while I have any being. Praife ye him, all his angels: praife him, all his hofts. Praife him, fun and moon: praise him, all ye ftars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath alfo ftablished them for ever and ever. O fing unto the Lord a new fong: praife him in the firmament of his power; praife him for his mighty acts; praife him, according to his excellent greatnefs: for in this day is the Branch of the Lord beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth excellent and comely, for them that are escaped of Ifrael, and that are left in Zion, and that remain in Jerufalem, are called holy. There hath come forth a rod out of the ftem of Jeffe, and a branch hath grown out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord doth rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel, might, knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord: with righteoufnefs doth he judge the poor, and reprove with equity, for the meek of the earth: and he fmote the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips did he flay the wicked. And righteoufnefs is the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf doth dwell with the lamb, and the leopard doth lie down with the kid; and the calf, the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child may lead them: for the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the fea. O Lord, thou art my God, I will praise thee, for thou haft done wonderful things; thy counfels of old are faithfulnefs and truth: for thou haft brought down all thofe that rofe up against thee; and art for a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty to thy people. Judgment doth

dwell

dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remains in the fruitful field; and the work of righteouf nefs is peace, and the effect of righteoufnefs quietnefs and affurance for ever. An high way is here, and it is called the way of holinefs; no lion is here, no ravenous beast goeth up thereupon; but the redeemed walk therein, and the ranfomed of the Lord do return, and come to Zion with fongs, and everlafting joy upon their heads; they have attained joy and gladnefs, and forrow and fighing have fled away. We are the everlasting witnesses of thy glory and excellency, O dread Sovereign, and thy fervant whom thou haft chosen: before thee there was no god formed, neither fhall there be after thee thou, even thou art the Lord. and befide thee there is no faviour: before the day thou art he; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand: thou workest, and who shall let thee? We remember not the former things, neither confider the things of old: behold, thou doft a new thing, and it fpringeth forth, and we understand it thou doft even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the defert. The beafts of the field honour thee, the dragons and the owls; because thou giveft water in the wilderness, and ri vers in the defert, to give drink to thy people, thy chofen. Us haft thou formed for thyfelf, we shall fhew forth thy praife. Thy righteoufnefs is near, thy falvation is gone forth and thine arm did judge the people; the islands did wait upon thee, and upon thine arm did they truft. The heavens e vanished like fmoke; and the earth did wax old like a garment; and they that dwelt therein did die in like manner: but thy falvation is for ever, and thy righteoufnefs fhall not be abolished: the mountains did depart, the hills were removed:

but

Thou

but thy kindness hath not departed from us, nei ther shall the covenant of thy peace be removed from us. I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and the praifes of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, rent the heavens, and cameft down, the mountains flowed down at thy prefence; and thou trode down the people in thine anger, and made them drunk in thy fury; and didft bring down their strength to the earth. Though many of the earth heaped up filver as the duft, and raiment as the clay; yet the just put it on, and the inno cent divided the filver: terrors have taken hold on

them as waters; a tempeft hath stolen them away in the night; for thou haft caft upon them, and not fpared; they would fain flee out of thy hand. We clap our hands at them, and have hiffed them out of their place. But thou haft delivered us in fix troubles; yea, in feven no evil hath touched us. In famine he hath redeemed us from death, and in war from the power of the fword; we have been hid from the fcourge of tongues; neither were we afraid of deftruction when it came : at deftruction and famine we did laugh: we knew alfo that our feed fhould be great, and our offfpring as the grafs of the earth; and that our enemies fhould for ever be made our footstools; for thou haft deftroyed them for ever, O God; and haft made them to fall by their own counfels: thou haft caft them out, in the multitude of their tranfgreffions; for they rebelled against thee. They are brought down, and fallen; but we are rifen, and ftand upright; for thou haft faved the aficted people, and haft brought down high looks. We will extol thee, O Lord; for thou haft lifted us up, and haft not made our foes to rejoice over

་

us: thou haft brought up our fouls from the grave; thou hast kept us alive, that we should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye faints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holinefs; for his anger endureth but for a moment; in his favour is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. We have delighted ourselves in the Lord; and he hath given us the defire of our hearts: we have committed our way unto him, we have trufted in him; and he hath brought it to pafs; and hath brought forth our righteoufnefs as the light, and our judgment as the noon-day. We have not fretted ourselves, because of him that profpereth in his way; because of the man that bring. eth wicked devices to pafs; but we have waited patiently, and behold, the wicked are not; they are for ever banished unto utter darkness: but we inherit the earth, and delight ourselves in abundance of peace. Many have been our afflictions, but the Lord hath delivered us out of them all: he hath kept all our bones, that one of them is not broken: but evil hath flain the wicked; and they that have hated us are defolate: we were not afraid, when one was made rich, when the glory of his houfe was increased; for when he died, he carried nothing away; his glory did not defcend after him the way of the wicked was their folly; like fheep they were laid in the grave, death did feed upon them; we have now dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty did confume in the grave, from their dwelling. But God hath redeemed our foul from the power of the grave; for he hath received us. Selah.

O fing unto the Lord a new fong; for he hath done marvellous things; his right hand, and holy

arm

arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord is God, his mercy is everlafting, and his truth endureth to all generations. The right hand of the

Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly. Praife ye the Lord, O Jerufalem; praise thy God, O Zion; for the Lord fhall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, to all generations. Hallelujah."

The CONCLUSION.

1. We ought to write of fuch things with a trembling band.

H! Wellbeloved, I am beginning to be afraid,

out knowledge. Ah! has this been the effect of my ravishing view of thy fuperexcellent glory to be revealed? to talk fo poorly and childishly of fuch great and excellent things! a ready way to bring down the low thoughts, that the fons of men have of thee, much lower ! a destruction to my defign here, and the flower of my defire, which is only to ravish the judgments and affections of the fons of men, concerning the excellencies of thy perfon, the greatness of thy kingdom, and the glory-of thine inheritance in the faints in light. My dearest One, let this never fee the light, if it be apt to produce any other effect. Pardon, dear Lord, my childish boldness, and accept the will for the deed: thou knoweft, it is my defign, to fet these on high; but ah my ftupidity! ah my childish ignorance! I may fay, in thy fight, I am more brutish U 2

than