O Thou that sit'st upon a throne,
With harp of high majestic tone,
To praise the King of kings;
And voice of heaven-ascending swell,
Which, while its deeper notes excel,
Clear as a clarion rings:
To bless each valley, grove and coast,
And charm the cherubs to the post
Of gratitude in throngs;
To keep the days on Zion's mount,
And send the year to his account
With dances and with songs :
O servant of God's holiest charge,
The minister of praise at large,
Which thou may'st now receive;
From thy blest mansion hail and hear,
From topmost eminence appear
To this the wreath I weave.
Great, valiant, pious, good, and clean,
Sublime, contemplative, serene,
Strong, constant, pleasant, wise!
Bright effluence of exceeding grace;
Best man!-the swiftness and the race,
The peril, and the prize!
Great-from the lustre of his crown,
From Samuel's horn and God's renown,
Which is the people's voice;
For all the host, from rear to van,
Applauded and embraced the man—
The man of God's own choice.
Valiant-the word and up he rose-
The fight-he triumphed o'er his foes,
Whom God's just laws abhor;
And armed in gallant faith he took
Against the boaster, from the brook,
The weapons of the war.
Pious-magnificent and grand;
'Twas he the famous temple planned
(The seraph in his soul);
Foremost to give his Lord his dues,
Foremost to bless the welcome news,
And foremost to condole.
Good-from Jehudah's genuine vein,
From God's best nature good in grain,
His aspect and his heart;
To pity, to forgive, to save;
Witness Engedi's conscious cave,
And Shimei's blunted dart.
Clean-if perpetual prayer be pure,
And love, which could itself inure
To fasting and to fear-
Clean in his gestures, hands, and feet,
To smite the lyre, the dance complete,
To play the sword and spear.
Sublime-invention ever young,
Of vast conception, towering tongue
To God th' eternal theme;
Notes from yon exaltations caught,
Unrivalled royalty of thought
O'er meaner strains supreme.
Contemplative-on God to fix
His musings, and above the six
The sabbath-day he blest;
'Twas then his thoughts self-conquest pruned, And heavenly melancholy tuned,
To bless and bear the rest.
Serene-to sow the seeds of peace,
Remembering, when he watched the fleece,
How sweetly Kidron purled-
To further knowledge, silence vice,
And plant perpetual paradise
When God had calmed the world.
Strong in the Lord, who could defy
Satan, and all his powers that lie
In sempiternal night;
And hell, and horror, and despair
Were as the lion and the bear
To his undaunted might.
Constant-in love to God the truth,
Age, manhood, infancy and youth—
To Jonathan his friend
Constant, beyond the verge of death,
And Ziba and Mephibosheth
His endless fame attend.
Pleasant-and various as the year;
Man, soul, and angel, without peer,
Priest, champion, sage, and boy;
In armour or in ephod clad,
His pomp, his piety was glad;
Majestic was his joy.
Wise-in recovery from his fall,
Whence rose his eminence o'er all,
Of all the most reviled;
The light of Israel in his ways,
Wise are his precepts, prayer and praise
And counsel to his child.
His muse, bright angel of his verse,
Gives balm for all the thorns that pierce,
For all the pangs that rage;
Blest light, still gaining on the gloom,
The more than Michal of his bloom,
Th' Abishag of his age.
He sung of God-the mighty source
Of all things-the stupendous force
On which all strength depends;
From whose right arm, beneath whose eyes,
All period, power and enterprise
Commences, reigns, and ends.
Angels-their ministry and meed,
Which to and fro with blessings speed,
Or with their citterns wait;
Where Michael with his millions bows,
Where dwells the seraph and his spouse,
The cherub and her mate.
Of man-the semblance and effect
Of God and Love-the Saint elect
For infinite applause-
To rule the land, and briny broad,
To be laborious in his laud,
And heroes in his cause.
The world-the clustering spheres he made, The glorious light, the soothing shade,
Dale, champaign, grove and hill;
The multitudinous abyss,
Where secrecy remains in bliss,
And wisdom hides her skill.
Trees, plants, and flowers-of virtuous root;
Gem yielding blossom, yielding fruit,
Choice gums and precious balm;
Bless ye the nosegay in the vale,
And with the sweetness of the gale
Enrich the thankful psalm.
Of fowl-e'en every beak and wing
Which cheer the winter, hail the spring,
That live in peace or prey;
They that make music, or that mock,
The quail, the brave domestic cock,
The raven, swan, and jay.
Of fishes-every size and shape
Which nature frames of light escape,
Devouring man to shun:
The shells are in the wealthy deep,
The shoals upon the surface leap,
And love the glancing sun.
Of beasts-the beaver plods his task,
While the sleek tigers roll and bask,
Nor yet the shades arouse;
Her cave the mining coney scoops;
Where o'er the mead the mountain stoops
The kids exult and browse.
Of gems-their virtue and their price,
Which hid in earth from man's device,
Their darts of lustre sheathe;
The jasper of the master's stamp,
The topaz blazing like a lamp
Among the mines beneath.
O David, highest on the list
Of worthies, on God's ways insist,
The genuine word repeat:
Vain are the documents of men,
And vain the flourish of the pen
That keeps the fool's conceit.
Praise above all-for praise prevails :
Heap up the measure, load the scales,
And good to goodness add :
The generous soul her favour aids,
But peevish obloquy degrades ;
The Lord is great and glad.
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