PSALM LXVIII. Paraphrased. THE MAJESTY, THE POWER, THE JUSTIce, and MERCY OF GOD. ARISE, O God, assume thy might! Shall proud oppressors still unawed devour, Still trample on the poor man's right, And lewdly scorn thy power? When roaring from the western deep As then the whirling chaff is driven, All who despise the laws of Heaven, But, O ye just, with rapture raise Who round the meek afflicted just, When thou, O God, didst march before Then shook old earth :-The sky Shot lightnings from on high; The rapid Jordan bared his bed, The ocean saw his God and fled, The lofty cliffs of Sinai nod [God. And tremble at the presence of their thundering The Lord Jehovah gave the word, And loud the tribes resound, And with their purple spoils are crown'd Thousands of angels at thy gate, With godlike honours clad, Captivity in captive chains Triumphing thou hast led. That thou mightst dwell with men below, VOL. I. G Lo! Egypt's kings and wisest men But, awful Sovereign! who can stand Thy mercies far, oh, far above A mother's ever watchful love But ill resembles thine! MICKLE. A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM CXLVIII. O AZURE vaults! O crystal sky! The world's transparent canopy, Break your long silence, and let mortals know Let echoing anthems make his praises known Great eye of all, whose glorious ray O, praise his name, without whose purer light Ye moon and planets, who dispense, By God's command, your influence; Resign to him, as your Creator due, That veneration which men pay to you. Fairest, as well as first, of things, From whom all joy, all beauty springs; O, praise the' almighty Ruler of the globe, Who useth thee for his empyrean robe. Praise him, ye loud harmonious spheres, At whose command the foaming billows roar, [Lord. Whirlwinds and tempests, praise the' Almighty Mountains, who to your Maker's view Seem less than molehills do to you, Remember how, when first Jehovah spoke, All heaven was fire, and Sinai hid in smoke. 1 Praise him, sweet offspring of the ground, Whose only care's to love and sing, And you, tame slaves of the laborious plough, Majestic monarchs, mortal gods, Whose power hath here no periods, May all attempts against your crowns be vain! And from the Danube's frosty banks, to those You that dispose of all our lives, Praise him from whom your power derives; Be true and just like him, and fear his word, As much as malefactors do your sword. Praise him, old monuments of time; O, praise him in your youthful prime; Praise him, fair idols of our greedy sense; Exalt his name, sweet age of innocence. Jehovah's name shall only last, When heaven, and earth, and all is pass'd : Nothing, great God, is to be found in thee, But unconceivable eternity. |