2 O send thy Spirit down to write
Thy law upon my heart!
Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
Nor act the liar's part.
3 From vanity turn off my eyes;
Let no corrupt design,
Nor covetous desires arise,
Within this soul of mine.
4 Order my footsteps by thy word,
And make my heart sincere:
Let sin have no dominion, Lord;
But keep my conscience clear.
5 My soul hath gone too far astray,
My feet too often slip;
Yet since I've not forgot thy way,
Restore thy wand'ring sheep.
6 Make me to walk in thy commands,
'Tis a delightful road;
Nor let my head, nor heart, nor hands,
Offend against my God.
PSALM 119. Twelfth Part. C. M.
Breathing after comfort and deliverance.
"Y God, consider my distress, Let mercy plead my cause: Tho' I have sinn'd against thy grace, I can't forget thy laws.
2 Forbid, forbid the sharp reproach,
Which I so justly fear:
Uphold my life, uphold my hopes,
Nor let my shame appear.
3 Be thou a surety, Lord, for me,
Nor let the proud oppress;
But make thy waiting servant see
The shinings of thy face.
4 Mine eyes with expectation fail:
My heart within me cries,
"When will the Lord his truth fulfil,
"And make my comforts rise?"
5 Look down upon my sorrows, Lord,
And show thy grace the same;
As thou art ever wont t' afford
To those, that love thy name.
PSALM 119. Thirteenth Part.
Holy fear, and tenderness of conscience.
WITH my whole heart I've sought thy
Then let me never stray
From thy commands, O God of grace;
Nor tread the sinner's way.
2. Thy word I've hid within my heart
To keep my conscience clean,
And be an everlasting guard
From ev'ry rising sin.
3 I'm a companion of the saints,
Who fear and love the Lord:
My sorrows rise, my nature faints,
When men transgress thy word.
4 While sinners do thy gospel wrong,
My spirit stands in awe:
My soul abhors a lying tongue;
But loves thy righteous law.
5 My heart with sacred rev'rence hears
The threat'nings of thy word;
My flesh with holy trembling fears
The judgments of the Lord.
6 My God, I long, I hope, I wait,
For thy salvation still;
While thy whole law is my delight,
And I obey thy will.
Benefit of afflictions, and support under them.
MONSIDER all my sorrows, Lord,
And thy deliv'rance send:
My soul for thy salvation faints:
When will my troubles end?
2 Yet I have found it good for me
To bear my Father's rod;
Afflictions make me learn thy law,
And live upon my God.
3 This is the comfort I enjoy
When new distress begins;
I read thy word, I run thy ways,
And hate my former sins,
4 Had not thy word been my delight,
When earthly joys had fled,
My soul, opprest with sorrow's weight,
Had sunk among the dead.
5 I know thy judgments, Lord, are right,
Tho' they may seem severe:
The sharpest suff'rings I endure,
Flow from thy faithful care.
Before I knew thy chast'ning rod,
My feet were apt to stray; •
But now I learn to keep thy word,
Nor wander from thy way.
PSALM 119. Fifteenth Part. C. M.
THAT thy statutes ev'ry hour, Might dwell upon my mind! Thence I derive a quick'ning pow'r, And daily peace I find.
2 To meditate thy precepts, Lord,
Shall be my sweet employ;
My soul shall ne'er forget thy word:
Thy word is all my joy.
3 How would I run in thy commands,
Should'st thou my heart discharge
From sin, and Satan's hateful chains,
And set my feet at large!
4 My lips with courage shall declare
Thy statutes and thy name;
I'll speak thy word, tho' kings should hear, Nor yield to sinful shame.
5 Let bands of persecutors rise
To rob me of my right;
Let pride and malice forge their lies,
Thy law is my delight.
6 Depart from me, ye wicked race,
Whose hands and hearts are ill:
I love my God, I love his ways,
And must obey his will.
PSALM 119. Sixteenth Part. C. M.
Prayer for quickening grace.
M Lord, give me life divine:
Y soul lies cleaving to the dust;
From vain desires and ev'ry lust,
Turn off these eyes of mine.
2 I need th' influ'nce of thy grace
To speed me in thy way;
Lest I should loiter in my race,
Or turn my feet astray.
3 When sore afflictions press me down,
I need thy quick'ning pow'rs;
Thy word, that I have rested on,
Shall cheer my heaviest hours.
4 Are not thy mercies sov'reign still,
And thou a faithful God?
Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal
To run the heav'nly road?
5 Does not my heart thy precepts love,
And long to see thy face?
And yet how slow my spirits move,
Without enliv'ning grace!
6 Then shall I love thy gospel more,.
And ne'er forget thy word;
When I have felt its quick'ning pow'r,
To draw me near the Lord.
Seventeenth Part. L. M.
Grace shining in difficulties and trials.
THEN pain and anguish seize me, Lord,
All my support is from thy word:
My soul dissolves with heaviness,
Uphold me with thy strength'ning grace!
The proud have fram'd their scoffs and lies,
They watch my feet with envious eyes;
And tempt my soul to snares and sin;
Yet thy commands I ne'er decline.
They hate me, Lord, without a cause,
They hate to see me love thy laws;
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