'Tis like refreshing dew, which does
On Hermon's top distil;
Or like the early drops that fall
On Sion's favour'd hill.

For Sion is the chosen seat
Where the Almighty King
The promised blessing has ordain'd,
And life's eternal spring.

SELECTION 108.

C. M.

From the cxxxiv. Psalm of David.

BLESS God, ye servants, that attend
Upon his solemn state;

That in his temple's hallow'd courts
With humble reverence wait.
2 Within his house lift up your hands
And bless his holy Name:
From Sion bless thy Israel, Lord
Who earth and heaven didst frame.

SELECTION 109. C. M.

From the cxxxv. Psalm of David.

PRAISE the Lord with one consent,
And magnify his Name;

Let all the servants of the Lord
His worthy praise proclaim.

2 Praise him, all ye that in his house
Attend with constant care;
With those that to his outmost courts
With humble zeal repair.

3 For God his own peculiar choice
The sons of Jacob makes;
And Israel's offspring for his own
Most valued treasure takes.

4 That God is great, we often have
By glad experience found;

And seen how he, with wondrous power,
Above all gods is crown'd.

5 For he, with unresisted strength,
Performs his sovereign will,

In heaven and earth, and watery stores
That earth's deep caverns fill.

6 Their just returns of thanks to God
Let grateful Israel pay;

Nor let anointed Aaron's race
To bless the Lord delay.

7 Their sense of his unbounded love
Let Levi's house express;

And let all those who fear the Lord,
His Name for ever bless.

8 Let all with thanks his wondrous works
In Sion's courts proclaim;
Let them in Salem, where he dwells,
Exalt his holy Name.

SELECTION 110. II. 4.

From the cxxxvi. Psalm of David.

TO God, the mighty Lord,
Your joyful thanks repeat;

To him due praise afford,
As good as he is great:
For God does prove

Our constant friend;
His boundless love

Shall never end.

2 To him, whose wondrous power
All other gods obey,
Whom earthly kings adore,
Your grateful homage pay;
For God &c.

3 By his almighty hand

Amazing works are wrought;
The heavens by his command
Were to perfection brought:
For God &c.

4 He spread the ocean round
About the spacious land;
And bade the rising ground
Above the waters stand:
For God &c.

5 By him the heavens display
Their numerous hosts of light;
The sun to rule by day,

The moon and stars, by night:
For God &c.

6 He, in our depth of woes,
On us with favour thought;
And from our cruel foes

In peace and safety brought:
For God &c.

7 He does the food supply

On which all creatures live:
To God, who reigns on high,
Eternal praises give:
For God will prove
Our constant friend;
His boundless love
Shall never end.

SELECTION 111.

L. M

From the cxxxvii. Psalm of David.

WHEN we, our weary limbs to rest,
Sat down by proud Euphrates' stream,
We wept, with doleful thoughts oppress'd,
And Sion was our mournful theme.
e Our harps, that, when with joy we sung,
Were wont their tuneful parts to bear,
With silent strings neglected hung

On willow trees that wither'd there.
3 0 Salem, our once happy seat,
When I of thee forgetful prove,
Let then my trembling hand forget
The speaking strings with art to move.

4 If I to mention thee forbear,
Perpetual silence be my doom;
Or if my chiefest joy compare
With thee, Jerusalem, my home!
SELECTION 112. C. M.

From the cxxxviii. Psalm of David.

WITH my whole heart, my God and King,

Thy praise I will proclaim;

Before the mighty I will sing,
And bless thy holy Name.
2 I'll worship at thy sacred seat,
And, with thy love inspired,
The praises of thy truth repeat,
O'er all thy works admired.

3 Thou graciously inclin'dst thine ear,
When I to thee did cry;

And, when my soul was press'd with fear,
Didst inward strength supply.

4 For God, although enthroned on high,
Does thence the poor respect;
The proud, far off, his scornful eye
Beholds with just neglect.

5 Though I with troubles am oppress'd,
He shall my foes disarm,

Relieve my soul when most distress'd,
And keep me safe from harm.

6 The Lord, whose mercies ever last,
Shall fix my happy state;

And mindful of his favours past,
Shall his own work complete.

SELECTION 113. L. M.

From the cxxxix. Psalm of David.

THOU, Lord, by strictest search hast known
My rising up and lying down;

My secret thoughts are known to thee,
Known long before conceived by me.

Thine eye my bed and path surveys,
My public haunts and private ways:
Thou know'st what 'tis my lips would vent,
My yet unutter'd words' intent.
Surrounded by thy power I stand,
On every side I find thy hand;
O skill for human reach too high!
Too dazzling bright for mortal eye!
From thy all-seeing Spirit, Lord,
What hiding-place does earth afford?
O where can I thy influence shun,
Or whither from thy presence run?
If up to heaven I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'st, enthroned in light;
If to the world unseen, my God,
There also hast thou thine abode.
If I the morning's wings could gain,
And fly beyond the western main;
E'en there, in earth's remotest land,
I still should find thy guiding hand.
7 Or, should I try to shun thy sight
Beneath the sable wings of night,
One glance from thee, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darkness into day.
8 The veil of night is no disguise,

No screen from thy all-searching eyes;
Through midnight shades thou find'st thy way,
As in the blazing noon of day.

9 Thou know'st the texture of my heart,
My reins and every vital part:

I'll praise thee, from whose hands I came
A work of such a wondrous frame.
10 Let me acknowledge too, O God,
That since this maze of life I trod,
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.