unjust,
What vain designs they form!

d Their hopes are blown away like dust, Or chaff, before the storm.

g 6 Sinners in judgment will not stand Amongst the sons of grace,

When Christ the Judge, at his right hand, Appoints his saints a place.

7 [His eye beholds the path they tread,
His heart approves it well;

But crooked ways of sinners lead
Down to the gates of hell.]

1

S. M. Watchman. [*]

The Saint happy, the Sinner miserable.
HE man is ever blest,

[THE

Who shuns the sinners' ways;
Among their councils never stands,
Nor takes the scorner's place:-
2 But makes the law of God,
His study and delight,
Amidst the labours of the day,
And watches of the night.
3 He like a tree shall thrive,
With waters near the root:
Fresh as the leaf his name shall live;
His works are heav'nly fruit.
4 Not so th' ungodly race;

They no such blessings find:
Their hopes shall flee like empty chaff,
Before the driving wind.

5 How will they bear to stand
Before that judgment seat,

Where all the saints, at Christ's right hand, in full assembly meet!

6 He knows, and he approves,

The way the righteous go:

But sinners and their works will meet

1

A dreadful overthrow.]

L. M. Quercy. Bath. [*]

The Difference between the Righteous and the Wicked.
APPY the man whose cautious feet,

Shun the broad way that sinners go Who hates the place where atheists meet, And fears to talk as scoffers do.

2 He loves t' employ his morning light Amongst the statutes of the Lord; And spends the wakeful hours of night, With pleasure pond'ring o'er the word. e 3 He, like a plant by gentle streams, Shall flourish in immortal green;

b And heav'n will shine with kindest beams, On every work his hands begin.

e 4 But sinners find their counsels cross'd: As chaff before the tempest flies,

So shall their hopes be blown and lostg When the last trumpet shakes the skies. [5 In vain the rebel seeks to stand, In judgment with the pious race ; e The dreadful judge, with stern command, Divides him to a diff'rent place.

6

d 6 Straight is the way my saints have trod, 'I bless'd the path and drew it plain;

'But you would choose the crooked road; 'And down it leads to endless pain.']

[ocr errors]

PSALM 2. S. M. Dover. Sutton. [*] Christ dying, rising, interceding, and reigning. AKER, and Sovereign Lord, Of heaven, and earth, and seas, Thy providence confirms thy word, And answers thy decrees.

2 The things, so long foretold By David, are fulfill'd;

p When Jews and Gentiles rose to slay Jesus, thy holy child.

-[3 Why did the Gentiles rage,
And Jews, with one accord,

Bend all their counsels, to destroy
Th' anointed of the Lord?

4

Rulers and kings agree,
To form a vain design;

Against the Lord their powers unite,
Against his Christ they join.

d 5 The Lord derides their rage,
And will support his throne:

He who hath rais'd him from the dead
Hath own'd him for his Son.]

0 6

PAUSE.

Now he's ascended high,
And asks to rule the earth;

The merit of his blood he pleads,
And pleads his heav'nly birth.

-7

He asks, and God bestows
A large inheritance ;-

g Far as the world's remotest ends,
His kingdom shall advance.

e 8 The nations that rebel, Must feel his iron rod;

• He'll vindicate those honours well,
Which he received from God.

€ 9 [Be wise, ye rulers, now,
And worship at his throne;
With trembling joy, ye people, bow
To God's exalted Son.

d 10 If once his wrath arise,
Ye perish on the place;

o Then blessed is the soul that flies For refuge to his grace.]

p 1

C. M. Bedford. St. Ann's. [*]

Christ exalted and his Enemies warned.

WHY

HY did the nations join to slay The Lord's anointed Son? Why did they cast his laws away,

And tread his gospel down?

-2 The Lord, who sits above the skies, Derides their rage below;

He speaks with vengeance in his eyes,
And strikes their spirits through.

d 3 "I call him my eternal Son,
And raise him from the dead;
I make my holy hill his throne,
And wide his kingdom spread."
[4 Ask me, my Son, and then enjoy
"The utmost heathen lands:

"Thy rod of iron shall destroy
"The rebel who withstands.']

e 5 Be wise, ye rulers of the earth,
Obey the anointed Lord;

Adore the King of heav'nly birth,
And tremble at his word.

06 With humble love address his throne; For if he frown, ye die;

-Those are secure, and those alone,
Who on his grace rely.

L. M. Bath. [*]

Christ's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

1WHY did the Jews proclaim their rage? The Romans, why their swords employ,

Against the Lord their powers engage,
His dear Anointed to destroy?

d 2 'Come, let us break his bands,' say they, "This man shall never give us laws:" -And thus they cast his yoke away,

And nail'd the Monarch to the cross. g 3 But God, who high in glory reigns, Laughs at their pride, their rage controls; He'll vex their hearts with inward pains, And speak in thunder to their souls. d 4 'I will maintain the king I made, 'On Zion's everlasting hill;

'My hand shall bring him from the dead, 'And he shall stand your Sovereign still.' o 5 (His wondrous rising from the earth, Makes his eternal Godhead known, o The Lord declares his heav'nly birth; d This day have I begot my Son.

[ocr errors]

6 Ascend my Son, to my right hand, "There thou shalt ask, and I'll bestow, 'The utmost bounds of Heathen lands; 'To thee the northern isles shall bow.") e 7 But nations that resist his grace, Will fall beneath his iron stroke; His rod will crush his foes with ease, As potters' earthen ware is broke.

PAUSE.

-8 Now, ye who sit on earthly thrones, Be wise, and serve the Lord, the Lamb; Now to his feet submit your crowns; Rejoice and tremble at his name. e 9 With humble love address the Son, Lest he grow angry, and ye die;

e His wrath will burn to worlds unknown, If ye provoke his jealousy.

g 10 His storms will drive you quick to hell; He is a God, and ye but dust:

o Happy the souls who know him well, And make his grace their only trust.]

« PreviousContinue »