PSALM LXXXIII

1 BE not thou silent now at length;
O God, hold not thy peace:
Sit thou not still, O God of strength;
We cry and do not cease.

2 For lo! thy furious foes now 1swell, And storm outrageously;

And they that hate thee, proud and fell,
Exalt their heads full high.

3 Against thy people they 2 contrive
Their plots and counsels deep;

4 Them to ensnare they chiefly strive
Whom thou dost hide and keep.

4 "Come, let us cut them off," say they, "Till they no uation be;

That Israel's name for ever may
Be lost in memory."

5 For they consult with all their might, And all as one in mind

Themselves against thee they unite,
And in firm union bind.

6 The tents of Edom, and the brood
Of scornful Ishmael,

Moab, with them of Hagar's blood,
That in the desert dwell,

7 Gebal and Ammon there conspire,
And hateful Amalec,

The Philistines, and they of Tyre,
Whose bounds the sea doth check.
8 With them great Ashur also bands,
And doth confirm the knot;

All these have lent their armed hands
To aid the sons of Lot.

9 Do to them as to Midian bold,
That wasted all the coast;
To Sisera, and as is told

Thou didst to Jabin's host,
When at the brook of Kishon old
They were repulsed and slain,

10 At Endor quite cut off, and rolled
As dung upon the plain.

11 As Zeb and Oreb evil sped, So let their princes speed; As Zeba and Zalmunna bled,

So let their princes bleed.

12 For they amidst their pride have said, By right now shall we seize

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Sod.

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↑ Neoth Elohim bears both

Giddy and restless let them reel,
Like stubble from the wind.
14 As, when an aged wood takes fire
Which on a sudden strays,

The greedy flame runs higher and higher,
Till all the mountains blaze;
15 So with thy whirlwind them pursue,
And with thy tempest chase;

16 And till they 1 yield thee honour due, Lord, fill with shame their face.

17 Ashamed and troubled let them be, Troubled and shamed for ever, Ever confounded, and so die

With shame, and scape it never.

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18 Then shall they know that thou, whose

1 THY land to favour graciously Thou hast not, Lord, been slack; Thou hast from hard captivity Returned Jacob back.

2 The iniquity thou didst forgive That wrought thy people woe, And all their sin that did thee grieve Hast hid where none shall know.

3 Thine anger all thou hadst removed, And calmly didst return

From thy fierce wrath, which we had proved

Far worse than fire to burn.

4 God of our saving health and peace,
Turn us, and us restore;

Thine indignation cause to cease
Toward us, and chide no more.

5 Wilt thou be angry without end,
For ever angry thus?

Wilt thou thy frowning ire extend
From age to age on us?

6 Wilt thou not 2 turn and hear our voice, And thus again 2 revive,

That so thy people may rejoice,

By thee preserved alive?

7 Cause us to see thy goodness, Lord;

To us thy mercy shew;

Heb. The burning heat of thy wrath.
Heb.: Turn to quicken us.

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To his dear saints he will speak peace:
But let them never more
Return to folly, but surcease
To trespass as before.

9 Surely to such as do him fear
Salvation is at hand,

And glory shall ere long appear

To dwell within our land.

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10 Mercy and Truth, that long were missed, Now joyfully are met;

Sweet Peace and Righteousness have kissed,

And hand in hand are set.

11 Truth from the earth like to a flower Shall bud and blossom then; And Justice from her heavenly bower Look down on mortal men. 12 The Lord will also then bestow

Whatever thing is good;

Our land shall forth in plenty throw
Her fruits to be our food.

13 Before him Righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger :

Then will he come, and not be slow;
His footsteps cannot err.

PSALM LXXXVI

1 THY gracious ear, O Lord, incline;
O hear me, I thee pray;
For I am poor, and almost pine
With need and sad decay.

2 Preserve my soul; for 2 I have trod
Thy ways, and love the just;
Save thou thy servant, O my God,
Who still in thee doth trust.

3 Pity me, Lord, for daily thee
I call; 4 Oh make rejoice
Thy servant's soul! for, Lord, to thee
I lift my soul and voice.

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5 For thou art good; thou, Lord, art

prone

1 Heb.: He will set his steps to the way.

Heb.: I am good, loving, a doer of good & holy things.

To pardon; thou to all
Art full of mercy, thou alone,
To them that on thee call.
6 Unto my supplication, Lord,
Give ear, and to the cry
Of my incessant prayers afford
Thy hearing graciously.

7 I in the day of my distress
Will call on thee for aid;
For thou wilt grant me free access,
And answer what I prayed.

8 Like thee among the gods is none,
O Lord; nor any works

Of all that other gods have done
Like to thy glorious works.

9 The nations all whom thou hast made
Shall come, and all shall frame
To bow them low before thee, Lord,
And glorify thy name.

10 For great thou art, and wonders great
By thy strong hand are done;
Thou in thy everlasting seat
Remainest God alone.

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PSALM LXXXVII

1 AMONG the holy mountains high Is his foundation fast;

There seated in his sanctuary,

His temple there is placed.

2 Sion's fair gates the Lord loves more Than all the dwellings fair

Of Jacob's land, though there be store,
And all within his care.

3 City of God, most glorious things
Of thee abroad are spoke.

I mention Egypt, where proud kings
Did our forefathers yoke;

4 I mention Babel to my friends,
Philistia full of scorn,

And Tyre, with Ethiop's utmost ends:
Lo! this man there was born.

5 But twice that praise shall in our ear Be said of Sion last:

This and this man was born in her;
High God shall fix her fast.

6 The Lord shall write it in a scroll,
That ne'er shall be out-worn,
When he the nations doth enroll,
That this man there was born.

ΤΟ

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7 Both they who sing and they who dance With sacred songs are there;

In thee fresh brooks and soft streams glance,

And all my fountains clear.

PSALM LXXXVIII

1 LORD GOD, that dost me save and keep, All day to thee I cry,

And all night long before thee weep,
Before thee prostrate lie.

2 Into thy presence let my prayer,
With sighs devout, ascend;

And to my cries, that ceaseless are,
Thine ear with favour bend.

3 For, cloyed with woes and trouble store, Surcharged my soul doth lie;

My life, at death's uncheerful door,
Unto the grave draws nigh.

4 Reckoned I am with them that pass
Down to the dismal pit;
I am a 1 man but weak, alas!
And for that name unfit,

5 From life discharged and parted quite
Among the dead to sleep,
And like the slain in bloody fight

1 Heb.: A man without manly strength.

ΤΟ

8 Thou dost my friends from me estrange, And mak'st me odious,

Me to them odious, for they change,
And I here pent up thus.

9 Through sorrow and affliction great
Mine eye grows dim and dead;
Lord, all the day I thee entreat,
My hands to thee I spread.

10 Wilt thou do wonders on the dead?
Shall the deceased arise

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And praise thee from their loathsome bed
With pale and hollow eyes?

11 Shall they thy loving-kindness tell
On whom the grave hath hold?
Or they who in perdition awell
Thy faithfulness unfold?

12 In darkness can thy mighty hand
Or wondrous acts be known?
Thy justice in the gloomy land
Öf dark oblivion?

13 But I to thee, O Lord, do cry
Ere yet my life be spent;

And up to thee my prayer doth hie
Each morn, and thee prevent.

14 Why wilt thou, Lord, my soul forsake And hide thy face from me,

15 That am already bruised, and 2 shake
With terror sent from thee;
Bruised and afflicted, and so low
As ready to expire,

While I thy terrors undergo,

Astonished with thine ire?

16 Thy fierce wrath over me doth flow; Thy threatenings cut me through:

17 All day they round about me go; Like waves they me pursue.

18 Lover and friend thou hast removed,
And severed from me far:

They fly me now whom I have loved,
And as in darkness are.

1 The Hebrew bears both.
2 Heb.: Præ concussione.

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PSALM III

(August 9, 1653)

When he fled from Absalom

LORD, how many are my foes!
How many those

That in arms against me rise!
Many are they

That of my life distrustfully thus say,
"No help for him in God there lies."
But thou, Lord, art my shield, my glory;
Thee, through my story,

The exalter of my head I count:
Aloud I cried

Unto Jehovah; he full soon replied,
And heard me from his holy mount.
I lay and slept; I waked again:

For my sustain

Was the Lord. Of many millions The populous rout

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I fear not, though, encamping round about,
They pitch against me their pavilions.
Rise, Lord; save me, my God! for thou
Hast smote ere now
On the cheek-bone all my foes,

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