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4 His lips abhor all talk profane,
To slander or defraud:

His ready tongue declares to men
What he has learnt of God.

5 The Law and Gospel of the Lord
Deep in his heart abide :

Led by the Spirit and the Word,
His feet shall never slide.

6 When sinners fall, the righteous stand,
Preserv'd from every snare:

They shall possess the Promis'd Land,
And dwell for ever there.

C. M.

THIRD PART. (vv. 23, 29, 35-37.)
The Way and End of the Righteous and the Wicked.

MY God, the steps of pious men

Are order'd by thy will:

Though they shall fall, they rise again ;
Thy hand supports them still.

2 The heavenly heritage is their's,

Their portion and their home:

He feeds them now, and makes them heirs
Of blessings long to come.

3 The haughty sinner have I seen,
Nor fearing man nor God;
Like a tall bay-tree, fair and green,
Spreading his arms abroad:

4 And lo, he vanish'd from the ground,
Destroy'd by hands unseen!

Nor root, nor branch, nor leaf was found, Where all that pride had been.

5 But mark the man of righteousness, His several steps attend:

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True pleasure runs through all his ways,
And peaceful is his end.

FOURTH PART. (vv. 37-40.) P. M.
Safety and End of the Righteous.

OBSERVE the perfect man with care,
And mark all such as upright are;

Their roughest days in peace shall end : While on the latter end of those, Who dare God's sacred will oppose, A common ruin shall attend.

2 God to the just will aid afford,
Their only safeguard is the Lord;
Their strength, in time of need, is He :
Because on Him they still depend,
The Lord will timely succour send,

And from the wicked set them free.

PSALM XXXVIII.

This Psalm is the third of those styled Penitential. As our Lord took upon Him the guilt and suffered the punishment of sin, and as there are some passages in the latter part of the Psalm literally predictive of His passion, the sinner should be led by his own sorrows to reflect on those of his Redeemer.

1 AMIDST thy wrath remember love.
Restore thy servant, Lord;

Nor let a Father's chast'ning prove
Like an avenger's sword.
2 My sins a heavy burden are,
And o'er my head are gone;
Too heavy they for me to bear,
Too hard for me t' atone.

3 My thoughts are like a troubled sea,
My head still bending down;
And I go mourning all the day,
Beneath my Father's frown.

4 All my desire to Thee is known:
Thine eye counts every tear;
And every sigh and every groan
Are notic'd by thine ear.

5 Thou art my God, my only hope!
My God will hear my cry:

My God will bear my spirit up,
When Satan bids me die.

6 My God! forgive my follies past,
And be for ever nigh:

O Lord of my Salvation, haste,
And save me, or I die!

RE

EBUK'D, chastis'd, thy wrath sustain'd,
What griefs the Saviour's soul dismay!

Thine arrows in his heart remain'd;
Thy hand, O Lord, afflictive lay.

2 His bones within his tortur'd frame,
Rack'd with continu'd anguish, fail'd:
Thine anger waked the burning flame,
When guilt, but not His Own, prevail'd.
3 Beneath our numerous sins he stood,
Their burden rolling o'er his head:
How great the weight! how vast the load!
The God sustain'd-the Manhood bled!
4 Deep were the wounds our folly gave,
The wounds the dying Saviour bore,
When, bow'd in agonies to save,
Life flowed from every bleeding pore.
5 Beneath our guilt his loins opprest,
His flesh the dreadful torment bare ;
Feeble and broke, his anguish'd breast,
Pour'd to thine ear the dying prayer.
6 Thy throne receives his earnest cries,
His groans thy kind compassion move :
Now on his Cross thy Church relies,
And through his death implores thy love.

(vv. 10-15.)

7 With panting heart, and vigour flown,
Light from his failing eyes withdrew :
His friends th' endearing bonds disown,
Nor 'midst his griefs the Saviour knew.
8 No friendly sympathy prepares

Its aid-when foes around him meet;
When hatred spreads its fatal snares,
In mischiefs speaks or plans deceit.
9 But, silent 'midst the foul disdain,
Deaf are his ears and dumb his tongue :
His lips no base reproaches stain;
Nor censures to his heart belong.

10 On Thee, O Lord, his hopes reclin'd,
To hear; to vindicate his Name:
Thy hand sustain'd his sinking mind:
Then hear, through HIM, our humble claim.
(vv. 16-22.)

11 "Oh hear My prayer," the Saviour cried, "Lest o'er my soul my foes rejoice:

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Behold, behold, his footsteps slide!"
His foes exclaim, with boasting voice.

12 Sorrow and guilt their load prepare,
And o'er his breast unceasing roll;
Nor did my Lord refuse to bear
The sins and burdens of my soul !
13 Behold his powerful foes arise,
With causeless malice round him throng:
They evil for his good devise,

And his kind love repay with wrong.
14 He asks-Jehovah's pity flows;
Swift to uphold, his God appears:
His great Salvation he bestows,
His Church with joy his victory hears.

PSALM XXXIX.

This Psalm is, with the utmost propriety, appointed by the Church to be used at the Burial of the Dead; as a Funeral is the best comment upon it.

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TE

FIRST PART. (vv. 4-7.) c. M.
Mortality of Man.

EACH me the measure of my days,
Thou Maker of my frame:

I would survey life's narrow space,
And learn how frail I am.

2 A span is all that we can boast,
An inch or two of time:

Man is but vanity and dust,

In all his flower and prime.

3 Some walk in honour's gaudy show,
Some dig for golden ore:

They toil for heirs they know not who,
And straight are seen no more.

4 What should I wish or wait for, then,
From creatures, earth and dust?
They make our expectations vain,
And disappoint our trust.

5 Now I forbid my carnal hope,
My fond desires recall :
I give my mortal interest up,
And make my GOD my All.

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SECOND PART. (vv. 9-13.) C. M.
Prayer and Resignation in Sickness.

GOD of my life, look gently down..
Behold the pains I feel;

But I am dumb before thy throne,
Nor dare dispute thy will..

2 Diseases are thy servants, Lord,
They come at thy command:
I'll not attempt a murm'ring word
Against thy chast'ning hand.

3 Yet I may plead, with humble cries,
"Remove thy sharp rebukes:"
My strength consumes, my spirit dies,
Through thy repeated strokes.

4 Crush'd as a moth beneath thy hand,
We moulder to the dust:

Our feeble powers can ne'er withstand,
And all our beauty's lost.

5 I'm but a sojourner below,
As all my fathers were:
May I be well prepar'd to go,
When I the summons hear!

6 But if my life be spared awhile,
Before my last remove,

Thy praise shall be my business still,
And I'll declare thy love.

PSALM XL.

It is plain, from Heb. x. 5-7, that the prophet is speaking, in this Psalm, in

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I

the person of Christ.

FIRST PART. (vv. 1—3.) C. M.
Christ's Deliverance from His Sufferings.
WAITED meekly for the Lord;
He bow'd to hear my cry:
He saw me resting on his Word,
And brought Salvation nigh.

2 He rais'd me from a horrid pit,
Where mourning long I lay;
And from my bonds releas'd my feet,
Deep bonds of miry clay.

3 Firm on a rock he made me stand;
And taught my cheerful tongue
To praise the wonders of his hand,
In a new thankful song.

4 I'll spread his works of grace abroad,
The saints with joy shall hear,
And sinners learn to make my God
Their only hope and fear.