4 But they in murmuring language said, "Manna is all our feast;
"We loathe this light, this airy bread, "We must have flesh to taste."
5 "Ye shall have flesh to please your lust,"
The Lord in wrath replied;
And sent them quails, like sand or dust,
Heaped up from side to side.
6 He gave them all their own desire;
And greedy as they fed,
His vengeance burnt with secret fire,
And smote the rebels dead.
7 When some were slain, the rest returned,
And sought the Lord with tears;
Under the rod they feared and mourned,
But soon forgot their fears.
8 Oft he chastised, and still forgave,
Till, by his gracious hand,
The nation he resolved to save,
Possessed the promised land.]
L. M. Bath. [b]
Ver. 32, &c. Saints corrected and saved.
REAT God, how oft did Israel prove,
There, in a glass, our hearts may see
How fickle and how false they be.
2 How soon the faithless Jews forgot
The dreadful wonders God had wrought!
Then they provoke him to his face;
Nor fear his power, nor trust his grace.
3 The Lord consumed their years in pain,
And made their travels long and vain;
A tedious march, through unknown ways,
Wore out their strength, and spent their days.
4 Oft, when they saw their brethren slain,
They mourned, and sought the Lord again;
Called him the Rock of their abode,
Their high Redeemer, and their God.
5 Their prayers and vows before him rise
As flattering words or solemn lies;
While their rebellious tempers prove
False to his covenant and his love.
6 Yet did his sovereign grace forgive The men, who ne'er deserved to live: His anger oft away he turned,
Or else with gentle flame it burned.
7 He saw their flesh was weak and frail,
He saw temptations still prevail;
The God of Abraham loved them still,
And led them to his holy hill.
PSALM 80. L. M. Dresden. Moreton. [b]
The Church in Affliction.
REAT Shepherd of thine Israel,
Who didst between the cherubs dwell,
And led'st the tribes, thy chosen sheep,
Safe through the desert and the deep:-
e 2 Thy Church is in the desert now;
-Shine from on high, and guide it through;
Turn us to thee, thy love restore;
We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
3 [Great God, whom heavenly hosts obey,
How long shall we lament and
pray, And wait in vain thy kind return? How long shall thy fierce anger burn?
4 Instead of wine and cheerful bread,
Thy saints with their own tears are fed;
Turn us to thee; thy love restore :
We shall be saved and sigh no more.]
e 5 Hast thou not planted, with thy hand,
A lovely vine in this our land?
Did not thy power defend it round, And heavenly dews enrich the ground? -6 How did the spreading branches shoot, And bless the nation with the fruit! e But now, O Lord, look down and see Thy mourning vine, that lovely tree. 7 Why is its beauty thus defaced? Why hast thou laid its fences waste? -Strangers and foes against it join, And every beast devours the vine. 8 Return, almighty God, return; p Nor let thy bleeding vineyard mourn:
-Turn us to thee, thy love restore;
o We shall be saved, and sigh no more.
9 [Lord, when this vine in Canaan grew, Thou wast its strength and glory too! Attacked in vain by all its foes,
Till the fair Branch of promise rose.
10 Fair Branch, ordained of old to shoot From David's stock, from Jacob's root; Himself a noble Vine, and we
The lesser branches of the Tree.
11 'Tis thy own Son; and he shall stand,
Girt with thy strength, at thy right hand;
Thy first-born Son, adorned and blest
With power and grace above the rest.
12 O for his sake, attend our cry,
Shine on thy churches, lest they die;
Turn us to thee, thy love restore :
We shall be saved, and sigh no more.]
PSALM 81. S. M. Aylesbury. Dover. [*]
Ver. 1, 8-16. Saints warned and exhorted.
SING to the Lord, aloud,
And make a joyful noise:
• God is our Strength, our Saviour Goa: Let Israel hear his voice.
2 "From vile idolatry,
"Preserve my worship clean;
"I am the Lord, who set thee free
"From slavery and from sin.
3 "Stretch thy desires abroad,
"And I'll supply them well;
"But if ye will refuse your God,
"If Israel will rebel;-
d 4 "I'll leave them," saith the Lord,
"To their own lusts a prey;
"And let them run the dangerous road-
""Tis their own chosen way.
5 " Yet, O that all my saints
"Would hearken to my voice!
-"Soon I would ease their sore complaints,
"And bid their hearts rejoice.
6" While I destroy their foes,
"I'd richly feed my flock;
"And they should taste the stream, that flows "From their eternal Rock."
PSALM 82. L. M. Old Hundred. [*]
God Supreme; or, Magistrates warned.
AMONG th' assemblies of the great,
A greater Ruler takes his seat:
The God of heaven, as Judge, surveys
Those gods on earth, and all their ways
e 2 Why will ye then frame wicked laws?
Or why support th' unrighteous cause?
When will ye once defend the poor,
That sinners vex the saints no more?
e 3 They know not, Lord, nor will they know;
Dark are the ways in which they go;
Their name of earthly gods is vain;
For they shall fall and die like men.
o 4 Arise, O Lord, and let thy Son
Possess his universal throne,
o And rule the nations with his rod :
g He is our Judge, and he our God.
PSALM 83. S. M. Little Marlboro'. [b]
A Complaint against Persecutors.
1A Perpetual silence keep?
The God of justice hold his peace,
And let his vengeance sleep?
2 Behold, what cursed snares
The men of mischief spread;
The men, who hate thy saints and thee,
Lift up their threatening head.
3 Against thy hidden ones
Their counsels they employ;
And malice, with her watchful eye,
Pursues them to destroy.
4 [The noble and the base
Into thy pastures leap :
The lion and the stupid ass
Conspire to vex thy sheep.
5" Come let us join," they cry,
"To root them from the ground;
"Till not the name of saints remain,
"Nor memory shall be found."
6 Awake, almighty God,
And call thy wrath to mind;
Give them like forests to the fire,
Or stubble to the wind.]
7 Convince their madness, Lord,
And make them seek thy name;
Or else their stubborn rage confound,
That they may die in shame.
8 Then shall the nations know That glorious, dreadful wordg JEHOVAH-is thy name alone,
And thou the sovereign Lord.
PSALM 84. L. M. FIRST PART. Moreton. [*] The Pleasure of Public Worship.
HO Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are
With long desire my spirit faints,
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.
TOW pleasant, how divinely fair,
e 2 My flesh would rest in thine abode,
My panting heart cries out for God;
e My God, my King, why should I be
So far from all my joys, and thee?
3 [The sparrow chooses where to rest,
And for her young provides her nest;
But will my God to sparrows grant
That pleasure which his children want?]
o 4 Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne of majesty;
• Thy brightest glories shine above,
And all their work is praise and love.
o 5 Blest are the souls, who find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
-There they behold thy gentler rays,
And seek thy face, and learn thy praise.
o 6 Blest are the men, whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion's gate,
-God is their strength: and through the road,
They lean upon their Helper, God
|