The Psalms of David Part 45

5 He cuts the bars of bra.s.s in two, And lets the smiling prisoners thro'; Takes off the load of guilt and grief, And gives the labouring soul relief.

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

How great his works! how kind his ways!

Let every tongue p.r.o.nounce his praise.

Psalm 107:3. Third Part.

Intemperance punished and pardoned; or, A psalm for the glutton and the drunkard.

1 Vain man, on foolish pleasures bent, Prepares for his own punishment; What pains, what loathsome maladies From luxury and l.u.s.t arise!

2 The drunkard feels his vitals waste, Yet drowns his health to please his taste; Till all his active powers are lost, And fainting life draws near the dust.

3 The glutton groans and loathes to eat, His soul abhors delicious meat; Nature, with heavy loads opprest, Would yield to death to be releas'd.

4 Then how the frighted sinners fly To G.o.d for help with earnest cry!

He hears their groans, prolongs their breath, And saves them from approaching death,

5 No med'cines could effect the cure So quick, so easy, or so sure: The deadly sentence G.o.d repeals, He sends his sovereign word, and heals,

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

And let their thankful offerings prove How they adore their Maker's love.

Psalm 107:4. Fourth Part. L. M.

Deliverance from storms, and s.h.i.+pwreck; or, The Seaman's song.

1 Would you behold the works of G.o.d, His wonders in the world abroad, Go with the mariners, and trace The unknown regions of the seas.

2 They leave their native sh.o.r.es behind, And seize the favour of the wind, Till G.o.d command, and tempests rise That heave the ocean to the skies.

3 Now to the heavens they mount amain, Now sink to dreadful deeps again; What strange affrights young sailors feel, And like a staggering drunkard reel!

4 When land is far, and death is nigh, Lost to all hope, to G.o.d they cry; His mercy hears the loud address, And sends salvation in distress.

5 He bids the winds their wrath a.s.suage; The furious waves forget their rage; 'Tis calm; and sailors smile to see The haven where they wish'd to be.

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

Let them their private offerings bring, And in the church his glory sing.

Psalm 107:5. Fourth Part. C. M.

The Mariner's psalm.

1 Thy works of glory, mighty Lord, Thy wonders in the deeps, The sons of courage shall record Who trade in floating s.h.i.+ps.

2 At thy command the winds arise, And swell the towering waves; The men astonish'd mount the skies And sink in gaping graves.

3 [Again they climb the watery hills, And plunge in deeps again; Each like a tottering drunkard reels, And finds his courage vain.

4 Frighted to hear the tempest roar, They pant with fluttering breath, And, hopeless of the distant sh.o.r.e, Expect immediate death.]

5 Then to the Lord they raise their cries, He hears the loud request, And orders silence thro' the skies, And lays the floods to rest.

6 Sailors rejoice to lose their fears, And see the storm allay'd: Now to their eyes the port appears; There let their vows be paid.

7 'Tis G.o.d that brings them safe to land; Let stupid mortals know That waves are under his command, And all the winds that blow,

8 O that the sons of men would praise The goodness of the Lord!

And those that see thy wondrous ways, Thy wondrous love record.

Psalm 107:6. Last Part.

Colonies planted; or, Nations blest and punished.

A psalm for New England.

1 When G.o.d, provok'd with daring crimes, Scourges the madness of the times, He turns their fields to barren sand, And dries the rivers from the land.

2 His word can raise the springs again, And make the wither'd mountains green, Send showery blessings from the skies, And harvests in the desert rise.

3 [Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, Or men as fierce and wild as they; He bids th' opprest and poor repair, And builds them towns and cities there.

4 They sow the fields, and trees they plant, Whose yearly fruit supplies their want: Their race grows up from fruitful stocks, Their wealth increases with their flocks.

5 Thus they are blest; but if they sin, He lets the heathen nations in, A savage crew invades their lands, Their princes die by barbarous hands.

6 Their captive sons, expos'd to scorn, Wander unpity'd and forlorn; The country lies unfenc'd, untill'd, And desolation spreads the field.

7 Yet if the humbled nation mourns, Again his dreadful hand he turns; Again he makes their cities thrive, And bids the dying churches live.]

8 The righteous, with a joyful sense, Admire the works of providence; And tongues of atheists shall no more Blaspheme the G.o.d that saints adore.

9 How few, with pious care, record The wondrous dealings of the Lord!

But wise observers still shall find The Lord is holy, just, and kind.

Psalm 109. 1-5 31.

Love to enemies, from the example of Christ.

1 G.o.d of my mercy and my praise, Thy glory is my song; The sinners speak against thy grace With a blaspheming tongue.

2 When in the form of mortal man Thy Son on earth was found, With cruel slanders, false and vain, They compa.s.s'd him around.

3 Their miseries his compa.s.sion move, Their peace he still pursu'd; They render hatred for his love, And evil for his good.

4 Their malice rag'd without a cause, Yet, with his dying breath, He pray'd for murderers on his cross, And blest his foes in death.

5 Lord, shall thy bright example s.h.i.+ne In vain before my eyes?