These hands let useful skill forsake,

This voice in silence die.

4 For her my tears shall fall;
For her my prayers ascend;

To her my cares and toil be given,
Till toils and cares shall end.

5 Beyond my highest joy,

I prize her heavenly ways,

Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
Her hymns of love and praise.

Ở Sure as thy truth shall last,

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To Zion shall be given

The brightest glories earth can yield,
And brighter bliss of heaven.

PSALM 137, 10s.

The captive Tribes.

aff 1 A LONG the banks where Babel's current flows, The captive bands in deep despondence strayed; While Zion's fall in sad remembrance rose,

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Her friends, her children, mingled with the dead. mf 2 The tuneful harp that once with joy they strung, When praise employed and mirth inspired the lay, Was now in silence on the willows hung,

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While growing grief prolonged the tedious day. 3 Their proud oppressors, to increase their woe, With taunting smiles a song of Zion claim; Bid sacred praise in strains melodious flow. While they blaspheme the great Jehovah's name. mp 4 But how, in heathen chains, and lands unknown, Shall Israel's bands the sacred anthems raise ? "O hapless Salem! God's terrestrial throne, Thou land of glory, sacred mount of praise!mp 5 "If e'er my mem'ry lose thy lovely name, If my cold heart neglect my kindred race, Let dire destruction seize this guilty frame, My hand shall perish, and my voice shall cease."

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PSALM 138, L. M.

Praise for divine Protection.

f 1 WITH all my powers of heart and tongue, I'll praise my Maker in my song;

Angels shall hear the notes I raise, Approve the song, and join the praise. mp 2 To God I cried, when troubles rose: He heard me, and subdued my foes; He did my rising fears control,

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And strength diffused through all my soul.
3 Amid a thousand snares I stand,

Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.
4 I'll sing thy truth and mercy, Lord;
I'll sing the wonders of thy word;
Not all thy works and names below
So much thy power and glory show.

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PSALM 139, First Part, L. M.

The Omniscience of God.

LORD! thou hast searched and seen me

through:

Thine eye commands, with piercing view,
My rising and my resting hours,

My heart and flesh, with all their powers.
2 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;

He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.
3 Within thy circling power I stand,
On every side I find thy hand;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.

4 Oh! may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

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PSALM 139, Second Part, L. M.
The ever-present God.

YOULD I so false, so faithless

COULD

prove,

To quit thy service and thy love,
Where, Lord! could I thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?

mf 2 If up to heaven I take my flight,

T' is there thou dwellest enthroned in light;

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Or plunge to hell,-there justice reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
f'll 3 lf, mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the western sea,
Thy swifter hand would first arrive,
And there arrest thy fugitive.

4 Or, should I try to shun thy sight,
Beneath the spreading veil of night,
One glance of thine, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darkness into day.

mp 5 Oh! may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.

7

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PSALM 139, Third Part, L. M.
The wonderful Formation of Man

1 'TWAS thyha curious frame;
WAS from thy hand, my God! I came,

In me thy fearful wonders shine,
And each proclaims thy skill divine.
2 Great God! my feeble nature pays
Immortal tribute to thy praise;
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.

3 I could survey the ocean o'er,

And count each sand that makes the shore,
Before my swiftest thoughts could trace
The numerous wonders of thy grace.

4 These on my heart are still impressed;
With these I give my eyes to rest;
And, at my waking hour, I find
God and his love possess my mind.

How

PSALM 139, L. M., 6 Lines.

God, good and omniscient.

OW precious are thy thoughts of peace,
O God! to me-how great the sum!
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New every morn, they never cease

They were, they are, and yet shall come,

In number, and in compass more
Than ocean's sand, or ocean's shore.

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2 Search me, O God! and know my heart,
Try me, my secret soul survey;
And warn thy servant to depart
From every false and evil way:
So shall thy truth my guidance be,
In life and immortality.

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PSALM 139, First Part, C. M.
God every where.

IN all my vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try,

To shun thy presence, Lord! or flee
The notice of thine eye.

2 Thine all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,

My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.

3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they 're formed within;
And, ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.

4 Oh! wondrous knowledge, deep and high,
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Enclosed on every side.

5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,

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To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.

PSALM 139, Second Tart, C. M.
Omniscience of God.

mp 1 LORD! where shall guilty souls retire, Forgotten and unknown?

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VA

In hell they meet thy dreadful fire-
In heaven thy glorious throne.

2 Should I suppress my vital breath,
To shun the wrath divine,

Thy voice would break the bars of death,
And make the grave resign.

f" 3 If, winged with beams of morning light, I fly beyond the west,

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Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.

4 If, o'er my sins, I think to draw

The curtains of the night,

Those flaming eyes, that guard thy law,
Would turn the shades to light.

M 5 The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to thee:

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Oh! may I ne'er provoke that power,
From which I cannot flee.

PSALM 139, Third Part, C. M.
The Mercies of God.

1 LORD! when I count thy mercies o'er,
They strike me with surprise;

Not all the sands, that spread the shore,
To equal numbers rise.

2 My flesh, with fear and wonder, stands,
The product of thy skill;

And hourly blessings, from thy hands,
Thy thoughts of love reveal.

3 These on my heart by night I keep;
How kind, how dear to me!

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Oh! may the hour, that ends my sleep,
Still find my thoughts with thee.

PSALM 139, C. M., 6 Lines.

God spiritually present.

EYOND, beyond that boundless sea,
Above that dome of sky,

Farther than thought itself can flee,
Thy dwelling is on high;

Yet dear the awful thought to me,
That thou, my God! art nigh ;-

2 Art nigh, and yet my lab'ring mind
Feels after thee in vain,—

Thee in these works of power to find,
Or to thy seat attain;-

Thy messenger-the stormy wind;
Thy path-the trackless main.

ƒ" 3 These speak of thee with loud acclaim; They thunder forth thy praise,