6 I'll praife him whilft he lends me breath,
And when my voice is loft in death,
Praife fhall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praife fhall ne'er be paft,
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures.
Palm CXLVII. Com. Metre. [*]
The changing Seafons.
WITH fongs and honours founding loud,
Addrefs the Lord on high;
Over the heavens he spreads his cloud,
And waters veil the sky.
2 He fends his fhowers of bleffing down,
To cheer the plains below;
He makes the wood the mountains crown,
And grafs in vallies grow.
3 He gives the grazing ox his meat;
He hears the raven's cry;
But man who taftes his fineft wheat,
Should raise his honours high.
His fteady counfels change the face
Of the declining year;
He bids the fun cut fhort his race,
And wintry days appear.
His hoary froaft, his fleecy fnow
Defcend and clothe the ground;
The liquid ftreams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.
When, from his dreadful ftores on high,
He pours the rattling hail,
The man who dares his God defy,
Shall find his courage fail,
7 He fends his fun to melt the fnow,
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer winds to blow,
And bids the Spring return.
8 The changing wind the flying cloud
Obey his fov'reign word;
With fongs and honours founding loud,
Praise ye th' Almighty Lord.
Palm CXLVII. 1ft Part. L. Meire. [*
ING to the Lord, let praife infpire The grateful voice, the tuneful lyre; In ftrains of joy proclaim abroad
The endless glories of our God.
2 He counts the hofts of ftarry flames;
He knows their natures and their names;
Great is our God! his wond'rous pow'r
And boundless wifdom we adore.
3 He veils the fky with treafur'd fhowers,
On earth, the plenteous bleffing pours;
The meadows fmile in lively green,
And fairer blooms the flowery fcene.
4 His bounteous hand, great fpring of good,
Provides the brute creation food;
He feeds the ravens when they cry,
All nature lives beneath his eye.
In nature, what can him delight,
Moft lovely in its Maker's fight?
Not active ftrength his favour moves,
Nor comely form he best approves.
6 But to the Lord is ever dear,
The heart where he implants his fear;
The fouls who on his grace rely
Are ever lovely in his eye.
Pfalm CXLVII. 2d Part. L. M. [*] The Seafons of the Year.
Posing the honours of his name! RAISE ye the Lord! Oh blifsful theme,
'Tis pleafure, 'tis divine delight,
And praise is lovely in his fight.
1 He speaks, and, fwiftly from the skies
To earth, the fov'reign mandate flies;
Obfervant nature hears the word,
And bows, obedient to her Lord.
3 Now thick defcending flakes of fnow
O'er earth a fleecy mantle throw;
Now glittering froft, o'er all the plains
Extends its univerfal chains.
4 At his fierce ftorms of icy hail,
The fhivering powers of nature fail;
Before his cold, what life can ftand,
Unfhelter'd by his guardian hand?
5 He fpeaks, the fnow and ice obey,
And nature's fetters melt away;
Now vernal gales foft rifing blow,
And liquid waters gently flow.
6 Sing to the Lord, let praise infpire
The grateful voice, the tuneful iyre;
In ftrains of joy proclaim abroad
The endless glories of our God.
Pfalm CXLVIII. 1ft Part. C. M. [
RAISE ye the Lord, immortal choir,
Who fill the realms above;
Praife him who form'd you of his fire,
And feeds you with his love.
Shine to his praife, ye crystal skies,
The floor of his abode ;
Or veil the luftre of your eyes
Before a brighter God.
3 Thou central globe of golden light,
Whofe beams create our days;
Join with the filver queen of night,
To own your borrow'd rays.
4 Blush and refund the honours paid
To your inferior names;
Tell the blind world your orbs are fed
By his exhauftlefs flames.
Winds, ye fhall bear his name aloud,
Through the etherial blue !
For when his chariot is a cloud,
He makes his wheels of you.
6 Thunder and hail, and fire and ftorms,
The troops of his command,
Appear in all your awful forms,
And fpeak his potent hand.
Pfalm CXLVIII. 2d Part. C. M. [*]
HOUT to the Lord, ye furging feas,
In your eternal roar ;
Let wave to wave refound his praise,
And fhore reply to fhore.
2 While fishes, fporting on the flood,
In fcaly filver thine;
Proclaim their mighty Maker, God,
Amidst the foaming brine.
3 But gentler things fhall tune his name
To fofter notes than thefe ;
Young zephyrs breathing o'er the ftream,
Or whifpering through the trees.
4 Wave your tall heads, ye lofty pines,
To him who makes you grow ;
Sweet clufters bend the fruitful vines,
On every thankful bough.
Let the fhrill birds his honour raise,
And climb the morning sky;
Whilft grov'ling beafts attempt his praise
In hoarfer harmony.
6 Thus while the meaner creatures fing,
Ye mortals take the found;
Echo the glories of your King
Through all the nations round.
Palm CXLVIII. 1ft Part. L. M. [*] DAIREST of all the lights above,
Thou fun, whofe beams adorn the spheres,
And with unwearied fwiftness move,
To form the circles of our years:
2 Praise the Creator of the fkies,
Who drefs'd thine orb in golden rays;
Or may the fun forget to rife,
If he forget his Maker's praife.
3 Thou reigning beauty of the night,
queen of filence, filver moon,
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