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10 Haft not thou caft us out, O God: Wilt not thou, O God, go out with our hofts?

11 O be thou our help in trouble: for vain is the help of man.

12 Through God will we do great acts: for it is he that fhall tread down our enemies.

HEA

Pfalm Ixi. Exaudi, Deus.

EAR my crying, O God: give ear unto my prayer. 2 From the ends of the earth will I call upon thee: when my heart is in heaviness.

3 O fet me up upon the rock that is higher than I: for thou haft been my hope, and a strong tower for me against the enemy.

4 I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever and my trust fhall be under the covering of thy wings.

5 For thou, O Lord, haft heard my defires: and haft given an heritage unto thofe that fear thy Name.

6 Thou shalt grant the King a long life: that his may endure throughout all generations.

years

7 He fhall dwell before God for ever: O prepare thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they may preferve him. 8 So will I always fing praife unto thy Name: that I may daily perform my vows.

PRACTICAL

OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm 1x.] The first thing obfervable in this pfalm is, that David lays before God the miferies which had befallen the Ifraelites; which teaches us, that when nations are expofed to war, and other public calamities, God is the difpenfer of them, to chaffife and humble them. 2. David celebrates the power and goodness of God, who had affifted his people, and given them the victory over their enemies. Thus is God reconciled with men, after he has afflicted them; and in particular, difappoints the plots and contrivances of the enemies of his church. Lastly, This pfalm teaches us, that the ftrength and affittance of man is but vanity, and that there is none but the Lord who can help and deliver us in our diftrefs, and in whom we may fafely and perfectly confide.

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Pfalm Ixi.] In this pfalm, we fee David groaning and calling upon the Lord for help; but at the fame time, we fee him full of joy and confidence. Such are the difpofitions of all thofe that fear God; they implore his affiftance when any dangers threaten them, and make him their fecure refuge. PRAC

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MORNING PRAYER.

Pfalm lxii.

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Nonne Deo?

Y foul truly waiteth ftill upon God: for of him

M cometh my falvation.

2 He verily is my ftrength and my falvation: he is my defence, fo that I fhall not greatly fall.

3 How long will ye imagine mifchief against every, man : ye fhall be flain all the fort of you; yea, as a tottering wall fhall ye be, and like a broken hedge.

4 Their device is only how to put him out whom God will exalt their delight is in lies, they give good words with their mouth, but curfe with their heart.

5 Nevertheless, my foul, wait thou ftill upon God: for my hope is in him.

6 He truly is my strength and my falvation: he is my defence, fo that I fhall not fall.

7 In God is my health and my glory: the rock of my might, and in God is my truft.

8 O put your trust in him alway, ye people: pour out your hearts before him, for God is our hope.

9 As for the children of men, they are but vanity: the children of men are deceitful upon the weights, they are altogether lighter than vanity itself.

10 O truft not in wrong and robbery, give not yourfelves unto vanity if riches increase, fet not your heart upon them.

11 God fpake once, and twice I have alfo heard the fame: that power belongeth unto God:

12 And that thou, Lord, art merciful for thou rewardest every man according to his work.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm lxii.] David teaches us, by his example, 1. That the true and only way to enjoy uninterrupted peace aud tranquility of mind, is to trust in God alone; and that when we depend upon him, we need fear nothing that men can do to us. 2. That it is great blindness to trust in men, who are vanity itself; to fet out our heart upon the good things of this world, or become proud and haughty when we abound in them.

PRAC

Pfalm lxiii. Deus, Deus meus.

God, thou art my God, early will I feek thee,

2 My foul thirfteth for thee, my flesh also longeth after thee: in a barren and dry land where no water is. 3 Thus have I looked for thee in holiness: that I might behold thy power and glory.

4 For thy loving kindness is better than the life itself: my lips fhall praise thee.

5 As long as I live will I magnify thee on this manner : and lift up my hands in thy Name.

6 My foul fhall be satisfied even as it were with marrow and fatnefs: when my mouth praiseth thee with joyful lips. 7 Have I not remembered thee in my bed: and thought upon thee when I was waking?

8 Because thou hast been my helper: therefore under the fhadow of thy wings will I rejoice.

9 My foul hangeth upon thee: thy right hand hath upholden me.

20 Thefe also that feek the hurt of my foul: they fhall go under the earth."

11 Let them fall upon the edge of the fword: that they may be a portion for foxes.

12 But the King fhall rejoice in God; all they also that fwear by him, fhall be commended: for the mouth of them that fpeak lies fhall be stopped.

Η

Pfalm lxiv. Exaudi, Deus.

EAR my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my

H life from fear of the enemy.

PRACTICAL

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OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm lxiii.] 1. The ardent zeal with which David, when a fugitive and perfecuted, defired to enjoy the presence of the Lord in his holy tabernacle, fhews, that whilft we are ftrangers and fojourners in this world, there is nothing we ought more earnestly to defire, than to ferve God, to praife him in his houfe, and to behold his face one day in heaven. z. The comfort, joy and confidence, which David gives fuch extraordinary proofs of in this pfalm, moft evidently fhew, that the fenfe of the grace and love of God produces unfpeakable joy and fatisfaction in the hearts of the faithful, even when they are most afflicted; that they fear no evil whilft they are under his protection, and that nothing can diflurb or rob them of their peace. PRAC

12th

2 Hide me from the gathering together of the froward; and from the infurrection of wicked doers;

3

Who have whet their tongue like a fword: and fhoot out their arrows, even bitter words.

4 That they may privily fhoot at him that is perfect: fuddenly do they hit him, and fear not.

5 They encourage themselves in mifchief: and commune among themselves, how they may lay fnares, and fay, that no man shall see them.

6 They imagine wickedness, and practise it; that they keep fecret among themfelves, every man in the depth of his heart.

7 But God fhall fuddenly fhoot at them with a swift arrow that they fhall be wounded.

8 Yea, their own tongues fhall make them fall: infomuch that whofo feeth them, fhall laugh them to fcorn. 9 And all men that fee it, fhall fay, This hath God done: for they shall perceive that it is his work,

10 The righteous fhall rejoice in the Lord, and put his trust in him and all they that are true of heart shall be glad.

TH

:

EVENING PRAYER.
Pfalm. lxv. Te decet hymnus.

HOU, O God, art praised in Sion: and unto thee
fhall the vow be performed in Jerufalem.

2 Thou that heareft the prayer: unto thee fhall all flesh

come.

3 My misdeeds prevail against me: O be thou merciful unto our fins.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm Ixiv.] We fee here, how the wicked often make use of artifice and deceit to fucceed in their designs, and to deftroy the innocent; but that God preferves thofe that call upon him and truft in him, from the fnares that are laid for them, and turns the devices of their enemies to their own confufion. This is a doctrine which ought to fill the righteous with joy and confidence, and engage us to adore the goodnefs, wisdom and juftice of the Lord, in his proceedings both with good and bad men.

PRAC.

12.

4 Bleffed is the man whom thou chooseft, and receivest unto thee: he thall dwell in thy court, and fhall be fatisfied with the pleasures of thy houfe, even of thy holy temple.

5 Thou shalt fhew us wonderful things in thy righteoufnefs, O God of our falvation: thou that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad fea. 6 Who in his ftrength fetteth faft the mountains: and is 'girded about with power.

7 Who ftilleth the raging of the fea: and the noise of his waves, and the madness of the people.

8 They alfo that dwell in the uttermoft parts of the earth, fhall be afraid at thy tokens: thou that makeft the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise thee.

9 Thou vifiteft the earth, and bleffeft it: thou makeft it very plenteous.

10 The river of God is full of water: thou preparest their corn, for fo thou providest for the earth.

II Thou watereft her furrows, thou fendeft rain into the little valleys thereof: thou makeft it foft with the drops of rain, and bleffeft the increase of it."

12 Thou crowneft the year with thy goodnefs: and thy clouds drop fatnefs..

13 They fhall drop upon the dwellings of the wilderness: and the little hills fhall rejoice on every fide.

14 The folds fhall be full of fheep: the valleys alfo fhall ftand fo thick with corp, that they fhall laugh and fing.

PRACTICAL

OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm lxv.] This pfalm fuggets thefe too inftructions: 1. That as God was formerly worshipped in Sion, and there hearkened to the prayers that were offered up to him, he now dwells in his church, and receives favourably the defires of all thofe that call upon him, pardons their fins, and poureth his benefits upon them. This fhould convince us how happy we are in being members of the church of God, and in the number of thofe whom he has chofen, and for whom he has prepared thofe comforts of infinite price, which refreth the foul, and produce that fulness of joy which David here expreffes. 2. The next inftruction is, that God governs the world by his power; and particularly, that he provides men with the neceffaries of this life, by making the land fruitful, and caufing it so produce bread for our fuftenance. These reflections should convince us of our obligation to celebrate and praife his name, and to thank him, as the author of all the good things we enjoy, and gratefully employ them to his glory. Pfalm

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