2 For thee, my God-the living God.
My thirsty soul doth pine;

O when shall I behold thy face,
Thou Majesty divine!

3 I sigh, as oft my musing thoughts
Those happy days present,

When I, with crowds of pious friends,
Thy temple did frequent.

4 Why restless-why cast down, my soul?
Hope still-and thou shalt sing

42.

The praise of him, who is thy God,
Thy health's eternal spring.

THIRD VERSION. V. 6—11.

Melancholy reproved; or, hope in affliction.
1 MY spirit sinks within me, Lord,
But I will call thy name to mind;
And times of past distress record,
When I have found my God was kind.
2 Huge troubles, with tumultuous noise,
Swell like a sea, and round me spread;
Thy water-spouts drown all my joys,
And rising waves roll o'er my head.
3 Yet will the Lord command his love,
When I address his throne by day;
Nor in the night his grace remove,-
The night shall hear me sing and pray.

4 I'll cast myself before his feet,

And say, 'My God, my heavenly Rock,
Why doth thy love so long forget

The soul, that groans beneath thy stroke!

5 I'll chide my heart that sinks so low;
Why should my soul indulge her grief?
Hope in the Lord, and praise him too;
He is my rest, my sure relief.

6 Thy light and truth shall guide me still,—
Thy word shall my best thoughts employ,
And lead me to thy heavenly hill,

My God, my most exceeding joy.

L. M

42.

42.

FOURTH VERSION. V. 6-9, 11.

1 HEARKEN, Lord, to my complaints,

For my soul within me faints;
Thee, far off, I call to mind,
In the land I left behind,

Where the streams of Jordan flow,
Where the heights of Hermon glow.
2 Tempest-tost, my failing bark
Founders on the ocean dark;
Deep to deep around me calls,
With the rush of waterfalls,
While I plunge to lower caves,
Overwhelmed by all thy waves.
3 Once the morning's earliest light
Brought thy mercy to my sight,
And my wakeful song was heard
Later than the evening bird:
Hast thou all my prayers forgot?
Dost thou scorn, or hear them not?
4 Why, my soul, art thou perplexed?
Why with faithless troubles vexed?
Hope in God, whose saving name
Thou shalt joyfully proclaim,
When his countenance shall shine
Through the clouds that darken thine.

FIFTH VERSION. V. 6–8.

1 O MY God, by thee forsaken,
Prostrate in the dust I lie;
Faith by gloomy terrors shaken,
All my hopes within me die :
Yet, my soul, in thee confiding,
Meditates thy mercy still;
Though, on earth's dark coasta abiding,
Distant far from Zion's hill.

8s & 7s. D.

2 Deep to deep responsive calling,
Thunders roar, the torrents roll;
Bursting clouds around me falling,
Wave on wave o'erwhelms my soul:
Yet the Lord, his grace commanding,
Will with mercies crown my days:
He my guardian, near me standing,
Cheers my nights with prayer and praise.

43.

FIRST VERSION. V. 1, 2, 5.

A complaint, mingled with hope, under great trials.
1 MY God, defend my cause
Against a host of foes;

O save me from th' unjust,
Who triumph in my woes!

Why dost thou faint, To God impart

My trembling heart?

Thy sad complaint

2 Why dost thou, O my Shield,
Desert me thus forlorn?
Why, hated and oppressed,
Thus bid me ceaseless mourn?

To God I fly;

In God I trust,

When low in dust

My head shall lie.

3 My soul awake to joy,
And triumph in the Lord,
My health, my hope, my song,
And my divine reward.

Ye fears remove;

No more I mourn,

43.

But blest return

To sing his love.

LM

H&M.

SECOND VERSION. V. 3, 4.

Public worship introduced.

1 LORD, to thy sacred house
I come with willing feet,

Where saints with morning vows
In full assembly meet.

Thy power divine

Shall here be shown,

And from thy throne
Thy mercy shine.

2 O send thy light abroad!
Thy truth with heavenly ray
Shall lead my soul to God,
And guide my doubtful way.

I'll hear thy word

With faith sincere,

And learn to fear

And praise the Lord.

3 Reach forth thy bounteous hand,
And all my sorrows heal;

Here health and strength divine
O make my bosom feel!

Like balmy dew

Shall Jesus' voice,

My bones rejoice,
My strength renew.

4 Then in thy holy hill,
Before thine altar, Lord,
My harp and song shall sound
The glories of thy word.

Henceforth to thee,

O God of grace,

44.

44.

A hymn of praise
My life shall be.

FIRST VERSION. V. 1-3, 8, 15-18, 26.
The church's complaint in persecution.

1 LORD, we have heard thy works of old-
Thy works of power

and

grace,

When to our ears our fathers told

The wonders of their days:

2 How thou didst build thy churches here,
And make thy gospel known;
Among them did thine arm appear,
Thy light and glory shone.

3 In God they boasted all the day,
And in a cheerful throng

Did thousands meet to praise and pray,
And grace was all their song.

1 But now our souls are seized with shame,
Confusion fills our face,

To hear the enemy blaspheme,
And fools reproach thy grace.

5 Yet have we not forgot our God,
Nor falsely dealt with heaven;
Nor have our steps declined the road
Of duty thou hast given.

6 Redeem us from perpetual shame,
Our Saviour and our God;
We plead the honors of thy name,
The merits of thy blood."

SECOND VERSION. V. 1-4.

Public deliverances ascribed to God.

1 O LORD, our fathers oft have told,
In our attentive ears,

Thy wonders in their days perforined,
And in more ancient years:—

C. M.

C. M.

2 How thou, to plant them here, didst drive
The heathen from this land,
Afflicted by repeated strokes
Of thine avenging hand.

3 For not their courage, nor their sword,
To them possession gave;

Nor strength that from unequal force
Their fainting troops could save,—

4 But thy right hand and powerful arm,
Whose succor they implored,-
Thy presence with the chosen race,
Who thy great name adored.

5 As thee, their God, our fathers owned,
So thou art still our King;

44.

O, therefore, as of old to them,
To us deliverance bring.

THIRD VERSION. V. 1, 3, 6, 8.

Public deliverances ascribed to God.

1 OFT have our ears, great God, been taught
What for our fathers thou hast wrought;
While, with adoring minds, they told
The wonders of thy works of old.

2 Not by their sword the land they gained,
Not their own arm their right sustained;
Thy gracious presence, and thy hand,
Bade them possess the promised land."
3 Still we disclaim our bow and sword,
And wait salvation from the Lord;
On him we trust, his mercies claim,
Whose presence puts our foes to shame.
4 From morning dawn till evening close,
Firm on our God our hopes repose:
Our Saviour, to thy name we'll raise
The tribute of eternal praise.

44.

FOURTH VERSION. V. 23-26.

L.M.

L.M

1 WHY should thy face, where mercies dwell
Its beams of majesty conceal;
Regardless of the woes that wait
Around our long-afflicted state?