PSALM 129.-1st Part. L. M. [b]

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The all-seeing God.

ORD, thou hast search'd and seen me
through;

Thine eye commands with piercing view
My rising and my resting hours,

My heart and flesh, with all their powers. 2 My thoughts, before they are my own, Are to my God distinctly known;

He knows the words I mean to speak
Ere from my opening lips they break.
3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand:
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
1 am surrounded still with God.

4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.

5 "O may these thoughts possess my breast,
"Where'er 1 rove, where'er I rest;
"Nor let my weaker passions dare
"Consent to sin, for God is there."

PAUSE I.

6 Could I so false, so faithless prove,
To quit thy service and thy love,
Where, Lord, could i thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?

7 If up to heaven I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'st enthron'd in light,
Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath his chains.

8 If, mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the western sea,
Thy swifter hand would first arrive,
And there arrest thy fugitive.

9 Or should I try to shun thy sight, Beneath the spreading veil of night, One glance of thine, one piercing ray, Would kindle darkness into day. 10"O may these thoughts possess my breast "Where'er I rove, where'er Lrest; "Nor let my weaker passions dare "Consent to sin, for God is there."

PAUSE II.

11 The veil of night is no disguise,
No screen from thy all searching eyes:
Thy hand can seize thy foes as soon
Through midnight shales as blazing noon.
12 Midnight and noon in this agree,
Great tio, ey're both alike to thee;
Not death can hide what God will spy.
And hell lies naked to his eye.

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13 "O may these thoughts possess my breast, "Where'er I rove, where'er I rest;

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"Nor let my weaker passions dare "Consent to sin, for God is there."

T

PSALM 139.-2d Part. L. M. [b] The wonderful formation of man. WAS from thy hand, my God, I came, A work of such a curious frame; In me thy fearful wonders shine, And each proclaims thy skill divine. 2 Thine eyes did all my limbs survey, Which yet in dark confusion lay;

Thou saw'st the daily growth they took, Form'd by the model of thy book.

3 By thee my growing parts were nam'd, And what thy sovereign counsels fram'd (The breathing lungs, the beating heart) Were copy'd with unerring art.

At last, to shew my Maker's name, God stamp'd his image on my frame, And in some unknown moment join'd The finish'd members to the mind. 5 There the young seeds of thought began, And all the passions of the man: Great God, our infant nature pays Immortal tribute to thy praise.

PAUSE.

6 Lord, since in my advancing age
I've acted on life's busy stage,
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.

7 I could survey the ocean o'er,

And count each sand that makes the shore, Before my swiftest thoughts could trace The numerous wonders of thy grace. 8 These on my heart are still impress'd, With these I give mine eyes to rest; And at my waking hour I find God and his love possess my mind.

PSALM 139.-3d Part. L. M. [b] the Sincerity professed, and grace tried; or, heart-searching God.

1 MY God, what inward grief I feel,

When impious men transgress thy

I mourn to hear their lips profane [will
Take thy tremendous name in vain.

2 Does not my soul detest and hate
The sons of malice and deceit ?

Those that oppose thy laws and thee,
I count them enemies to me.

3 Lord, search my soul, try every thought; Though mine own heart accuse me not Of walking in a false disguise,

I beg the trial of thine eyes.

4 Doth secret mischief lurk within?
Do I indulge some unknown sin?
O turn my feet whene'er I stray,
And lead me in thy perfect way.

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PSALM 139.-1st Part. C. M.
God is every where.

N all my vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try

To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.

2 Thine all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest:

My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.

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3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord,
Before they're form'd within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense 1 mean.

4 wondrous knowledge, deep and high! Where can a creature hide?

Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.

5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secur'd by sovereign love.

PAUSE.

6 Lord, where shall guilty souls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?

In hell they meet thy dreadful fire,
In heaven, thy glorious throne.

7 Should I suppress my vital breath,
To 'scape the wrath divine,

Thy voice could break the bars of death,
And make the grave resign.

3 If, wing'd with beams of morning light, I fly beyond the west,

Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.

9 If o'er my sins I think to draw
The curtains of the night,

Those flaming eyes that guard thy law,
Would turn the shades to light.

10 The beams of noon, the midnight hour, Are both alike to thee;

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may

I ne'er provoke that power
From which I cannot flee.

PSALM 139.-2d Part. C. M. [*]

The wisdom of God in the formation of man.

WHEN I with pleasing wonder stand,

And all my frame survey,

Lord, 'tis thy work: I own thy hand
Thus built my humble clay.