Fear not, my soul, stand to thy word Oh may this dying life make haste To die into true life at last; No hope have I to live before, But then to live and die no more. Great, ever-living God, to Thee, In essence One, in Persons Three, May all Thy works Thy tribute bring, And every age Thy glory sing. PSALM. HAPPY are they, O glorious Lord, who everywhere adore Thy presence; Happy, who live on earth, as in the sight of the King of heaven, and every moment say in their heart, "Our God is here!" Here in the centre of our souls, to witness all our thoughts, and judge exactly our most secret intents. Though His Throne of State is established above, and the splendour of His glory shine only on the blessed, yet His unlimited eye looks down to this lower world, and beholds all the ways of the children of Adam. If we go out, He marks our steps, and when we retire, our closet excludes not Him; While we are alone, He minds our contrivings, and the ends we aim at in all our studies; When we converse with others, He observes our deportment, and the good or ill we do them. or ourselves; In our devotions He notes our carriage, and regards with what attention we recite our prayers; All the day long He considers how we spend our time, and our darkest night conceals not our works from Him; If we deceive our neighbour, He spies the fraud, and hears the least whisper of a slandering tongue; If we in secret oppress the poor, or by private alms relieve their wants; If in our hearts we murmur at the rich, or live contentedly with our little portion; Whate'er we do, He perfectly sees us; where'er we are, He is sure to be with us. Why, O Thou loving Lord of heaven! why dost Thou stoop thus low Thy glorious eye? What canst Thou find that here deserves Thy sight among the trifles of this empty world? What canst Thou find, alas, that should not fear Thy sight, among the follies of our vicious lives? 'Tis not Thyself, O Lord, Thou seekest to satisfy; but all Thy design is for our advantage; Thou graciously standest by to see us work, that Thine awful eye may quicken our dili gence; Thou art still at hand to relieve our wants, that so friendly a nearness may increase our confidence ; Thou appearest still ready to punish our sins, that the shake of Thy rod may prevent our miseries. Sure, O my God, Thy favours must needs be sweet, since even Thy threatenings have so much mercy; Sure we must needs be worse than blind, if to the face of heaven we dare be wicked. Henceforth, O gracious Lord, as children freely play in the indulgent presence of their tender father, So make us still, with humble boldness, rejoice before Thee, our merciful Creator; And, as new-pardoned subjects justly fear the angry brow of their offended prince, |