Persecutors punished. Up from my youth, may Israel say,Have I been nurs’d in tears;My griefs were constant as the day,And tedious as the years. Up from my youth I bore the rageOf all the sons of strife;Oft they assail’d my riper age,But not destroy’d my life. Their cruel plough had torn my fleshWith furrows long […]

Psalm 126:1. L. M.Surprising deliverance. When God restor’d our captive state,Joy was our song, and grace our theme;The grace beyond our hopes so great,That joy appear’d a painted dream. The scoffer owns thy hand, and paysUnwilling honours to thy Name;While we with pleasure shout thy praise,With cheerful notes thy love proclaim. When we review our […]

Psalm 126:2. C. M.The joy of a remarkable conversion;or, Melancholy removed. When God reveal’d his gracious Name,And chang’d my mournful state,My rapture seem’d a pleasing dream,The grace appear’d so great. The world beheld the glorious change,And did thy hand confess;My tongue broke out in unknown strains,And sung surprising grace: “Great is the work,” my neighbours […]

Psalm 127:1. L. M.The blessing of God on thebusiness and comforts of life. If God succeed not, all the costAnd pains to build the house are lost:If God the city will not keep,The watchful guards as well may sleep. What if you rise before the sun,And work and toil when day is done,Careful and sparing […]

A song for the fifth of November. Had not the Lord, may Israel say,Had not the Lord maintain’d our side,When men to make our lives a prey,Rose like the swelling of the tide; The swelling tide had stopt our breath,So fiercely did the waters roll,We had been swallow’d deep in death;Proud waters had o’erwhelm’d our […]

Psalm 125:1 C. M.The saint’s trial and safely. Unshaken as the sacred hill,And firm as mountains be,Firm as a rock the soul shall restThat leans, O Lord, on thee. Not walls nor hills could guard so wellOld Salem’s happy ground,As those eternal arms of loveThat every saint surround. While tyrants are a smarting scourgeTo drive […]

Psalm 125:2. S. M.The saints’ trial and safety;or, Moderated afflictions. Firm and unmov’d are theyThat rest their souls on God;Firm as the mount where David dweltOr where the ark abode. As mountains stood to guardThe city’s sacred ground,So God and his almighty loveEmbrace his saints around. What tho’ the Father’s rodDrop a chastising stroke,Yet, lest […]

Going to church. How pleas’d and blest was ITo hear the people cry,“Come, let us seek our God to-day!”Yes, with a cheerful zeal,We haste to Zion’s hill,And there our vows and honours pay. Zion, thrice happy place,Adorn’d with wondrous grace,And walls of strength embrace thee round;In thee our tribes appearTo pray, and praise, and hearThe […]

Pleading with submission. O thou whose grace and justice reignEnthron’d above the skies,To thee our hearts would tell their pain,To thee we lift our eyes. As Servants watch their master’s hand,And fear the angry stroke;Or maids before their mistress stand,And wait a peaceful look; So for our sins we justly feelThy discipline, O God;Yet wait […]

Going to church. How did my heart rejoice to hearMy friends devoutly say,“In Zion let us all appear,“And keep the solemn day!” I love her gates, I love the road:The church adorn’d with graceStands like a palace built for God,To shew his milder face. Up to her courts with joys unknownThe holy tribes repair;The Son […]

God our preserver. Upward I lift mine eyes,From God is all my aid;The God that built the skies,And earth and nature made:God is the tow’rTo which I fly:His grace is nighIn every hour. My feet shall never slideAnd fall in fatal snares,Since God, my guard and guide,Defends me from my fears:Those wakeful eyesThat never sleepShall […]

Psalm 121:2. C. M.Preservation by day and night. To heaven I lift my waiting eyes,There all my hopes are laid:The Lord that built the earth and skiesIs my perpetual aid. Their feet shall never slide to fallWhom he designs to keep;His ear attends the softest call,His eyes can never sleep. He will sustain our weakest […]

Prayer for quickening grace. Ver. 25 37.My soul lies cleaving to the dust;Lord, give me life divine;From vain desires and every lustTurn off these eyes of mine. I need the influence of thy graceTo speed me in thy way,Lest I should loiter in my race,Or turn my feet astray. Ver. 107.When sore afflictions press me […]

Sanctified afflictions; or,Delight in the word of God. Ver. 67 59.Father, I bless thy gentle hand;How kind was thy chastising rod,That forc’d my conscience to a stand,And brought my wandering soul to God! Foolish and vain I went astrayEre I had felt thy scourges, Lord,I left my guide, and lost my way;But now I love […]

Complaint of quarrelsome neighbours;or, A devout wish for peace. Thou God of love, thou ever blest,Pity my suffering state;When wilt thou set my soul at restFrom lips that love deceit? Hard lot of mine! my days are castAmong the sons of strife,Whose never-ceasing brawlings wasteMy golden hours of life. O might I fly to change […]

Psalm 121:1. L. M.Divine protection. Up to the hills I lift mine eyes,Th’ eternal hills beyond the skies;Thence all her help my soul derives;There my Almighty refuge lives. He lives, the everlasting God,That built the world, that spread the flood;The heavens with all their hosts he made,And the dark regions of the dead. He guides […]

Benefit of afflictions, and support under them. Ver. 153 81 82.Consider all my sorrows, Lord,And thy deliverance send;My soul for thy salvation faints,When will my troubles end? Ver. 71.Yet I have found, ’tis good for meTo bear my Father’s rod;Afflictions make me learn thy law,And live upon my God. Ver. 50.This is the comfort I […]

Holy resolutions. Ver. 93.That thy statutes every hourMight dwell upon my mind!Thence I derive a quickening power,And daily peace I find. Ver. 15 16.To meditate thy precepts, Lord,Shall be my sweet employ;My soul shall ne’er forget thy word,Thy word is all my joy. Ver. 32.How would I run in thy commands,If thou my heart dischargeFrom […]

Breathing after holiness. Ver. 5 33.O that the Lord would guide my waysTo keep his statutes still!O that my God would grant me graceTo know and do his will! Ver. 29.O send thy Spirit down to writeThy law upon my heart!Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,Nor act the liar’s part. Ver. 37 36.From vanity turn […]

Breathing after comfort and deliverance. Ver. 153.My God, consider my distress,Let mercy plead my cause;Tho’ I have sinn’d against thy grace,I can’t forget thy laws. Ver. 39 116.Forbid, forbid the sharp reproachWhich I so justly fear;Uphold my life, uphold my hopes,Nor let my shame appear. Ver. 122 135.Be thou a surety, Lord, for me,Nor let […]