F

He, that upholds that wondrous frame, Guards his own church with watchful eyes .

PSALM 125., S. M.

The trials and safety of believers. 1 TIRM and unmov'd are they

That rest their souls on God; Fix'd as the mount where David dwelt,

Or where the ark abode.. 2. As mountains stood to guard:

The city's sacred ground, So God and his almighty love

Embrace his saints around.. 3 Whạt, tho' the Father's rod

Drop a chastising stroke,
Yet, lest it wound their souls too deep,

Its fury shall be broke.
4 Deal gently, Eord, with those;

Whose faith and pious fear, Whose hope and love, and ev'ry grace,

Proclaim their hearts sincere. 5 Nor shall the tyrant's.rage

Too long oppress the saint :: The God of Israel will support

His children, lest they faints. 6. But if our slavish fear

Will choose the road to hell; We must receive our portion there;.

Where bolder sinners dwell.

PSALM 126, First Part. L. M.

Praise for surprising deliverance to the nation: 1

Joy was our song, and grace our theme; A grace beyond our hopes so great, The joy appear'd but fancy's dream,

WHEN God restord our captive state

2 The scoffer owns thy hand, and pays

Unwilling honours to thy name;
While we with pleasure shout thy praise,

With cheerful notes thy loye proclaim. 3 When we review'd our dismal fears,

'Twas hard to think they'd vanish so';
With God we left our flowing tears,
He makes our joys like rivers flow.
PSALM 126. . Second Part. C. M.

The joy of conversion. 1 WHEN God reveal'd his gracious name,

my My rapture seem'd a pleasing dream,

The grace appear's so great. 2 The world beheld the glorious change,

And did thy hand confess; My tongue broke out in unknown strains,

And sung surprising grace. 3 “Great is the work," my neighbours cried

And own'd thy pow'r divine ; “Great is the work," my heart replied,

. “And be the glory thine.” 4 The Lord can clear the darkest skies,

Can give us day for night; Make drops of sacred sorrow rise

To rivers of delight.
5 Let those that sow in sadness wait

Till the fair harvest come:
They shall. confess their sheaves are great,

And shout the blessings home. 6. Tho' seed lie buried long in dust,

It shan't deceive their hope :
The precious grain can ne'er be lostz.

For grace insures the crop. .

3

PSALM 127. L. M. The blessing of God on the cares and comforts of life.

F 1 I God succeed not, all the cost

And pains to build the house are lost ; If God the city do not keep,

The watchful guards as well may sleep. 2 What, tho' you rise before the sun,

And work and toil when day is done;
Careful and sparing eat your bread,

To shun that poverty you dread;
3 'Tis all in vain, till God hath blest;

He can make rich, yet give us rest :
Children and friends are blessings too,

If God, our sov’reign, make them so. 4 Happy the man to whom he sends.

Obedient children, faithful friends :
How sweet our daily comforts prove, ,
When they are season’d with his love !

PSALM 128. C. M.

A christian blessed in his family. 1 O

HAPPY man, whose soul is fill'd

With faith and rev'rend awe;
Whose lips to God their honours yield,

Whose life adorns the law.
2 A careful Providence shall stand,

And ever guard thy head ;
And on the labours of thy hand

Its kindly blessings shed.
3 Thy wife shall be a fruitful vine;

Thy children round thy board,
Each, like a plant of honour, shine,

And learn to fear the Lord.
4 The Lord shall thy best hopes fulfil,

For months and years to come ;

a

The Lord, who dwells on Zion's hill,

Shall send the blessings home.
5 This is the man, whose happy eyes

Shall see his house increase;
Shall see the sinking church arise,
And leave the world in peace.

PSALM 129. C. M.

Persecutors punished.
1
UI
P from my youth, may Israel say,

Have I been nurs'd in tears;
My griefs were constant as the day,
And tedious as the

years.
2 Up from my youth | bore the rage

Of all the sons of strife;
Oft they assail'd my riper age,
But not destroy'd my life.

. 3 Their cruel plough had torn my flesh

With furrows long and deep ; Hourly they vex'd my wounds afresh,

Nor let my sorrows sleep.
& How was their insolence surpris'd,

To hear his thunders roll!
And all the foes of Zion seiz'd

With horror to the soul. 5 Thus shall the men that hate the saints,

Be blasted from the sky;
Their glory fades, their courage faints,

And all their projects die.
6 What tho' they flourish tall and fair,

They have no root beneath ;
Their growth shall perish in despair,

And lie despis'd in death. 7 So corn, that on the house-top stands,

No hope of harvest gives ;

The reaper ne'er shall fill his hands, ,

Nor binder fold the sheaves :
8 It springs and withers on the place:

No traveller bestows
A word of blessing on the grass,
Nor minds it as he goes.

PSALM 130. C. M.

Pardoning grace.
1 UT of the depths of long distress,

The borders of despair,
I sent my cries to seek thy grace,

My groans to move thine ear.
2 Great God ! should thy severer eye,

And thine impartial hand, Mark and revenge iniquity,

No mortal flesh could stand. 3 But there are pardons with my God

For crimes of high degree; Thy Son has bought them with his blood

To draw us near to thee. 4 I wait for thy salvation, Lord,

With strong desires I wait;
My soul, invited by thy word,

Stands watching at thy gate.
I Just as the guards, that keep the night,

Long for the morning skies ;
Watch the first beams of breaking light;

And meet them with their eyes : 6 So waits my soul to see thy grace,

And, more intent than they, Meets the first op'nings of thy face,

And finds a brighter day. 7 Then in the Lord let Israel trust ;

Let Israel seek his face: