PSALM LXXXIV. I How lovely are thy dwellings fair! Where thou dost dwell so near! O living God, for thee. 3 There even the sparrow, freed from wrong, Hath found a house of rest; The swallow there, to lay her young, Hath built her brooding nest; Even by thy altars, Lord of Hosts, And home they fly from round the coasts 4 Happy who in thy house reside, Where thee they ever praise! 5 Happy whose strength in thee doth bide, And in their hearts thy ways! 6 They pass through Baca's thirsty vale, That dry and barren ground, As through a fruitful watery dale Where springs and showers abound. 7 They journey on from strength to strength With joy and gladsome cheer, Till all before our God at length In Sion do appear. 8 Lord God of Hosts, hear now my prayer, O Jacob's God, give ear: ΙΟ 20 9 Thou, God, our shield, look on the face Of thy anointed dear. 30 IO For one day in thy courts to be Is better and more blest Than in the joys of vanity Than dwell in tents and rich abode With sin for evermore. II For God, the Lord, both sun and shield, Gives grace and glory bright; No good from them shall be withheld 40 › Heb.: The burning heat of thy wrath. 2 Heb.: Turn to quicken us. 12 Lord God of Hosts that reign'st on high, Who only on thee doth rely, PSALM LXXXV. I THY land to favour graciously Thou hast not, Lord, been slack; 2 The iniquity thou didst forgive 3 Thine anger all thou hadst removed, And calmly didst return From thy1 fierce wrath, which we had proved 4 God of our saving health and peace, Thine indignation cause to cease 5 Wilt thou be angry without end, Wilt thou thy frowning ire extend 6 Wilt thou not 2 turn and hear our voice, That so thy people may rejoice, By thee preserved alive? 7 Cause us to see thy goodness, Lord; Thy saving health to us afford, And life in us renew. 8 And now what God the Lord will speak For to his people he speaks peace, And to his saints full dear; To his dear saints he will speak peace; Return to folly, but surcease To trespass as before. 9 Surely to such as do him fear And glory shall ere long appear ΙΟ 20 330 To dwell within our land. Io Mercy and Truth, that long were missed, Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kissed, II Truth from the earth like to a flower And Justice from her heavenly bower 12 The Lord will also then bestow Our land shall forth in plenty throw 13 Before him Righteousness shall go, Then will he come, and not be slow; His footsteps cannot err. PSALM LXXXVI. I THY gracious ear, O Lord, incline; 2 Preserve my soul; for I have trod 3 Pity me, Lord, for daily thee I call; 4 Oh make rejoice Thy servant's soul! for, Lord, to thee 5 For thou art good; thou, Lord, art prone Art full of mercy, thou alone, 7 I in the day of my distress 8 Like thee among the gods is none, Of all that other gods have done 9 The nations all whom thou hast made To bow them low before thee, Lord, 10 For great thou art, and wonders great Thou in thy everlasting seat Remainest God alone. II Teach me, O Lord, thy way most right; To fear thy name my heart unite; 12 Thee will I praise, O Lord my God, With my whole heart, and blaze abroad 13 For great thy mercy is toward me, 14 O God, the proud against me rise, To seek my life, and in their eyes No fear of thee have set. 15 But thou, Lord, art the God most mild, Slow to be angry, and art styled 16 Oh turn to me thy face at length, Unto thy servant give thy strength, 17 Some sign of good to me afford, And let my foes then see, And be ashamed, because thou, Lord, PSALM LXXXVII. I AMONG the holy mountains high There seated in his sanctuary, 2 Sion's fair gates the Lord loves more Than all the dwellings fair Of Jacob's land, though there be store, 3 City of God, most glorious things I mention Egypt, where proud kings 4 I mention Babel to my friends, And Tyre, with Ethiop's utmost ends: 5 But twice that praise shall in our ear This and this man was born in her; 6 The Lord shall write it in a scroll, When he the nations doth enroll, 7 Both they who sing and they who dance In thee fresh brooks and soft streams glance, IO 20 PSALM LXXXVIII. I LORD GOD, that dost me save and keep, And all night long before thee weep, 2 Into thy presence let my prayer, And to my cries, that ceaseless are, 3 For, cloyed with woes and trouble store, My life, at death's uncheerful door, 4 Reckoned I am with them that pass I am a 1man but weak, alas ! 5 From life discharged and parted quite Among the dead to sleep, And like the slain in bloody fight IO 1 Heb.: A man without manly strength. 20 |