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Oh, man! with Heaven's own honours bright, And fall'st thou thus, thou child of light?

And still shall heirs on heirs anew

The melancholy jest pursue,
And, born the offspring of the sky,
In folly live, in darkness die?

But I on Thee depend, O LORD,
My hope, my help, and high reward!
Thy word illumes my feeble eyes,
Thy Spirit all my strength supplies;
In sickness Thou my aid shalt be,
And death but gives me all to Thee!

PART OF THE LXXXIVth PSALM

IMITATED.

How deep the joy, ALMIGHTY LORD,
Thy altars to the heart afford !

With envying eyes I see

The swallow fly to nestle there,
And find within the house of pray'r

A bliss denied to me!

Compell'd, by day, to roam for food
Where scorching suns or tempests rude
Their angry influence fling,

O, gladly in that shelter'd nest

She smooths, at eve, her ruffled breast,
And folds her weary wing..

Thrice happy wand'rer! fain would I,
Like thee, from ruder climates fly,

That seat of rest to share ;

Opprest with tumult, sick with wrongs,
How oft my fainting spirit longs
To lay its sorrows there!

O ever on that holy ground,
The cov'ring-cherub Peace is found,
With brooding wings serene;
And Charity's seraphic glow,
And gleams of glory that foreshow
A higher brighter scene.

For ev❜n that refuge but bestows
A transient, tho' a sweet, repose
For one short hour allow'd:-
Then upwards we shall take our flight
To hail a spring without a blight,
A heav'n without a cloud!

PSALM LXXXIV.-Merrick.

How sweet Thy dwellings, LORD, how fair!
What peace, what bliss, inhabit there!
With ardent hope, with strong desire,
My heart, my flesh, to Thee aspire;
I burn to tread Thy courts, and Thee
My GOD, the living GOD, to see.

Eternal King, within Thy dome

The sparrow finds her peaceful home;
With her the dove, a licensed guest,
Assiduous tends her infant nest,
And to Thy altar's sure defence
Commits th' unfeather'd innocence.
Blest, who, like these, from day to day,
Within Thy house permitted stay,
Whose joyous tongue Thy mercies raise
To hymns of gratitude and praise.

Blest, who, their strength on Thee reclin❜d,
Thy seat explore with constant mind,
And, Salem's distant tow'rs in view,
With active zeal their way pursue !
Secure the thirsty vale they tread,
While call'd from out their sandy bed,
(As down in grateful show'rs distill'd
The heav'ns their kindliest moisture yield,)
The copious springs their steps beguile,
And bid the cheerless desert smile.
From stage to stage advancing still,
Behold them reach fair Sion's hill,
And, prostate at her hallow'd shrine,
Adore the Majesty divine..

PSALM XCIII.

WITH glory clad, with strength array'd,
The LORD that o'er all nature reigns,
The world's foundation strongly laid,
And the vast fabric still sustains.

How surely 'stablish'd is Thy throne !
Which shall no change of period see,
For thou, O LORD, and thou alone,
Art GOD from all eternity.

The floods, O LORD, lift up their voice,
And toss the troubled waves on high;
But God above can still their noise;
And make the angry sea comply.

Thy promise, LORD, is ever sure;
But they that in Thy house would dwell,
That happy station to secure,
Must still in holiness excel.

PSALM XCV.

O COME, loud anthems let us sing,
Loud thanks to our Almighty King;
For we our voices high should raise,
When our Salvation's Rock we praise.

Into His presence let us haste,
To thank him for his favours past;
To Him address, in joyful songs,
The praise that to His name belongs.

For GOD the LORD, enthroned in state,
Is, with unrival'd glory, great;

A King superior far to all

Whom gods the heathens falsely call.

O let us to His courts repair,
And bow with adoration there,
Down on our knees devoutly all
Before the LORD our Maker fall..

PSALM C..

WITH One consent, let all the earth To GOD their cheerful voices raise, Glad homage pay with awful mirth, And sing before Him songs of praise :

Convinced that He is Gon alone,,
From whom both we and all proceed;
We, whom He chuses for His own,
The flock that He vouchsafes to feed.

O enter then His temple gate,
Thence to His courts devoutly press,.
And still your grateful hymns repeat,.
And still His name with praises bless..

For He's the LORD supremely good,
His mercy is for ever sure;

His truth, which always firmly stood,,
To endless ages shall endure..

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