Psalms Of Watts 81-85
The
Psalms Of David
By Isaac Watts
In Metre
Psalm 81.
Verses 1, 8-16. The warnings of God to his people.
1 Sing to the Lord aloud,
And make a joyful noise;
God is our strength, our Saviour God;
Let Israel hear his voice.
2 "From vile idolatry
"Preserve my worship clean;
"I am the Lord who set thee free
"From slavery and sin.
3 "Stretch thy desires abroad,
"And I'll supply them well
"But if ye will refuse your God,
"If Israel will rebel,
4 "I'll leave them," saith the Lord,
"To their own lusts a prey,
"And let them run the dangerous road,
"'Tis their own chosen way.
5 "Yet O! that all my saints
"Would hearken to my voice!
"Soon I would ease their sore complaints,
"And bid their hearts rejoice.
6 "While I destroy their foes,
"I'd richly feed my flock,
"And they should taste the stream that flows
"From their eternal Rock."
Psalm 82.
God the supreme Governor;
or, Magistrates warned.
1 Among th' assemblies of the great,
A greater Ruler takes his seat;
The God of heaven, as Judge, surveys
Those gods on earth and all their ways.
2 Why will ye then frame wicked laws?
Or why support th' unrighteous cause?
When will ye once defend the poor,
That sinners vex the saints no more?
3 They know not, Lord, nor will they know,
Dark are the ways in which they go;
Their name of earthly gods is vain,
For they shall fall and die like men.
4 Arise, O Lord, and let thy Son
Possess his universal throne,
And rule the nations with his rod;
He is our Judge, and he our God.
Psalm 83.
A complaint against persecutors.
1 And will the God of grace
Perpetual silence keep?
The God of justice hold his peace,
And let his vengeance sleep?
2 Behold what cursed snares
The men of mischief spread;
The men that hate thy saints and thee
Lift up their threatening head.
3 Against thy hidden ones
Their counsels they employ,
And malice with her watchful eye,
Pursues them to destroy.
4 The noble and the base
Into thy pastures leap;
The lion and the stupid ass
Conspire to vex thy sheep.
5 "Come, let us join," they cry,
"To root them from the ground,
"Till not the name of saints remain,
"Nor memory shall be found."
6 Awake, Almighty God,
And call thy wrath to mind;
Give them like forests to the fire,
Or stubble to the wind.
7 Convince their madness, Lord,
And make them seek thy name
Or else their stubborn rage confound,
That they may die in shame.
8 Then shall the nations know
That glorious dreadful word,
Jehovah is thy name alone,
And thou the sovereign Lord.
Psalm 84 - Part One.
The pleasure of public worship.
1 How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints
To meet th' assemblies of thy saints.
2 My flesh would rest in thine abode,
My panting heart cries out for God;
My God! my King! why should I be
So far from all my joys and thee?
3 The sparrow chooses where to rest,
And for her young provides her nest:
But will my God to sparrows grant
That pleasure which his children want?
4 Blest are the saints who sit on high,
Around thy throne of majesty;
Thy brightest glories shine above,
And all their work is praise and love.
5 Blest are the souls that find a place
Within the temple of thy grace;
There they behold thy gentler rays,
And seek thy face, and learn thy praise.
6 Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Sion's gate;
God is their strength, and thro' the road
They lean upon their helper God.
7 Cheerful they walk with growing strength,
Till all shall meet in heaven at length,
Till all before thy face appear,
And join in nobler worship there.
Psalm 84 - Part Two.
God and his church; or, Grace and glory.
1 Great God, attend, while Sion sings
The joy that from thy presence springs:
To spend one day with thee on earth
Exceeds a thousand days of mirth.
2 Might I enjoy the meanest place
Within thine house, O God of grace,
Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power,
Should tempt my feet to leave thy door.
3 God is our sun, he makes our day;
God is our shield, he guards our way
From all th' assaults of hell and sin,
From foes without, and foes within.
4 All needful grace will God bestow,
And crown that grace with glory too:
He gives us all things, and withholds
No real good from upright souls.
5 O God, our King, whose sovereign sway
The glorious hosts of heaven obey,
And devils at thy presence flee,
Blest is the man that trusts in thee.
Psalm 84.
Verses 1-4, 10. Paraphrased.
Delight in ordinances of worship;
or, God present in his churches.
1 My soul, how lovely is the place
To which thy God resorts!
'Tis heaven to see his smiling face,
Tho' in his earthly courts.
2 There the great Monarch of the skies
His saving power displays,
And light breaks in upon our eyes
With kind and quickening rays.
3 With his rich gifts the heavenly Dove
Descends and fills the place,
While Christ reveals his wondrous love,
And sheds abroad his grace.
4 There, mighty God, thy words declare
The secrets of thy will;
And still we seek thy mercy there,
And sing thy praises still.
PAUSE.
5 My heart and flesh cry out for thee,
While far from thine abode:
When shall I tread thy courts, and see
My Saviour and my God?
6 The sparrow builds herself a nest,
And suffers no remove;
O make me like the sparrows, blest,
To dwell but where I love.
7 To sit one day beneath thine eye,
And hear thy gracious voice,
Exceeds a whole eternity
Employ'd in carnal joys.
8 Lord, at thy threshold I would wait,
While Jesus is within,
Rather than fill a throne of state,
Or live in tents of sin.
9 Could I command the spacious land,
And the more boundless sea,
For one blest hour at thy right hand
I'd give them both away.
Psalm 84.
Longing for the house of God.
1 Lord of the worlds above,
How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of thy love,
Thy earthly temples are!
To thine abode
My heart aspires,
With warm desires
To see my God.
2 The sparrow, for her young,
With pleasure seeks her nest;
And wandering swallows long
To find their wonted rest:
My spirit faints
With equal zeal
To rise and dwell
Among thy saints.
3 O happy souls that pray
Where God appoints to hear!
O happy men that pay
Their constant service there!
They praise thee still;
And happy they
That love the way
To Zion's hill.
4 They go from strength to strength,
Thro' this dark vale of tears,
Till each arrives at length,
Till each in heaven appears:
O glorious seat,
When God our king
Shall thither bring
Our willing feet!
PAUSE,
5 To spend one sacred day
Where God and saints abide,
Affords diviner joy
Than thousand days beside;
Where God resorts,
I love it more
To keep the door
Than shine in courts.
6 God is our sun and shield,
Our light and our defence
With gifts his hands are fill'd,
We draw our blessings thence;
He shall bestow
On Jacob's race
Peculiar grace
And glory too.
7 The Lord his people loves;
His hand no good withholds
From those his heart approves,
From pure and pious souls:
Thrice happy he,
O God of hosts,
Whose spirit trusts
Alone in thee.
Psalm 85 - Part One.
Verses 1-8. Waiting for an answer to prayer;
or, Deliverance begun and completed.
1 Lord, thou hast call'd thy grace to mind,
Thou hast revers'd our heavy doom:
So God forgave when Israel sinn'd,
And brought his wandering captives home.
2 Thou hast begun to set us free,
And made thy fiercest wrath abate;
Now let our hearts be turn'd to thee,
And thy salvation be complete.
3 Revive our dying graces, Lord,
And let thy saints in thee rejoice;
Make known thy truth, fulfil thy word,
We wait for praise to tune our voice.
4 We wait to hear what God will say;
He'll speak, and give his people peace;
But let them run no more astray,
Lest his returning wrath increase.
Psalm 85 - Part Two.
Verses 9ff. Salvation by Christ.
1 Salvation is for ever nigh
The souls that fear and trust the Lord;
And grace descending from on high,
Fresh hopes of glory shall afford.
2 Mercy and truth on earth are met,
Since Christ the Lord came down from heaven;
By his obedience, so complete,
Justice is pleas'd, and peace is given.
3 Now truth and honour shall abound,
Religion dwell on earth again,
And heavenly influence bless the ground
In our Redeemer's gentle reign.
4 His righteousness is gone before
To give us free access to God;
Our wandering feet shall stray no more,
But mark his steps and keep the road.
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