3 Yet thy forgiving grace we trust,
And in thy power rejoice;
Thine arms shall bring our foes to dust,
Thy praise inspire our voice.
4 Be thou with those whose friendly hand
Upheld us in distress,
Extend thy truth through every land,
And still thy people bless.
PSALM 55. FIRST PART. C. M.
GOD, my refuge, hear my cries,
Behold my flowing tears;
For earth and hell my hurt devise,
And triumph in my fears.
2 Their rage is leveled at my life,
My soul with guilt they load,
And fill my thoughts with inward strife,
To shake my hope in God.
3 What inward pains my heart-strings wound.
I groan with every breath;
Horror and fear beset me round
Amongst the shades of death.
4 Oh were I like a feathered dove,
And innocence had wings,
I'd fly, and make a long remove
From all these restless things.
5 Let me to some wild desert go,
And find a peaceful home
Where storms of malice never blow,
Temptations never come.
6 By morning light I'll seek his face,
At noon repeat my cry;
The night shall hear me ask his grace,
Nor will he long deny.
7 God shall preserve my soul from fear,
Or shield me when afraid;
Ten thousand angels must appear
If he command their aid.
8 I cast my burdens on the Lord,
The Lord sustains them all;
My courage rests upon his word,
That saints shall never fall.
9 My highest hopes shall not be vain,
My lips shall spread his praise;
While cruel and deceitful men,
Scarce live out half their days.
PSALM 55. SECOND PART. S. M. ET sinners take their course, And choose the road to death; But in the worship of my God I'll spend my daily breath. 2 My thoughts address his throne, When morning brings the light; I seek his blessing every noon, And pay my vows at night.
3 Thou wilt regard my cries,
O my eternal God!
While sinners perish in surprise
Beneath thine angry rod.
4 Because they dwell at ease,
And no sad changes feel,
They neither fear, nor trust thy name
Nor learn to do thy will.
5 But I, with all my cares,
Will lean upon the Lord;
I'll cast my burden on his arm,
And rest upon his word.
6 His arm shall well sustain
The children of his love;
The ground on which their safety stands,
No earthly power can move.
PSALM 56. FIRST PART. C. M.
THOU whose justice reigns on high, And makes the oppressor cease, Behold how envious sinners try
To vex and break my peace.
2 The sons of violence and lies
Join to devour me, Lord;
But as my hourly dangers rise,
My refuge is thy word.
3 In God most holy, just, and true,
I have reposed my trust;
Nor will I fear what flesh can do,
The offspring of the dust.
4 They wrest my words to mischief still,
Charge me with unknown faults;
Mischief doth all their counsels fill,
And malice all their thoughts.
5 Shall they escape without thy frown?
Must their devices stand?
Oh cast the haughty sinner down,
And let him know thy hand.
PSALM 56. SECOND PART. C. M.
OD counts the sorrows of his saints, Their groans affect his ears; Thou hast a book for my complaints, A bottle for my tears.
2 When to thy throne I raise my cry,
The wicked fear and flee:
So swift is prayer to reach the sky,
So near is God to me.
3 In thee, most holy, just, and true,
I have reposed my trust;
Nor will I fear what man can do,
The offspring of the dust.
4 Thy solemn vows are on me, Lord,
Thou shalt receive my praise;
I'll sing how faithful is thy word,
How righteous all thy ways.
5 Thou hast secured my soul from death:
Oh set thy prisoner free,
That heart and hand, and life and breath,
May be employed for thee.
Y God, in whom are all the springs
Of boundless love and grace unknown,
Hide me beneath thy spreading wings,
Till the dark cloud is overblown.
2 Up to the heavens I send my cry,
The Lord will my desires perform;
He sends his angels from the sky,
And saves me from the threatening storm.
3 Be thou exalted, O my God,
Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
4 My heart is fixed; my song shall raise
Immortal honours to thy name;
Awake, my tongue, to sound his praise,
My tongue, the glory of my frame.
5 High o'er the earth his mercy reigns,
And reaches to the utmost sky;
His truth to endless years remains,
When lower worlds dissolve and die.
6 Be thou exalted, O my God,
Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
PSALM 58. P. M.
JUDGES, who rule the world by laws,
ye despise the righteous cause?
When vile oppression wastes the land, Dare ye condemn the righteous poor, And let rich sinners 'scape secure,
While gold and greatness bribe your hand?
2 Have ye forgot, or never knew,
That God will judge the judges too?
High in the heavens his justice reigns;
you invade the rights of God,
And send your bold decrees abroad,
To bind the conscience in your chains.
3 A poisoned arrow is your tongue,
The arrow sharp, the poison strong,
And death attends where'er it wounds;
You hear no counsels, cries, nor tears;
So the deaf adder stops her ears
Against the power of charming sounds.
4 Break out their teeth, eternal God;
Those teeth of lions, dyed in blood;
And crush the serpents in the dust: As empty chaff, when whirlwinds rise, Before the sweeping tempest flies,
So let their hopes and names be lost. 5 Th' Almighty thunders from the sky; Their grandeur melts, their titles die,
As hills of snow dissolve and run;
Or snails that perish in their slime,
Or births that come before their time,
Vain births, that never see the sun.
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