PSALM 1. (C. M.) The Way and End of the Righteous and the Wicked.
I
Blest is the man who shuns the place
Where sinners love to meet;
Who fears to tread their wicked ways,
And hates the scoffer's seat:
II
But in the statutes of the Lord
Has plac'd his chief delight;
By day he reads or hears the word,
And meditates by night.
III
He like a plant of generous kind,
By living waters set,
Safe from the storms and blasting wind,
Enjoys a peaceful state.
IV
Green as the leaf and ever fair
Shall his profession shine,
While fruits of holiness appear
Like clusters on the vine.
V
Not so the impious and unjust;
What vain designs they form!
Their hopes are blown away like dust,
Or chaff before the storm.
VI
Sinners in judgment shall not stand
Amongst the sons of grace,
When Christ the Judge, at his right hand
Appoints his saints a place.
VII
His eye beholds the path they tread,
His heart approves it well;
But crooked ways of sinners lead
Down to the gates of hell.
In this work I have often borrowed a line or two from the New
Testament; that the excellent and inspired composures of the jewish
psalmist may be brightened by the clearer discoveries of the gospel.
