5 Into thy hands, my Saviour-God,
Did I my soul resign,

In firm dependence on that truth,
Which made salvation mine.

6 Back from the borders of the grave
At thy command I come:

Nor would I urge a speedier flight
To my celestial home.

7 Where thou determin'st mine abode,
There would I chuse to be;
For in thy presence death is life,

And earth is heaven with thee.

CCCLXV. The last Words of David. 2 Samuel xxiii. 1—8*.

1 THUS hath the son of Jesse said,

When Israel's God had rais'd his head

To high imperial sway:

Struck with his last poetic fire,

Zion's sweet Psalmist tun'd his lyre

To this harmonious lay.

2 Thus dictates Israel's sacred rock:
Thus hath the God of Jacob spoke
By my responsive tongue :
Behold the Just One over men
Commencing his religious reign,
Great subject of my song!

3 So gently shines with genial ray
The unclouded lamp of rising day,
And cheers the tender flowers,
When midnight's soft diffusive rain
Hath bless'd the gardens and the plain
With kind refreshing showers.

4 Shall not my house this honour boast?
My soul the eternal covenant trust,
Well-order'd still and sure?
There all my hopes and wishes meet:
In death I call its blessings sweet,
And feel its bond secure.

5 The sons of Belial shall not spring,
Who spurn at heaven's anointed King,
And scorn his high command:

* Agreeable to the ingenious metrical version of the learned Dr. Richard Grey.

Though wide the briars infest the ground,
And the sharp-pointed thorns around
Defy a tender hand;

6 A dreadful warrior shall appear
With iron arms, and massy spear,
And tear them from their place:
Touch'd with the lightning of his ire,
At once they kindle into fire,
And vanish in the blaze.

CCCLXVI. A Military Ode. Psalm cxlix.

Probably composed by David, to be sung when his Army was marching out to War against the Remnant of the devoted Nations of Canaan, and first went up in solemn Procession to the House of God at Jerusalem, there, as it were, to consecrate the Arms, which he put into their Hands. The Beds referred to, Ver. 5, where probably the Couches, on which they lay at the Banquet attending their Sacrifices; which gives a noble Sense to a Passage, on any other Interpretation hardly intelligible.

1PRAISE ye the Lord, prepare a new song,
And let all his saints in full consort join:
Ye tribes all assemble the feast to prolong,
In solemn procession with music divine.

2 O Israel, in him that made thee rejoice;
Let all Zion's sons exult in their King;

While to martial dances you join a glad voice, Your lutes, harps and timbrels in harmony bring. 3 The Lord in his saints still finds his delight; Salvation from him the meek shall adorn; They well may be joyful, sustain'd by his might, And crown'd by his favour may lift up their horn. 4 Let carpets be spread, and banquets prepar'd Those altars around, whence incense ascends; Whilst anthems of glory through Salem are heard, And God, whom we worship, indulgent attends. 5 Then as your hearts bound with music and wine, Inspir'd by the God, who reigns in the place: Unsheath all your weapons, and bright let them shine, And brandish your faulchions, while chaunting his praise.

6 Then march to the field; the heathen defy;

And scatter his wrath on nations around:

Like angels of vengeance your swords lift on high,
And boast that Jehovah commissions the wound.

grace,

7 Their generals subdued your triumphs shall And loaded with chains their kings shall be brought;

1

On the necks shall ye trample of Canaan's proud race,
And all their last remnant for slaughter be sought.
8 No rage of your own such rigour demands;
A sentence divine your arms must fulfil:

Of old He this vengeance consign'd to your hands,
And in sacred volumes recorded his will.

9 This honour, ye saints, appointed for you,
All-grateful receive, and faithful obey;

And, while this dread pleasure resistless ye do,
Still make his high praises the song of the day.

CCCLXVII. For the Thanksgiving-Day for the Peace, April 25, 1749.
NOW let our songs address the God of peace,
Who bids the tumult of the battle cease:
The pointed spears to pruning-hooks he bends,
And the broad faulchion in the plow-share ends.
His powerful word unites contending nations
In kind embrace, and friendly salutations.

2

3

4

5

6

Britain, adore the guardian of thy state;
Who, high on his celestial throne elate,
Still watchful o'er thy safety and repose,
Frown'd on the counsels of thy haughtiest foes;
Thy coast secur'd from every dire invasion
Of fire and sword and spreading desolation.

When rebel-bands with desperate madness join'd,
He wafted o'er deliverance with his wind;

Drove back the tide, that delug'd half our land,
And curb'd their fury with his mightier hand:"
Till dreadful slaughter, and the last confusion
Taught those audacious sinners their delusion.

He gave our fleets to triumph o'er the main,
And scatter terrors 'cross wide ocean's plain :
Opposing leaders trembled at the sight,

Nor found their safety in the attempted flight; Taught by their bonds, how vainly they pretended Those to distress, whom Israel's God defended.

Fierce storms were summon'd up in Britain's aid, And meagre famine hostile lands o'erspread; By sufferings bow'd their conquests they release, Nor scorn the overtures of equal peace: Contending powers congratulate the blessing, Joint hymns of gratitude to heaven addressing. While we beneath our vines and fig-trees sit, Or thus within thy sacred temple meet,

A TABLE

TO FIND OUT ANY HYMN BY THE FIRST LINE OF IT.