Ye flocks that haunt the humble vale, In mutual concourfe rife: Wake, all ye mounting tribes, and fing; Harmonious anthems raife To him who fhap'd your finer mould, Let man, by nobler paffions fway'd, Spread his tremendous name around, § 11. Pfalm 5th. MERRICK. THE words that from my lips proceed, [read,) Till heav'n's broad arch rings back the found, And, ere the dawn has ftreak'd the sky, The gen'ral burft of joy. Ye whom the charms of grandeur pleafe, Fall profire at his throne: Ye princes, rulers, all adore; Praife him, ye kings, who makes your pow'r Ye fair, by nature form'd to move, Let take 10. Pfalm 41b. MERRICK. DEFENDER of my rightful caufe, Him wouldit thou plcafe? With rev'rend awe "Where's now the with'd Deliv'rer's hand?” To Thee direct its longing eye: To Thee, whom nought obfcur'd by flaiu Yet give my pains their bounds to know, And fix a period to my woe. Return, great God, return, and fave Thy fervant from the greedy grave. Shall Death's long-filent tongue, O fay, The records of thy pow'r difplay, Or pale Corruption's startled ear Thy praife within its prifon hear? By languor, grief, and care opprefs'd, With groans perpetual heaves my breast, And tears, in large profufion fhed, Inceffant lave my fleepless bed. My life, though yet in mid career, Beholds the winter of its year, (While clouds of grief around me roll, And hoftile ftorms invade my foul,) Relentless from my check each trace Of youth and blooming health erase, And fpread before my wafting fight The fhades of all-obfcuring night. Hence, ye profane: My Saviour hears; While yet I fpeak, he wipes my tears, Accepts my pray'r, and bids each foe With thame their vain attempts forego, And, ftruck with horror from on high, In wild diforder backward fly. § 13. Pfalm 8th. MERRICK. Mmortal King! Through Earth's wide frame How great thy honour, praife, and name! Whofe reign o'er distant worlds extends, Whofe glory heav'n's vast height tranfcends. From infants Thou canft strength upraise, And form their lifping tongues to praise: By thefe the vengeance-breathing Foe Thy mightier terrors taught to know, In mute aftonifhment thall ftand, And bow beneath thy conqu'ring hand. When, rapt in thought, with wakeful eye I view the wonders of the sky, Whofe frame thy fingers o'er our head In rich magnificence have spread; The filent Moon, with waxing horn Along th' ethereal region borne; The Stars with vivid luftre crown'd, That nightly walk their deftin'd round, Lord! What is Man, that in thy care His humble lot fhould find a fhare; Or what the Son of Man, that Thou Thus to his wants thy ear fhouldst bow ? His rank awhile, by thy decree, Th' Angelic Tribes beneath them fee, Till round him thy imparted rays With unextinguifh'd glory blaze. Subjected to his feet by thee, To Him all Nature bows the knee; The beafts in him their Lord behold; The grazing herd, the bleating fold, The favage race, a countless train, That range at large tl' extended plain, The fowls, of various wing, that fly O'er the vaft defert of the sky, And all the wat'ry tribes, that glide Through paths to human fight deny'd. Immortal King! Through Earth's wide frame, How great thy honour, praise, and name! §14. Pfalm 23d. MERRICK. LO, my Shepherd's hand divine! Want fhall never more be mine. By his Command impell'd, to Her Contending Crowds their caufe refer; While Princes from her Throne, With equal doom, th'unerring Law Difpenfe, who boaft their birth to draw From Jeffe's favour'd Son. § 16. The 8th Pfalm tranflated. Thy deeds from pole to pole. The tongue that never fpoke before, Shall labour in thy cause. For when I lift my thoughts and eyes, And view the heavens around, With stars and planets crown'd; Lord what is mortal man? that he Thy kind regard should share ? What is his fon, who claims from thee, And challenges thy care? Next to the bleft Angelic kind, Thy hands created man, And this inferior world affign'd Him all revere, and all obey His delegated reign; The flocks that through the valley ftray, The herds that graze the plain. The furious tiger fpeeds his flight, And trembles at his power; In fear of his fuperior might, FAR 17. Pfalm the 24th paraphrafed. PITT. as the world can ftretch its bounds, The Lord is king of all, His wondrous power extends around The circuit of the ball. For he within the gloomy deeps Its dark foundations caft, And rear'd the pillars of the earth Amid the watery waste. Who fhall afcend his Sion's hill, And fee Jehovah there? Who from his facred fhrine fhall breathe He only whofe unfully'd foul Fair virtue's paths has trod, Who with clean hands and heart regards On him fhall his indulgent Lord Diffufive bounties thed; From God his Saviour fhall defcend Of those who seek his righteous ways For fee! the King of glory comes The cherubs through your folds fhall bear Who is this great and glorious King? Lift up your ftately heads, ye doors! Ye everlafting doors! who guard Swift from your golden hinges leap, Now throw your blazing portals wide, For For fee! the King of Glory comes Along th' ethereal road: The cherubs through your folds fhall bear Who is this great and glorious King? § 18. Pfalm 29th. PITT. And pay due honours to your awful King; See when he speaks, the lofty mountains crowd, peace. § 19. Pfalm 46th paraphrased. PITT. ON God we build our fure defence, In God our hope repose : His hand protects us in the fight, And guards us from our woes. Then, be the earth's unwieldy frame From its foundations hurl'd, What though the folid rocks be rent, What though the hills fhould burst their roots, Thou fea, with dreadful tumults fwell, In furious furges, till they dafh The flood-gates of the fkies. Our minds fhall be ferene and calm, Like Siloah's peaceful flood; Whofe foft and filver ftreams refresh The City of our God. Within the proud delighted waves The wanton turrets play; The ftreams lead down their humid train, Reluctant to the Sea. Amid the scene the temple floats, With its reflected towers, Gilds all the furface of the flood, And, innocently proud, See how their weakness to proclaim, But God has spoke; and lo! the world, Still to the mighty Lord of hofts Our fuccour and support. And all its tumults ceafe; Hear then his formidable voice, "Be ftill, and know the Lord; "By all the heathen I'll be fear'd; "By all the carth ador’d.” Still to the Mighty Lord of hofts Securely we refort; For refuge fly to Jacob's God, Our fuccour and fupport. : Eternal God! thy early days Beyond duration run, As great Jehovah's piercing eyes The longeft æra is a night; We at thy mighty call, O Lord, Our fancy'd beings leave, Rous'd from the flattering dream of life, To fleep within the grave. Swift from their barrier to their goal The rapid moments pass, And leave poor man, for whom they run, The emblem of the grass. In the first morn of life it grows, And lifts its verdant head; At noon decays, at evening dies, And withers in the mead. We in the glories of thy face Our fecret fins furvey, And fee how gloomy thofe appear, Thy anger drives us on; Or if ten more around us roll, 'Tis labour, woe, and ftrife, Till we at length are quite drawn down But who, O Lord, regards thy wrath, So teach us, Lord, to count our days, Thy choiceft graces shed, 21. Pfalm 144th paraphrafed. PITT. foul, in raptures rife to blefs the Lord, Who taught my hands to draw the fatal sword; Led by his arm, undaunted I appear In the first ranks of death, and front of war. foes. In him my hopes I centre and repose, [waste. He guards my life, and fhields me from my He held his ample buckler o'er my head, And fcreen'd me trembling in the mighty fhade: Against all hoftile violence and power, He was my fword, my bulwark, and my tower. He o'er my people will maintain my fway, And teach my willing fubjects to obey. Lord! what is man, of vile and humble birth, Sprung with his kindred reptiles from the earth, That he should thus thy fecret counfels fhare? Or what his fon, who challenges thy care?. Why does thine eye regard this nothing, man? His life a point, his meafure but a fpan? The fancy'd pageant of a moment made, Swift as a dream, and fleeting as a fhade. Come in thy power, and leave th'ethereal plain, And to thy harnefs'd tempeft give the rein; Yon ftarry arch fhall bend beneath the load, So loud the chariot, and fo great the God! Soon as his rapid wheels Jehovah rolls, The fording fkies fhall tremble to the poles: Heaven's gaudy Axle with the world fhall fall, Leap from the centre, and unhinge the ball. Touch'd bythyhands, the labouring hills expire Thick clouds of fioke, and deluges of fire; On the tall groves the red deftroyer preys, And wraps th'eternal mountains in the blaze: Full on my foes may all thy lightnings fly, On purple pinions through the glooniy sky. Extend thy hand, thou kind all-gracious God, Down from the heaven of heavens thy bright abode, And fhield me from my foes, whofe towering pride Lowers like a ftorm, and gathers like a tide : Against ftrange children vindicate my cause, Who curfe thy name, and trample on thy laws; Who fear not vengeance which they never felt, Train'd to blafpheme, and eloquent in guilt: Their hands are impious, and their deeds profane; They plead their boatted innocence in vain. Thy |