3 Lord, search my soul, try ev'ry thought: 4 Doth secret mischief lurk within? PSALM 140. S. M. A complaint against personal enemies. 1 MY God, while impious men, With malice in their heart, My peace destroy, my life defame, Thy guardian grace impart. 2 With poison in their lips, My footsteps to betray; 4 O hear my humble cry! Their fondest hope destroy; Their arts confound, their plots disclose, 5 On their own heads shall fall Thy hand shall take them in their net, 6 As coals the wood consume, So shall the men of malice sink, 7 The Lord, who hates the proud, Shall scorch the sland'rous tongue; Shall hunt the wicked from the earth, And well requite their wrong. 8 Thou wilt sustain the poor, And bid th' afflicted sing; Before thee, shall thy children dwell, Their Father, and their King. PSALM 141. L. M. Brotherly reproof. A morning or evening Psalm. 1 MY God, accept my early vows, Like morning incense in thy house; And let my nightly worship rise Sweet as the ev'ning sacrifice. 2 Watch o'er my lips, and guard them, Lord, God is the hope of the helpless. 1 TO God I made my sorrows known, From God I sought relief; In long complaints before his throne 2 My soul was overwhelm'd with woes, My God, who all my burdens knows, 3 On ev'ry side I cast mine eye, 4 Then did I raise a louder cry, 5 Lord, I am brought exceeding low; And make my foes, who vex me, know, 6 From my sad prison set me free; 1 MY PSALM 143. L. M. Mourning under afflictions in mind and body. Y righteous Judge, my gracious God! Hear, when I spread my hands abroad, And cry for succour from thy throne: O make thy truth and mercy known! 2 Let judgment not against me pass; Behold thy servant pleads thy grace : Should justice call us to thy bar, No living man is guiltless there. 3 Look down in pity, Lord, and see. The mighty woes that burden me: Down to the dust my life is brought, Like one long buried and forgot. I dwell in darkness and unseen, My heart is desolate within ; My thoughts in musing silence trace The ancient wonders of thy grace. 5 Thence I derive a glimpse of hope To bear my sinking spirits up; I stretch my hands to God again, And thirst, like parched lands, for rain. 6 For thee I thirst, I pray, I mourn; When will thy smiling face return? Shall all my joys on earth remove? And God forever hide his love? 7 My God, thy long delay, to save, Will sink thy pris'ner to the grave; My heart grows faint, and dim mine eye; Make haste to help before I die. 8 The night is witness to my tears, Distressing pains, distressing fears: O, might I hear thy morning voice, How would my wearied pow'rs rejoice! 9 In thee I trust, to thee I sigh, And raise my grieved soul on high; For thee sit waiting all the day, And wear the tiresome hours away. 10 Break off my fetters, Lord, and show Which is the path, my feet should go; If snares and foes beset the road, I flee to hide me near my God. 11 Teach me to do thy holy will, And lead me to thy heav'nly hill; Let the Good Spirit of thy love Conduct me to thy courts above. 12 Then shall my soul no more complain; The tempter then shall rage in vain : And flesh, that was my foe before, Shall never vex my spirit more. 1 PSALM 144. First Part. C. M. FO OR ever blessed be the Lord, 2 When sin and hell their force unite, 1 PSALM 14. Second Part. C. M. LORD, ORD, what is man, poor feeble man, His life a shadow, light and vain, Still hast'ning to the dust. 2 O what is feeble dying man, Or any of his race, That God should make it his concern 3 That God, who darts his lightnings down; Who shakes the worlds above; While mountains tremble at his frown: PSALM 144. Third Part. L. M. 1 HAPPY the city, where their sons And daughters, bright as polish'd stones, Give strength and beauty to the state. |