 | The miscellaneous works (1739) |  |
PSALM CXLVI.
Prepare the voice, and tune the joyful lyre,
And let the glorious theme my soul inspire:
To thee, my God, I sing; thy mighty name
With heav'nly rapture shall my soul enflame.
My tuneful homage shall like incense rise,
And glad the air, and reach th' approving skies;
While life informs this frame, the sacred song
Shall fill my breast, and dwell upon my tongue.
And let the glorious theme my soul inspire:
To thee, my God, I sing; thy mighty name
With heav'nly rapture shall my soul enflame.
My tuneful homage shall like incense rise,
And glad the air, and reach th' approving skies;
While life informs this frame, the sacred song
Shall fill my breast, and dwell upon my tongue.
As some fair structure, whose firm basis lies
On strength of rocks, the threat'ning winds defies;
So stedfastly my hopes on heav'n are plac'd,
Nor earth, nor hell, my confidence can blast.
Let others still for human help attend,
And on the flatt'ries of the great depend;
Relentless death shall mock their airy trust,
And lay their boasted confidence in dust.
As the fantastic visions of the night,
Before the op'ning morning take their flight;
So perish all the boasts of men, their pride,
And vain designs, the laughing skies deride.
On strength of rocks, the threat'ning winds defies;
So stedfastly my hopes on heav'n are plac'd,
Nor earth, nor hell, my confidence can blast.
Let others still for human help attend,
And on the flatt'ries of the great depend;
Relentless death shall mock their airy trust,
And lay their boasted confidence in dust.
As the fantastic visions of the night,
Before the op'ning morning take their flight;
So perish all the boasts of men, their pride,
And vain designs, the laughing skies deride.
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But he alone securely guarded lives,
To whom the mighty God protection gives;
The mighty God, who made the stedfast earth,
And gave the springs that swell the ocean birth;
Who form'd the stars, and spread the circling skies,
And bade the sun in all his glory rise:
No breach of faithfulness his honour stains,
With day and night his word unchang'd remains:
On human woes he looks with pitying eyes,
To help th' oppress'd, and answer all their cries;
The orphan's soft complaint, and widow's tears,
Obtain redress, and fix his list'ning ears:
His throne from changes stands for ever free,
And his dominion shall no period see.
To whom the mighty God protection gives;
The mighty God, who made the stedfast earth,
And gave the springs that swell the ocean birth;
Who form'd the stars, and spread the circling skies,
And bade the sun in all his glory rise:
No breach of faithfulness his honour stains,
With day and night his word unchang'd remains:
On human woes he looks with pitying eyes,
To help th' oppress'd, and answer all their cries;
The orphan's soft complaint, and widow's tears,
Obtain redress, and fix his list'ning ears:
His throne from changes stands for ever free,
And his dominion shall no period see.
| The miscellaneous works (1739) | |