A paraphrase upon the Psalms of David by George Sandys ; set to new tunes for private devotion and a thorough-base for voice or instrument by Henry Lawes ; and in this edition carefully revised and corrected from many errors which passed in former impressions by John Playford.

A PARAPHRASE Upon the Third BOOK OF THE PSALMS of DAVID.

PSALM LXXIII.

THat Power of powers, who Israel protects, The Pure of heart eternally affects. Yet I began to stagger in my Faith; My Feet almost had swerved from his Path, When I the Fool beheld with envious eyes; Saw prosperous Vice to Wealth and Honour rise. Their Thread of Life is close and firmly spun; Whom feeble Age, and pale Diseases shun. They, while we suffer, surfeit in content; As if alone exempt from punishment. Pride hangs like precious Chains about their necks; And Violence in robes of Purple decks. Their swoln eyes shine with uncontroll'd excess; Who more, than what their hearts can wish, possess.

Even glory in their foul Impiety; And speak like Thunder from the troubled Sky. Dire Blasphemies against high Heaven they cast; The suffering Earth their Pride and Slander blast. The Good not seldom through their Scandal stray, And prest with Miseries, in Passion say; O how can we the Lord All-seeing call! Or think he cares what unto men befall! When lo! the Wicked with success are crown'd, And in the pleasures of this world abound. I to no end have purg'd my heart of stain; In Innocence have cleans'd my hands in vain; That thus with daily punishments am worn, And still chastised with the rising Morn.

If I gave words unto such thoughts as these, I should th' assemblies of thy Saints displease: For then, what were it to be just, or good? My Soul this secret never understood; Till I into thy Sanctuary came, And there beheld their Honour end in Shame. Thou hast on slippery hights their greatness plac'd; Down Head-long from their Noon of glory cast. How are they unto Desolation brought! Consumed in the moment of a thought! Such as a pleasant dream when Sleep forsakes Our flattered sense; so, when thy Wrath awakes, Thou in thy dreadful fury shalt destroy Their empty and Imaginary joy. These former thoughts did my weak Soul molest; So ignorant; so vain; so like a beast. Yet I by thy Divine supportance stand: Thou held'st me up by thy Almighty hand. Thou by thy counsel shalt direct my waies; And after to eternal Glory raise.

For whom have I but Thee in Heaven above? Or what on Earth can my Affections move? My Thoughts and Flesh are frail: yet Lord, thou art My Portion, and the Vigour of my Heart. Who thee abandon, shall to Death descend; And they whose knees to cursed Idols bend. I as my duty, will to God repair; On Him rely, and his great Acts declare.

PSALM LXXIV.

LOrd; why hast Thou abandoned! O why for ever! shall thine Ire Consume, like a devouring Fire, The Sheep which in thy pastures fed!

O think of those, who were thy own; By Thee of old from bondage brought: Th' Inheritance which thou hast bought, And Sion thy affected Throne.

Come, O come quickly, and survey What spoil the barbarous Foe hath made. Lo! all in heaps of ruins laid; Thy Temple their accursed prey.

Like Lions, with sharp Famine whet, They in thy Sanctuary roar; All purple in thy Peoples gore; And there their conquering Ensigns set.

It was esteem'd a great renown With Ax to square the Mountain Okes: Now they demolish with their strokes, And hew the carved Fabrick down.

Who lo! with all-infolding flame, The beauty of the Earth devour: Profanely prostrate on the floor That Temple sacred to thy Name.

Now (said they) with a sudden hand, Give we a general End to all. By Fire the holy structures fall, Through this depopulated Land.

No Miracles amaze our Foes; There are no Prophets to divine, That might our miseries decline; None know the period of our woes.

Ah! how long shall our Enemies Exult, and glory in our shame! How long shall they Blaspheme thy Name, Great God, and thy slow Wrath despise!

Thy hand out of thy Bosome draw; Nor longer thy Revenge with-hold: My God, thou wast our King: The old Amazed World thy Wonders saw.

Thou struck'st the Erythaean waves, When Seas from Seas in tumult fled; Brak'st the Aegyptian Dragons head, And mad'st the joyning Floods their Graves.

That great Leviathan of Nile, To Beasts and Serpents, which possess The dry and foodless Wilderness, By Thee delivered for a Spoil.

Thou clav'st the Rock, from whose green wound The thirst expelling Fountain brake: Thou mad'st the heady Streams forsake Their Chanels, and become dry ground.

The cheerful Day, Night cloth'd in shade; The Moon and radient Sun are Thine: Thy Bounds the swelling Seas confine; Summer and Winter by Thee made.

Great God of gods, forget not those Who Thee reproachfully despise. Remember, Lord, the Blasphemies, Cast on thee by our frantick Foes.

O! to the wicked Multitude Surrender not thy Turtle-dove: Nor from thy tender care remove The Poor, by powerful Wrong pursu'd.

Thy Cov'nant, bound by Oath, maintain: For Darkness over-spreads the Face Of all the Land; in every place Destruction, Rape, and Slaughter reign.

Let not th' opprest return with shame; But crown thee with deserv'd applause: O patronize thy proper Cause: Remember, Fools revile thy Name.

O let their Sorrows never cease, Who blast Thee with their Calumnies. The tumults of their Pride, who rise Against Thee, every day increase.

PSALM LXXV.

THy Praises; O eternal King, Our Souls in sacred Verse will sing. The wonders of thy Works declare Thy Presence in thy Power and Care. When I shall wear the Hebrew Crown, High Justice shall my Reign renown. The Land with weak'ning Discord rent, The People without Government, Faint and dissolve. Her Pillars I Support, her Breaches fortifie. Proud Man, I said, renounce thy Pride; Thou Fool, thy Folly cast aside. Do not so high your Horns erect; Nor bellow, as with yoak uncheckt. Preferment from the Orient, Nor from the Evening-Suns Descent, Nor Desert comes: God guides our Fates; He raiseth, and He ruinates. A cup of red and mingled Wine He poureth out to me and mine: But every Rebel in the Land Shall drink the Dregs, squeez'd by his Hand▪ His noble Acts I will relate; The God of Iacob celebrate; Suppress the Wicked, and their wayes; The Just to Wealth and Honour raise.

PSALM LXXVI.

GOd in Iudah is renown'd; Salem with his Temple crown'd: He in sacred Sion dwells; Israel his wonders tells. He their flying Ensigns tears; Shivers the Assyrian Spears. He their Swords, Shields, Arrows, broke; Kill'd, subdu'd, without a stroke. Thou more excellent than they, That on Iuries Mountains prey: Who the Great in battel foil'd; Of their lives and honours spoil'd. Not the Mighty could withstand, Nor so much as find a hand. Princes, by thy only Breath, With the Vulgar, sleep in Death. Terrible unto thy Foes: O, who can thy Wrath oppose! When as they thy Thunder hear, Mortals stand amaz'd, and fear: When from thy eternal Rest Thou descend'st, to save th' Opprest. Malice but it self betrayes; And converts into thy praise. Future rage thou shalt restrain, Making their indeavours vain. Iacobs Seed, with one accord, Pay your Vows unto the Lord. Holy Levites, Offerings bring; Of his glorious Conquest sing. He, who Princes overthrows, O, how fearful to his Foes!

PSALM LXXVII.

TO God I cry'd; He heard my cries: Again, when plung'd in miseries, Renew'd with raised hands and eyes.

My festred wounds ran all the Night; No comfort could my Soul invite To relish long out-worn delight.

I call'd upon the Ever-blest: And yet my troubles still increast; Almost to Death by sorrow prest.

Thou keep'st my galled eyes awake: Words fail my grief; sighs only spake, Which from my panting bosome brake.

Then did my Memory unfold The wonders, which thou wrought'st of old, By our admiring Fathers told.

The Songs, which in the Night I sung; When deeply by affliction stung: These thoughts thus mov'd my desperate tongue;

Wilt thou for ever, Lord, forsake! Nor pity on th' afflicted take! O shall thy mercy never wake!

Wilt thou thy promise falsifie! Must I in thy displeasure die! Shall Grace before thy Fury flie!

This said; I thus my Passions checkt: His changes on their ends reflect, To punish and restore th' Elect.

His great Deliverance shall dwell In my Remembrance; I will tell What in our Fathers days befell.

His counsels from our reach are set; Hid in his sacred Cabinet. What God like ours! so Good! so Great!

Who wonders can effect alone; His Peoples great Redemption; To Iacob's Seed, and Ioseph's known.

The yielding Floods confess thy Might; The Deeps were troubled at thy Sight; And Seas recoil'd in their affright.

The Clouds in storms of rain descend; The Air thy hideous Fragors rend; Thy arrows dreadful flames extend.

Thy Thunders rorings rake the Skies; Thy fatal Light'ning swiftly flies; Earth trembles in her agonies.

Thy Ways even through the Billows lye: The Floods then left their Chanels dry; No Mortal can thy steps descry.

Like Flocks through Wilderness of Sand, Thou led'st us to this pleasant Land; By Moses and by Aarons hand.

PSALM LXXVIII.

MY People, hear my Words; I will unfold Dark Oracles, and Wonders done of old; By our great Ancestors both heard and known, Successively unto their Children shown; Which we will to Posterity relate; That People, yet unknown, may celebrate Gods Power, his Praise, and glorious Acts: since He Will's this Tradition by Divine Decree; Until one Day shall give the World an end: That all their hopes might on his Help depend. Nor ever let his noble Actions sleep In dark oblivion, but his Statutes keep. Unlike their rebel Sires, a stubborn Race; Who fell from God, nor sought his slighted Grace. The Ephraimites, though expert in their Bows, Though arm'd, ignobly fled before their Foes: Who vainly brake the Cov'nant of their God; Nor in the ways of his prescription trod, Forgot his famous Acts, his Wonders shown In Zoan; and the Plains by Nile o'reflown. He brought them through the bowels of the Flood; The parted Waves like solid Mountains stood. By day with leading Clouds affords a shade; By night a flaming Pyramis displaid. Hard Rocks, He in the thirsty Deserts, clave, And drink out of their stony Entrails gave: Even from their barren sides the waters gusht, And down in rivers through the vallies rusht.

Yet still they sinn'd, and meat to satisfie Their Lust demand, provoking the most High.

Blaspheming thus; Can God our wants redress? A Table furnish in the Wilderness? Though from the cloven Rocks fresh Currents drill, Can he give Bread? with Flesh the hungry fill? Thus tempted by their hourly murmurings, He to his long retarded Wrath gives wings: Their infidelity inrag'd the Just, That would not to his sure Protection trust. Who all the Curtains of the Skies withdrew, And made the clouds resolve into a dew. With Manna, Food of Angels, Mortals fed; And fill'd with plenty of caelestial Bread. Then caus'd the early Eastern winds to rise, And bad the dropping South obscure the Skies: Whence show'rs of Quails descend; as thick as sand On Sea-wash'd shores, or dust on Sun-dry'd Land▪ Which fell among their Tents: They their delights Injoy, and feast their deadly appetites. For lo! while they those fatal Dainties chew, And their inordinate Desires pursue; The Wrath of God surpriz'd them, and cut down The choice of all; even those of most renown. Nor, by their own mis-haps admonished, Would they his Works believe, or Judgments dread. So he their spirits quench'd with daily fears; In Vanity and Toil consum'd their years.

But when by Slaughter wasted, the forlorn Return'd, and sought Him in the early Morn: They then confest, and said; Thou art our Tower, Our Strength; alone protectest by thy Power. Yet their slie Tongues did but their Souls disguise; Full of deluding flatteries and lies. Their faithless hearts revolted from his Will; Nor ever would his just Commands fulfill.

How oft would He, whose Mercy hath no bound, Their pardon sign! nor in their Sins confound! How oft did He his burning wrath asswage! How oft divert the fury of his Rage! Consider'd them as flesh, in frailty born; A passing Wind, that never can return. Yet still would they his sacred Laws transgress; Provok'd him in th'unpeopled Wilderness: Confin'd the Holy One of Israel; Against their Saviour frantickly rebel: Forgetful of his Power, nor ever thought Of that great day, when from long bondage brought. His dreadful Miracles to Aegypt known, And Wonders in the Field of Zoan shown. The River chang'd into a Sea of Blood; Men faint for thirst, t' avoid th' infected Flood. Huge swarms of unknown Flies display their wings, Which wound to death with their invenom'd stings. Loath'd Frogs even in their Palaces abound; And with their filthy slime pollute the ground.

Their early Fruits the Caterpillers spoil: And Grashoppers devour the Plow-mans toil. Long Vines with storms their dangling burdens lost: The broad-leav'd Sycamores destroy'd with frost. Their Flocks beat down with Hail-stones, breathless lie: Their Cattel by the stroke of Thunder die. The Vengeance of his Wrath all forms of woes, More Plagues, then could be fear'd, upon them throws Whom evil Angels to their sins betray. He to the Torrent of his Wrath gave way; Nor would with man or sinless beasts dispense; ••hot by the Arrows of his Pestilence. ••ew all the flower of Youth; their First-born Sons; There where old Nilus in seven chanels runs.

But like a flock of Sheep his People led; Safe and secure through Deserts, full of dread: Even through unfathom'd Deeps: which part and close Their tumbling waves to swallow their proud Foes. Then brought them to his consecrated Land; Even to his Mountain purchas'd by his Hand. Cast out the Giant-like Inhabitants; And in their rooms the Tribes of Israel plants. Yet they (O most ingrateful!) falsifie Their vows, and still exasperate the most High: Who in their faithless Fathers traces goe; And start aside; like a deceitful Bow. Their Altars on the tops of Mountains blaze, While they their hands to cursed Idols raise.

These objects fuel to his wrath afford: Whose Soul revolted Israel abhor'd. The ancient Seat of Shiloh then forsook; Nor longer would that hated Mansion brook. His Ark even to Captivity declin'd; His Strength and Glory to the Foe resign'd: And yielded up his People to the Rage Of barbarous swords; nor would his wrath asswage. Devouring flames their able Youth confound; Nor are their Maids with Nuptial Garlands crown'd. Their Mitred Priests in heat of Battel fall; No Widows weeping at their Funeral. Then as a Giant, folded in the Charms Of Wine and Sleep, starts up and cries, To arms: So rous'd, his Foes behind, Jehovah wounds; And with Eternal Infamy confounds: Yet would in Iosephs Tents no longer dwell; Nor Ephraim chose, who from his Cov'nant fell:

But Iudah's Mountain for his Seat elects; And sacred Sion, which he most affects. There our great God his glorious Temple plac'd, Firm as the Centre, never to be ras'd. And from the bleating Flocks his David cho••e, When he attended on the yeaning Ews; And rais'd him to a Throne, that he might feed His people; Israel's selected Seed. Who fed them faithfully; and all the Land Directed with a just and equal hand.

PSALM LXXIX.

THe Gentiles waste thy Canaan, Lord, With Fire and Sword. Thy holy Temple they prophane; With Slaughter stain. Beneath her ruins Salem groans; Now nothing but a heap of Stones.

The dead no Funeral pomp attends, Nor weeping friends: Their carkases our barbarous Foes To Beasts expose: The ravenous Wolves become their tomb Or else the greedy Vultures womb.

With blood of Saints, the Streams grow red, Like Watershed: Thy People now a general Reproach to all. The Syrian, and base Edomite Deride, and in our woes delight.

How long, Lord, shall thy jealous ire Devour like Fire! Thy Anger, in a dreadful show'r Of vengeance, pow'r On those, who know not thy great Name: And think thy Worship but a shame.

For they have laid our Country waste: Our Cities ras't. Lord, O remember not the crimes Of former times! But for thy tender mercy save Our souls; now humbled to the grave.

Lord, for the glory of thy Name, Redeem from shame. O purge us, and propitious be! From thraldom free. Why should the Heathen thus blaspheme, And say, Your God is but a Dream!

Against them let thy Vengeance rise; Before our eyes: And for our blood, shed by their guilt, Let theirs be spilt. O hear the sighing Prisoners cry! And save, whom they have doom'd to die.

Our spiteful Neighbours, Lord, deride Thee, in their pride. With seven-fold vengeance recompense Their insolence. So we, thy flock, our God will praise; And to the Stars thy Glory raise.

PSALM LXXX.

THou Shepherd of thy Israel, That, Flock-like, leadest Iosephs Race: Who 'twixt the Cherubims dost dwell, O hear! shew thy inlightning Face. Exalt thy saving power before Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin: O from Captivity restore! And let thy beams upon us shine. Great God of Battail, wilt thou still Be angry, and our prayers despise? Bread, steep'd in tears, our stomachs fill; We drink the rivers of our eyes. Our scoffing Neighbours fall at strife Among themselves, to share our right: Great God, restore the dead to life; And comfort by the quick'ning light.

This Vine, from Aegypt brought, (the Foe Expel'd) was planted by thy hand: Thou gav'st it room and strength to grow, Untill her branches fill'd the Land. The Mountains took a shade from these, Which like a grove of Cedars stood: Extending to the Tyrian Seas, And to Euphrates rowling Flood. O why hast thou her Fences ras't? Whilst every Stragler pulls her Fruit: The browsing Heard her branches waste; And salvage Boars plow-up her root. Great God, return; this trampled Vine From Heaven behold with mild aspect: Once planted by that Hand of thine; The branches of thy own Elect.

Which now cut down, wild Flames devour; Through thy fierce wrath to ruin brought: Protect thy People by thy Power; And perfect what thy self hath wrought. Reviv'd, we will thy Name adore; Nor ever from thy Pleasure swerve. O from Captivity restore, And by thy powerful grace preserve!

PSALM LXXXI.

TO God our Strength your voices raise: In sacred numbers sing his praise. The warbling Lute, sweet Viol bring, And solemn Harp: loud Timbrels ring. The new Moon seen, shrill Trumpets sound; Your sacred Feasts with Triumph crown'd. These Rites our God established, When Israel He from Aegypt led: Their necks with Yokes of bondage wrung; Inured to an unknown tongue. Your burdens I have cast away, Said he, and cleans'd your hands from clay: Then sav'd, when in your fears you cry'd; And from the thundring Cloud reply'd. I try'd you; heard your murmurings, At Meribah's admired Springs. You Sons of Israel, give ear; I will instruct you, would you hear. Beware; no foreign gods adore; Nor their adulterate Powers implore.

I Thee alone brought from the Land Of Bondage, with a mighty Hand.

I know, and will supply thy need; When naked, cloath; when hungry, feed. Yet would not they my Counsel brook; But desperately their God forsook: Whom I unto their lusts resign'd, And errors of their wandring Mind. O that they had my voice obey'd, Nor from the paths of Virtue straid! Then Victory their brows had crown'd: Their slaughter'd Foes had spread the ground: Then had I made their enemy Submit, and at their mercy lye: Themselves blest with eternal Peace; Inriched with the Earths increase: With flour of Wheat, and Honey fill'd, From breaches of the Rock distill'd.

PSALM LXXXII.

GOd sits upon the Throne of Kings, And Judges unto judgement brings: Why then so long Maintain you wrong, And favour Lawless things?

Defend the Poor, the Fatherless; Their crying injuries redress: And vindicate The Desolate, Whom wicked men oppress.

For they of Knowledge have no Light, Nor Will to know; but walk in Night.

Earths Bases fail; No Laws prevail; Scarce one in heart upright.

Though Gods, and Sons of the most High; Yet you, like common men, shall die; Like Princes fall. Great God, judge all The Earth, thy Monarchy.

PSALM LXXXIII.

LOrd, sit not still, as deaf unto our cries: For lo! our Enemies in tumults rise. Even those, who thy Omnipotence deny, And hate thy Name, advance their Crests on high: Dark counsels take, and secretly contrive Their slaughter, whom thy Mercy keeps alive. Come, say they, let us with incessant strokes, Hew down this Nation, like a grove of Okes, Till they no longer be; and Israel die Both in his Race, and ruin'd Memory. They all, in one confederacy, have made A solemn League; supply'd with foreign aid. Fierce Idumaeans, who in Nomades stray, And shaggy Ismaelites, that live by prey; Th' incestuous Race, that border on the Lake Of salt Asphalthis: Savage Thieves, who take Their name from servile Hagar; they, who dwell In Gebal; Ammonites, who Peace expell; Stern Palaestines; and wild Amalekites; False Tyrians; Ashur with Lots Sons unites.

Let them like Midian fall, by mutual wounds; Like Siscra; fall like Iabin, on the bounds Of Endor, where swift Kison takes his birth; Who lay like Dung upon the fa••ned Earth: Like Zeb, and Orebs Princes; made a prey For Wolves: like Zeba and proud Za••muna: Who said, let us these Israelites destroy, And all the Cities of their God enjoy. O let them, like a wheel be hurried round; Like chaff, which whirlwinds ravish from the ground; As Woods grown dry with age, imbrac'd with fire, Whose flames above the singed Hills aspire: So in the Tempest of thy Wrath pursue; And with thy Storms thy trembling Foes subdue. O fill their hearts with grief; their looks with shame; Till they invoke thy late blasphemed Name. Confound them with eternal Infamie; That they, through anguish of their Souls, may die. That men Jehovah's Wonders may rehearse; The great Commander of this Universe.

PSALM LXXXIV.

O How amiable are Thy Aboads, great God of War! How I languish through restraint! How my longing Spirits faint! Lord, for thee I daily crie; I•• thy absence hourly die. Sparrows there their young ones rear; And the Summers Harbinger By thy Altar builds her nest, Where they take their envy'd rest.

O my King! O thou most High! Arbiter of Victorie! Happy men! who spend their Days In thy Courts; there sing thy Praise! Happy! who on Thee depend! Thine their Way, and thou their End. Who through Baca travelling, Make that thirsty Vale a Spring; Or soft Show'rs from Clouds destill, And their empty Cisterns fill: Fresh in strength, their course pursue, Till they thee in Sion view. Lord of Hosts, incline thine Ear. O thou God of Iacob hear! Thou our Rock, extend thy Grace; Look on thy Anointed's Face. One Day in thy Courts alone. Far exceeds a Million. Let me be contemn'd and poor; In thy Temple keep a Door: Then with wicked men possess All that they call Happiness. O thou Shield of our Defence! O thou Sun, whose influence Sweetly glides into our Hearts! Thou, who all to thine imparts! Happy! O thrice happy he, Who alone depends on Thee!

PSALM LXXXV.

AT length thou hast thy Mercy shown; Drawn from the Babylonian yoke; Our Sins remov'd, which did provoke Thy Wrath; even that now overblown. Great God, our ruin'd State restore; And let thy Anger flame no more.

O shall it like a Comet reign! Extending to the yet unborn! Wilt thou not quicken the forlorn; That thine in Thee may joy again! O show'r thy Mercy from above; Preserve, and fix us in thy love!

I will the Voice of God attend, Who to his People speaks of Peace. Such as in Sanctity increase; Nor to their Sins again descend: These soon with Freedom shall be blest, That Glory may our Land invest.

Those Dayes shall consummate our Bliss: Sweet Clemency with Truth shall meet; High Justice gentle Peace shall greet, Saluting with a holy Kiss: For Truth shall from the Earth arise, And Righteousness look from the Skies.

Then shall Jehovah distribute His Blessings with a liberal Hand: The rich, and ever grateful Land Abundantly produce her fruit. For Justice shall before him go, And her fair steps to Mortals show.

PSALM LXXXVI.

MY God, thy Suppliant hear; Afford a gentle Ear: For I am comfortless, And labour in distress. My righteous Soul relieve, So ready to forgive. Thy Servant, Lord, defend; Whose hopes on Thee depend. Me from the Grave restore, Who daily Thee implore: From wasting Sorrow free The Heart long vow'd to Thee. For thou art God alone, To tender pity prone, Propitious unto all, Who on thy Mercy call. O hear my fervent prayer, And take me to thy care: Then ready to be found, When troubles most abound. What God, like Thee, O Lord, Of all by men ador'd! Or underneath the Sun, Such miracles hath done.

Zeal shall all hearts inflame T' adore and praise thy Name. For thou art God alone; Thy Power in Wonders shown. Direct me in thy Way; So shall I never stray.

My thoughts from Tempests clear; United in thy Fear. My Soul shall celebrate Thy Praise; thy Power relate, That hast advanc'd my head, And rais'd me from the Dead. The Proud against me rise, And pow'rful Enemies (All Rebells to thy Will) My guiltless blood would spill. But, O thou King of kings, From Thee sweet Mercy springs; Still gracious, slow to wrath; True to thy Servants Faith. Lord, for thy Mercies sake, Into thy Bosome take: Thy Hand-maids Son O save From the devouring Grave! Some happy Sign expose To my ashamed Foes; That they thy Hate may see To them; thy Love to me.

PSALM LXXXVII.

THe Lord hath with his Temple crown'd Moriah, by his Choice renown'd. Not all the Tents of Israel, Or Mountains which in height excel, He so affects, or celebrates, As lofty Sions stately Gates. Ierusalem, thou Throne of Kings, Of Thee they utter glorious things.

Not by Iudea's narrow bounds Prescrib'd; the Land which Nile surrounds, Great Babylon, proud Palaestine, Rich Tyre, which circling Seas confine; And black-brow'd Aethiopians, Shall yield thee Citizens and Sons. All sorts of People, foreign-bred, As Natives there indenized; In Sion, built by immortal Hands: Firm as the Mountain where it stands. The Lord in his eternal Scroll, Shall these, as Citizens, inroll. Their Musick shall the Affections raise, And Songs sung in Jehovah's praise; Whose Blessings on this City shall, Like Streams from Heavenly Fountains, fall.

PSALM LXXXVIII.

MY Saviour! both by night and day To Thee I pray. O let my Cries transcend the Sphears, And pierce thy Ears! Lest Sorrow stop my fainting breath; Now near the Jaws of greedy Death.

My light extinguish'd, numbered Among the Dead: Like men in battail slain; the womb Of Earth their Tomb: Forgotten, as if never known; By thy tempestuous Wrath o're thrown.

By Thee lodg'd in the lower Deeps, Where Horrour keeps; In Dungeons, where no Sun displaies His cheerful Raies. Crush'd by thy Wrath; on me thy Waves Rush, like so many rolling Graves.

My old Familiars, now my Foes, Deride my Woes. My House becomes my Goal; where I In Fetters lie. Blind with my tears; with crying hoarse; Hands rais'd in vain; a walking Coarse.

Wilt thou to those thy Wonders show, Who sleep below? The Dead from their cold Mansions raise, To sing thy Praise? Shall Mercy find us in the Grave? Or wilt thou in Destruction save?

Wilt thou thy Wonders bring to light, In Deaths long Night? Or shall thy Justice there be shown, Where none are known? I have, and still to Thee will pray; Before the Sun restore the Day.

O, why hast thou withdrawn thy Grace, And hid thy Face; From me, who from my Infancy But daily die? Whilst I thy Terrours undergo; Distracted by these storms of woe,

Thy Anger, like a Gulph, devours My trembling Powers: With troops of Terrours circled round; In Sorrow drown'd; Depriv'd of those, that lov'd me most; To all in dark oblivion lost.

PSALM LXXXIX.

OUr grateful Songs, O thou eternal King, Shall ever of thy boundless Mercies sing: And thy unalterable Truth rehearse To after Ages, in a living verse. For what is by thy Clemency decreed, Shall orderly, and faithfully succeed: Even like those never resting Orbs above, Which on firm hinges circularly move. Thus God unto his servant David swore; This Cov'nant made: I will for evermore Thy seed establish, and thy Throne sustain; Whilst Seas shall flow, or Moons increase, and wain. The heavenly Hierarchy thy Truth shall praise; The Saints below thy glorious Wonders blaze. For who is like our God above the Clouds! Or who so great, whom humane frailty shrowds! He to his Angels terrible appears; And daunts the Tyrants of the Earth with fears. Great God! how great, when dreadful Armies joyn! What God so strong! what Faith so firm as thine!

Thy Bounds the Billows of the Sea restrain; Thou calm'st the tumults of th' incensed Main. Proud Rahab, like a Coarse, with blood imbru'd; Hew'n down: the strong with greater strength subdu'd.

Thine are the Heavens; those Lamps which guild the Skies; Round earth, broad ••eas, and all which they comprise. Thou mad'st the Southern and the Northern Pole, Whereon the Orbs coelestial swiftly rowl. Hermon invested with the Morning Raies, And Tabor with the Evenings, sing thy praise. Thy Arm excells in Strength: thy hands sustain The World they made: And guide it with a rein. Justice with Judgement joyn'd, thy Throne uphold: Mercy and Truth thy sacred brows infold. Thrice happy they, who, when the Trumpet calls, Throng to thy celebrated Festivalls! They of thy Beauty shall injoy the sight, And guide their Feet by that informing light: Thy Name shall daily in their mouths be found; And in thy Justice shall their Joys abound. Our Ornament in Peace, our Strength in Wars; Thy Favour shall exalt us to the Stars. Thou, Holy One of Israel, our King; Thou, our defence; secure beneath thy Wing. Thus spake Jehovah by his Prophets voice; Of strenuous David have I made my choice, (On that Heroe powr'd my Sacred Oyl) To guide my People, and preserve from spoil. •• will support him with my powerful Arm; No ••oe shall tribute force: nor Treason harm: His enemies before his Face shall flie, And those, who hate his Soul, by slaughter die. Our Truth and Clemency shall crown his Daies, And to the Firmament his Glory raise. He, ••rom the Billows of the Tyrian Main, To swift Euphrates shall extend his Reign. Who in his oft renew'd Devotions shall, ••e Father, God, and great Protector call.

My Favorite he shall be, and my First birth; Rais'd above all the Princes of the Earth. My Mercy him for ever shall preserve: And from my Promise I will never swerve. His Seed shall alwaies reign; his Throne shall last, While days have light, and nights their shadows cast.

If they my Judgements slight, forsake my Law, My Rites neglect, and from my Rule withdraw; Then I with whips will their offences scourge, With labour, misery, and sorrows urge: Yet will not utterly my King forsake; My Vow infringe, or alter what I spake. I by my Sanctity to David sware, That he, and his should never want an Heir, To sway the Hebrew Scepter, while the Sun His usual Race should through the Zodiack run; While Men, the Moon and radiant Stars should see, The faithful witnesses of my Decree. But thou art angry with thy own Elect, And dost thy late affected King reject; Infringe the Cov'nant to thy Servant sworn; Thou from his Brows his Diadem hast torn, Cast down the Rampier, which his strength renown'd And all his Bulwarks levell'd with the ground: Whom now his Neighbours scorn; a common prey, And spoil to all that travail by the way.

Thou addest strength and courage to his Foes, Who now rejoyce and triumph in his woes; Rebatest his sharp Sword, unnerv'st his might, And mak'st him shrink in fervour of the fight: His splendor hast Eclipsed; his renown In ruins buried, and his Throne cast down:

His Youth consumed with untimely Age; Mark'd out for shame; the object of thy Rage. How long shall he in thy displeasure mourn! Still shall thy Anger like a Furnace burn! O call to mind the shortness of my daies; That dream of Man, which like a Flow'r decays. Who lives, that can the stroke of Death defend; Or shall not to the silent Grave descend? Where is thy ancient Love! thy plighted Troth, Confirm'd to David by a solemn Oath! Remember the Reproaches I have born; Those of the Mighty; and their bitter scorn: Traduced; by thy enemies abhorr'd. Yet, O my pensive Soul, praise thou the Lord.

Amen, Amen.

Notes

• As the 1.
• Part 2.
• As the 14.
• Part 2.
• Part 3.
• As th•• 8••.
• As the 29.
• As the 5.
• Part 2.
• As the 42.
• Part 2.
• Part 3.
• Part 4.
• Part 5.
• As the 39.
• Part 2.
• As the 3.
• Part 2.
• As the 8.
• Part 2.
• As the 4.
• As the 1.
• Part 2.
• As the 29.
• As the 2.
• As the 13.
• Part 2.
• As the 8.
• As the 39.
• Part 2.
• As the 72.
• Part 2.
• Part 3.
• Part 4.
• Part 5.