Hymns Based on PsalmsPsalm XIXJoseph Addison
¶[7672-/7/9]
¶TH E spacious firmament on high,With all the blue ethereal sky,And spangled heavens, a shining frame,Their great Original proclaim.The unwearied sun from day to dayDoes his Creator's power display,And publishes to every landThe work of an almighty hand.
¶Soon as the evening shades prevailThe moon takes up the wondrous tale,And nightly to the listening earthRepeats the story of her birth;Whilst all the stars that round her burn,And all the planets in their turn,Confirm the tidings as they roll,And spread the truth from pole to pole.
¶What though in solemn silence allMove round the dark terrestrial ball?What though no real voice nor soundAmid their radiant orbs be found?In reason's ear they all rejoiceAnd utter forth a glorious voice,Forever singing as they shine,"The hand that made us is divine."
Psalm XXIIIHenry Williams Baker
¶[1821-1877]
¶THE King of love my shepherd is,Whose goodness faileth never:I nothing lack if I am his,And he is mine forever.
¶Where streams of living water flowMy ransomed soul he leadeth,And where the verdant pastures growWith food celestial feedeth.
¶Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,But yet in love he sought meAnd on his shoulder gently laidAnd home rejoicing brought me.
¶In death's dark vale I fear no illWith thee, dear Lord, beside me,Thy rod and staff my comfort still,Thy cross before to guide me.
¶Thou spread'st a table in my sight,Thy unction grace bestoweth,And O! what transport of delightFrom thy pure chalice flovveth!
¶And so through all the length of daysThy goodness faileth never;Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praiseWithin thy house forever.
Psalm LXXIIIsaac Watts
¶[1674-1748]
¶JESUS shall reign where'er the sunDoes his successive journeys run,His kingdom stretch from shore to shoreTill moons shall wax and wane no more.
¶Behold the islands with their kings,And Europe her best tribute brings;From north and south the princes meetTo pay their homage at his feet.
¶There Persia, glorious to behold,There India shines in eastern gold,And barb'rous nations at his wordSubmit and bow, and own their Lord.
¶For him shall endless prayer be made,And praises throng to crown his head;His name, like sweet perfume, shall riseWith every morning sacrifice.
¶People and realms of every tongueDwell on his love with sweetest song,And infant voices shall proclaimTheir early blessings on his name.
¶Blessings abound where'er he reigns;The prisoner leaps to loose his chains,The weary find eternal rest,And all the sons of want are blest.
¶Where he displays his healing power,Death and the curse are known no more.In him the tribes of Adam boastMore blessings than their father lost.[538]Let every creature rise, and bringPeculiar honors to our King,Angels descend with songs again,And earth repeat the loud Amen!
Psalm XCIsaac Watts
¶[1674-1748]
¶OUR God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Our shelter from the stormy blast,And our eternal home,Under the shadow of thy throneThy saints have dwelt secure;Sufficient is thine arm alone,And our defence is sure.
¶Before the hills in order stood,Or earth received her frame,From everlasting thou art God,To endless years the same.
¶Thy word commands our flesh, "To dustReturn ye sons of men:"All nations rose from earth at firstAnd turn to earth again.
¶A thousand ages in thy sightAre like an evening gone,Short as the watch that ends the nightBefore the rising sun.
¶The busy tribes of flesh and blood,With all their lives and cares,Are carried downward by thy flood,And lost in following years.
¶Time, like an ever-rolling stream,Bears all its sons away:They fly forgotten, as a dreamDies at the opening day.[539]Like flowery fields the nations stand,Pleas'd with the morning light,The flowers beneath the mower's handLie withering ere 'tis night.
¶Our God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Be thou our guard while troubles last,And our eternal home.
Psalm CWilliam Kethe
¶[(?) circa 1562]
¶ALL people that on earth do dwell,Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice,Him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,Come ye before him and rejoice.
¶The Lord ye know is God indeed;Without our aid he did us make;We are his folk, he doth us feed,And for his sheep he doth us take.
¶O enter then his gates with praise,Approach with joy his courts unto;Praise, laud, and bless his name always,For it is seemly so to do.
¶For why, the Lord our God is good,His mercy is forever sure;His truth at all times firmly stood,And shall from age to age endure.
Psalm CIVSir Robert Grant
¶[1785-1838}
¶O WORSHIP the King all glorious above!O gratefully sing his power and his love,—Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days,Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
¶O tell of his might, O sing of his grace,Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space;His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form,And dark is his path on the wings of the storm.
¶The earth with its store of wonders untold,Almighty, thy power hath founded of old,Hath 'stablish'd it fast by a changeless decree,And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.
¶Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,And sweetly distils in the dew and the rain.
¶Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail.Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end!Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.
¶O measureless Might! Ineffable Love!While angels delight to hymn thee above,The humbler creation, tho' feeble their lays,With true adoration shall lisp to thy praise.