Unto thy servant give thy strength,

And save thy handmaid's son. 7 Some sign of good to me afford,

And let my foes then' see,
And be ashamed; because thou Lord

Dost help and comfort me.

PSALM LXXXVII.

I Among the holy mountains 'high'

Is his foundation fast,
• There seated in his sanctuary,

His temple there is placed.'
2 Sion’s ‘fair' gates the Lord loves more

Than all the dwellings 'fair'
Of Jacob's' land, though there be store,

And all within his care.'
3 City of God, most glorious things

Of thee abroad' are spoke;
4 I mention Egypt, 'where proud kings

Did our forefathers yoke.'
I mention Babel to my friends,

Philistia · full of scorn,'
And Tyre with Ethiops' utmost ends,'

Lo this man there was born:
5 But 'twice that praise shall in our ear'

Be said of Sion ‘last,'
This and this man was born in her,

High God shall fix her fast.
6 The Lord shall write it in a scroll

That ne'er shall be out-worn,
When he the nations doth inroll,

That this man there was born.
7 Both they who sing, and they who dance

• With sacred songs are there,' In thee “fresh brooks, and soft streams glance,

And’ all my fountains 'clear.'

PSALM LXXXVIII.

1 Lord God that dost me save and keep,

Al day to thee I cry;

And all night long before thee weep,

Before thee . prostrate lie.' 2 Into thy presence let my prayer

* With sighs devout ascend;' And to my cries, that'ceaseless are,'

Thine ear with favour bend.
3 For cloy'd with woes and trouble sore

Surcharged my soul doth lie,
My life . at death's uncheerful door,'

Unto the grave draws nigh.
4 Reckon'd I am with them that pass

Down to the dismal' pit, I am a man, but weak alas,

And for that name unfit.
5 From life discharged and parted quite

Among the dead to sleep,'
And like the slain in 'bloody fight

That in the grave lie deep.'
Whom thou rememberest no more,

Dost never more regard,
Them from thy hand deliver'd o'er,

* Death's hideous house hath barr'd.' 6 Thou in the lowest pit profound'

Hast set me * all forlorn,'
Where thickest darkness hovers round,'

In horrid deeps 'to mourn.'
7 Thy wrath, from which po shelter saves,

Full sore doth press on me;
Thou break'st upon me all thy waves,

And all thy waves break me.
8 Thou dost my friends from me estrange,

And makest me odious,
Me to them odious, 'for they change,'

And I here pent up thus.
9 Through sorrow, and affliction great,

Mine eye grows dim and dead, Lord, all the day I thee entreat,

My hands to thee I spread. 10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead,

Shall the deceased arise,

And praise thee from their loathsome bed

With pale and hollow eyes?
11 Shall they thy loving kindness tell

On whom the grave “ hath hold,'
Or they who in perdition ‘dwell,'

Thy faithfulness unfold ?'
12 In darkness can thy mighty hand

Or' wonderous acts be known,
Thy justice in the gloomy' land

Of dark’ oblivion ?
13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry,

* Ere yet my life be spent,'
And up to thee' my prayer' doth hie,'

Each morn, and thee prevent.
14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake,

And hide thy face from me?
15 That am already bruised, and shake

With terror sent from thee?
Bruised, and afflicted, and so low'

As ready to expire,
While I thy terrors undergo

Astonish'd with thine ire.
16 Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow,

Thy threatenings cut me through: 17 All day they round about me go,

Like waves they me pursue.
18 Lover and friend thou hast removed,

And sever'd from me far :
They • fly me now' whom I have loved,

And as in darkness are.

A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXIV.

This and the following Psalm were done by the Author

at fifteen years old.

When the bless'd seed of Terah's faithful son
After long toil, their liberty had won,
And pass'd from Pharian fields to Canaan land,
Led by the strength of the Almighty's hand,
Jehovah's wonders were in Israel shown,
His praise and glory was in Israel known

That saw the troubled sea, and shivering fled,
And sought to hide his froth-becurled head
Low in the earth ; Jordan's clear streams recoil
As a faint host that hath received the foil.
The high, huge-bellied mountains skip like ramz
Amongst their ewes, the little hills like lambs.
Why fled the ocean? and why skipp'd the mountains?
Why turned Jordan toward his crystal fountains ?
Shake Earth, and at the presence be aghast
Of Him that ever was, and aye shall last,
That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush,
And make soft rills from fiery flint-stones gush.

PSALM CXXXVI.

Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind,
For his mercies

aye endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.
Let us blaze his name abroad,
For of Gods he is the God.

For his, &c.
O let us his praises tell,
Who doth the wrathful tyrants quell.

For his, &c.
Who with his miracles doth make
Amazed Heaven and Earth to shake.

For his, &c.
Who by his wisdom did create
The painted heavens so full of state.

For his, &c.
Who did the solid earth ordain
To rise above the watery plain.

For his, &c.
Who by his all-commanding might
Did fill the new-made world with light

For his, &c.
And caused the golden-tressed sun,
All the day log his course to run.

For his, &c.
The horned moon to shine by night,
Amongst her spangled sisters bright.

For his, &c.
He with his thunder-clasping hand
Smote the first-born of Egypt land.

Por his, &c.

And in despite of Pharaoh fell,
He brought from thence his Israel.

For his, &c.
The ruddy waves he cleft in twain
Of the Erythræan main.

For his, &c.
The floods stood still like walls of glass,
While the Hebrew bands did pass.

For his, &c.
But full soon they did devour
The tawny king with all his power.

For his, &c.
His chosen people he did bless
In the wasteful widerness.

For his, &c.
In bloody battle he brought down
Kings of prowess and renown.

For his, &c.
He foil'd bold Seon and his host,
That rul’d the Amorrean coast.

For his, &c.
And large-limbid Og he did subdue,
With all his over-hardy crew.

For his, &c.
And to his servant Tsrael
He gave their land therein to dwell.

For his, &c.
He hath with a piteous eye
Beheld us in our misery,

For his, &c.
And freed us from the slavery
Of the invading enemy.

For his, &c.
All living creatures he doth feed
And with full hand supplies their need.

For his, &c.
Let us therefore warble forth
His mighty majesty and worth.

For his, &c.
That his mansion hath on high
Above the reach of mortal eye.

For his mercies aye endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.