2 Death, and the terrors of the grave,
Stood round me with their dismal shade,
While floods of high temptations rose,
And made my finking soul afraid.
3 I faw the op'ning gates of hell,
With endless pains and forrows there;
Which none but they that feel can tell,.
While I was hurried to despair.
4 In my distress I call'd, “ my God,”
When I could scarce believe him mine;
He bow'd his ear to my complaint;
Then did his grace appear divine.
5 [With speed he flew to my relief,
As on a cherub's wing he rode;
Awful and bright as lightning shone
The face of my deliv❜rer God.
6 Temptations fled at his rebuke,
The blaft of his almighty breath:
He fent falvation from on high,
And drew me from the deeps of death.
7 Great were my fears, my foes were grea
Much was their ftrength, and more their r
But Chrift, my Lord, is conqu'ror ftill,
In all the wars that devils wage.
8 My fong for ever fhall record
That terrible, that joyful hour;
And give the glory to the Lord,
Due to his mercy, and his pow'r.
PSALM XVIII, ver. 20—26.
Second Part. (L.M.)
Sincerity proved and rewarded.
I LORD, thou haft seen my foul fincere,
Haft made thy truth and love appear ;
Before mine eyes I fet thy laws,
And thou haft own'd my righteous caufe.
2 Since I have learn'd thy holy ways,
I've walk'd upright before thy face;
Or if my feet did e'er depart,
'Twas never with a wicked heart.
3 What fore temptations broke my reft!
What wars and ftrugglings in my breast!
But thro' thy grace that reigns within,
I guard against my darling fin.
4 That fin that clofe befets me ftill,
That works and strives against my will;
When fhall thy Spirit's fov'reign pow'r
Destroy it that it rife no more?
5 [With an impartial hand, the Lord
Deals out to mortals their reward:
The kind and faithful fouls fhall find
A God as faithful and as kind.
6 The juft and pure fhall ever fay,
Thou art more pure, more just than they :
And men that love revenge fhall know,
God hath an arm of veng'ance too.]
PSALM XVIII. ver. 30-35. 46, &c.
Third Part. (L.M.)
Rejoicing in God; or, falvation and triumph.
JUST are thy ways, and true thy word,
Great Rock of my fecure abode :
Who is a God befide the Lord ?
Or where's a refuge like our God?
'Tis he that girds me with his might,
ves me his holy fword to wield:
J while with fin and hell I fight,
reads his falvation for my fhield.
3 He lives (and bleffed be my Rock!)
The God of my falvation lives:
The dark defigns of hell are broke ;
Sweet is the peace iny Father gives.
4 Before the fcoffers of the age,
I will exalt my Father's name;
Nor tremble at their mighty rage,
But meet reproach, and bear the fhame.
To David and his royal feed
Thy grace for ever fhail extend:
Thy love to faints in Chrift their head,
Knows not a limit, nor an end.
PSALM XVIII. First Part. (C.M.) Victory and triumph over temporal enemies. 1 We love thee, Lord, and we adore;
Now is thine arm reveal'd:
Thou art our ftrength, our heav'nly tow'
Our bulwark, and our shield.
2 We fly to our Eternal Rock,
And find a fure defence;
His holy name our lips invoke,
And draw falvation thence.
3 When God our leader fhines in arms,
What mortal heart can bear
The thunder of his loud alarms,
The lightning of his spear?
4 He rides upon the winged wind,
And angels, in array,
In millions wait to know his mind,
And fwift as flames obey.
5 He fpeaks, and at his fierce rebuke
Whole armies are difmay'd;
His voice, his frown, his angry lock,
Strikes all their courage dead.
е
6 He forms our gen'rals for the field, With all their dreadful skill;
Gives them his awful fword to wield,
And makes their hearts of steel.
7 [He arms our captains to the fight,
(Tho' there his name's forgot;)
He girded Cyrus with his might,
But Cyrus knew him not.
3 Oft has the Lord whole nations bleft,
For his own church's fake:
The pow'rs that give his people rest,
Shall of his care partake.]
PSALM XVIII. Second Part. (C.M.)
The conqueror's fong.
To thine almighty arm we owe
The triumphs of the day:
Thy terrors, Lord, confound the foe,
And melt their ftrength away.
2 'Tis by thine aid our troops prevail,
And break united pow'rs;
Or burn their boafted fleets, or scale
The proudest of their tow'rs.
How have we chas'd them thro' the field,
And trod them to the ground,
While thy falvation was our fhield,
But they no shelter found.
In vain to idol faints they cry, ⠀
And perish in their blood:
Where is a rock so great, so high,
So pow'rful as our God!
The rock of Iír'el ever lives,
His name be ever bleft;
'Tis his own arm the vict'ry gives,
And gives his people re
6 On kings that reign as David did,
He pours his bleffings down;
Secures their honours to their feed,
And well fupports their crown.
PSALM XIX. First Part. (S.M.)
The book of nature and scripture.
For a Lord's day morning. .
BEHOLD the lofty fky
Declares its Maker God,
And all his ftarry works. on hight
Proclaim his pow'r abroad.
2 The darkness and the light
Still keep their course the fame;
While night to day, and day to night,
Divinely teach his name.
Their gen'ral voice is known; y
They fhew the wanders of his hand,
And orders of his throne.
Ye British lands rejoice;
Here he reveals his word
We are not left to Nature's voice
His ftatutes and commands
Are fet before our eyes :*
He puts his gofpel in our hands, i W
Where our falvation lies.
His laws are just and pure,,
His truth without deceit;
His promises for ever fure,
And his rewards are great.
[Not honey to the taste
Affords fo much delight,
Nor gold that has the furnace paft
So much allures the fight..
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