The commandments of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. And in keeping of them there is great reward. O cleanse thou me from secret faults! Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins; Then shall I be upright, I shall not be polluted with gross transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. THE LORD OUR SHEPHERD PSALM XXIII. TRANSLATED BY THE SAME. THE Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.- He reviveth my spirit; He leadeth me in the right paths, For his name's sake. When I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for thou art with me; Thy crook and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou anointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. THE KING OF GLORY. PSALM XXIV. TRANSLATED BY THE SAME THE earth is the Lord's, and all that is therein; The world, and they who inhabit it. For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods. And who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; He shall receive a blessing from Jehovah, This is the race of those who seek Him; Lift up your heads, O ye gates!! Jehovah, God of hosts, He is the glorious King. GOD OUR REFUGE. PSALM XLVI. God is our refuge and strength; A powerful help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth change, The mountains shake with its raging. There is a river, whose brooks gladden the city of God; The holy dwelling-place of the Most High. God is within her: she shall not be moved: God shall help her, earlier than the dawning. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were stirred : Jehovah of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our Refuge. Come, behold the doings of Jehovah ! What astonishments he hath wrought in the earth. He quieteth wars to the end of the earth; The bow he breaketh in pieces, and cutteth asunder the spear; Be still, and know that I am God: CONFIDENCE IN THE MERCY OF GOD. PSALM LXV. To thee belong submission and praise, O God, in Zion! O Hearer of prayer! to thee all flesh must come. But our sins, thou shalt purge them away. Blessed are the people whom thou choosest and bringest near; they shall rest in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the glory of thy house, of thy holy temple. By wonderful things in mercy wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; The confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the remotest parts of the sea. Establishing the mountains by his strength: girded with power. Who stilleth the roar of the seas, The roar of the waves and the tumult of the people. The remotest dwellers venerate thy wonderful exhibitions. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Thou visitest the earth and waterest it abundantly; Thou enrichest it: the channels of God are full of water: Thou crownest the year of thy goodness, The meadows of the wilderness do drop; PRAISE TO JEHOVAH. PSALM XCV. O COME, Let us sing unto Jehovah! Let us shout to the Rock of our salvation! Let us shout to him with songs! For a great God is Jehovah, And a great king over all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth, And his are the heights of the mountains. The sea is his, and he made it, The dry land also, which his hands have formed. Are the people of his pasture, and the flock of his hand. Harden not your heart, as in Meribah, As in the day of repining in the wilderness; Tried me, and saw my works. Forty years was I grieved with this generation; They shall not enter into my rest. ASPIRATIONS AFTER GOD. PSALM XLII. TRANSLATED BY THE REV. GEORGE R. NOYES. As the hart panteth for streams of water, While they say to me continually, Where is thy God: How I once walked in the procession to the house of God, Why art thou cast down, O my soul! And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God! for I will yet praise him, Him, my deliverer, and my God! My soul is cast down within me, While I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Her mon, From the mountain Mizar. Deep calleth for deep; thy cataracts roar; All thy waves and billows have gone over me! Once Jehovah commanded his kindness by day, And my prayer to the God of my life; Now I say to God, my rock, Why dost thou forget me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? The reproaches of the enemy are like the crushing of my bones; While they say to me continually, Where is thy God? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God! for I will yet praise him ; THE CONDESCENSION OF GOD TO MAN. PSALM VIII. TRANSLATED BY THE SAME.. O JEHOVAH, Our Lord! How excellent is thy name in all the earth! Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained praise, To put thine adversaries to shame, And to silence the enemy and avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, And the son of man, that thou carest for him! Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet; All sheep and oxen, Yea, and the beasts of the forest; The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, And whatever passeth through the paths of the deep, O Jehovah, our Lord! How excellent is thy name in all the earth! LIFE TRANSITORY, BUT GOD THE EVERLASTING REFUGE PSALM XC. LORD, thou hast been our refuge in all generations: Before the mountains were created, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Thou turnest man to destruction, And thou sayest, Return ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight Are as yesterday when it is passed, And like a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away; they are a dream. |