A translation of the psalms of David :: :: University of Virginia Library

Hosanna—musick is divine,
When in the praise the psalmists join,
And each good heart is warm;
Yea, joy is sweetest so renew'd,
And all the rites of gratitude
Are rapture to perform.

The Lord fair Salem shall replace,
And set upon his ancient base
Hananiel's goodly tow'r;
Make captives free, the barren big,
And under his own vine and fig
All Jacob re-embow'r.

He shall the broken heart repair,
And for all sickness and despair
A cure in Christ provide;
And heal the wounded and the bruis'd,
His oil into their sores infus'd,
And soothing balm applied.

Tho' their bright swarms the sand surpass,
Of every magnitude and class
He knows th'etherial flames;
The numb'rer of their host is He,
And to his summons “here we be,”
They answer by their names.

For God is magnitude immense,
His prowess is omnipotence
That knows no date or end;
His wisdom infinitely great,
And all duration, depth and height,
His mysteries transcend.

The Lord with approbation sees
The meek, and from his faithful knees
He lifts him up on high;
But spurns the sinner and unjust,
And leaves low luxury and lust
To worms that never die.

Sing praises all degrees and ranks,
As in the pray'r of general thanks
The holy church commune;
As to the touch the harp revives,
Sing praises with your lips and lives
To Christ the word and tune.

He the blue heav'n in beauty shrouds,
And ballances the plumy clouds
Which for the rain he wrings;
He causes the mild dew to drop,
And grass upon the mountain top
In tufted verdure springs.

For every thing that moves and lives,
Foot, fin, or feather meat he gives,
He deals the beasts their food
Both in the wilderness and stall,
And hears the raven's urgent call,
And stills her clam'rous brood.

And yet his maker has no need
Of the train'd ox, or prancing steed,
Tho' thunder cloath his chest;
And man that manages the rein,
Is but a creature brief and vain
With such proportion blest.

But God is pleas'd with duteous fear,
Men with clean hands and conscience clear,
Which at thy mercy-gate
With ceaseless application knock,
And patient on him as their rock
For sure redemption wait.

150

O Sion, praise the Lord, and thou,
Fair Salem, to his praises bow
Thine olives and thy palms;
Are there afflicted? let them pray,
But mirth shall dedicate her day
To hymns and festive psalms.

For by his might the Lord supports
Thy mounds, and fortifies thy forts,
Thy brazen bars he nails;
Thy sportive children fill the streets,
Thy foe without the wall retreats,
Nor want within prevails.

He sheathes the sword and blunts the spears,
And thy redoubtable frontiers
Barbarian inroads scorn;
That thou may'st in thy peace possess
The blessings of a social mess,
And flour of choicest corn.

He sends his word upon the earth
To call conception into birth,
And kind with kind to match;
And to sustain all human race,
The blessed angels of his grace
Make infinite dispatch.

His snow upon the ground he teems,
Like bleaching wool beside the streams,
To warm the tender blade;
Like ashes from the furnace cast,
His frost comes with the northern blast
To pinch and to pervade.

Like vitreous fragments o'er the field,
In ice the waters are congeal'd,
Their liquid swiftness lost;
The breath steams on the sharpen'd air,
And who so hardy as to bear
The quickness of his frost!

He sends the word of his command
To melt and loosen all the land,
And let the floods at large;
He blows, and with the genial breeze,
The fount and river by degrees
Their usual tale discharge.

His word to Jacob he disclos'd,
When he upon the stones repos'd
And worship'd in a trance;
And laws to Israel enjoin'd
When o'er the nations of mankind
He bade his tribes advance.

Such wond'rous love has not been shown,
But to the patriarch's seed alone
His duty to requite;
And judgments on the rest impend,
Till Jesus make them comprehend
His ways, his truth and light.