Psalms Of Watts 91-95
The
Psalms Of David
By Isaac Watts
In Metre
Psalm 91 - Part One.
Verses 1-7. Safety in public diseases and dangers.
1 He that hath made his refuge God,
Shall find a most secure abode,
Shall walk all day beneath his shade,
And there at night shall rest his head.
2 Then will I say, "My God, thy power
Shall be my fortress and my tower;
I that am form'd of feeble dust
Make thine almighty arm my trust."
3 Thrice happy man! thy Maker's care
Shall keep thee from the fowler's snare,
Satan, the fowler, who betrays
Unguarded souls a thousand ways.
4 Just as a hen protects her brood
From birds of prey that seek their blood,
Under her feathers, so the Lord
Makes his own arm his people's guard.
5 If burning beams of noon conspire
To dart a pestilential fire,
God is their life; his wings are spread
To shield them with an healthful shade.
6 If vapours with malignant breath
Rise thick and scatter midnight death,
Israel is safe; the poison'd air
Grows pure if Israel's God be there.
PAUSE.
7 What though a thousand at thy side,
At thy right hand ten thousand dy'd,
Thy God his chosen people saves
Amongst the dead, amidst the graves.
8 So when he sent his angel down
To make his wrath in Egypt known,
And slew their sons, his careful eye
Pass'd all the doors of Jacob by.
9 But if the fire, or plague, or sword,
Receive commission from the Lord
To strike his saints among the rest,
Their very pains and deaths are blest.
10 The sword, the pestilence, or fire
Shall but fulfil their best desire,
From sins and sorrows set them free,
And bring thy children, Lord, to thee.
Psalm 91 - Part Two.
Verses 9-16. Protection from death, guard of angels,
victory and deliverance.
1 Ye sons of men, a feeble race,
Expos'd to every snare,
Come make the Lord your dwelling-place,
And try and trust his care.
2 No ill shall enter where you dwell;
Or if the plague come nigh,
And sweep the wicked down to hell,
'Twill raise his saints on high.
3 He'll give his angels charge to keep
Your feet in all their ways;
To watch your pillow while you sleep,
And guard your happy days.
4 Their hands shall hear you, lest you fall
And dash against the stones:
Are they not servants at his call,
And sent t' attend his sons?
5 Adders and lions ye shall tread;
The tempter's wiles defeat;
He that hath broke the serpent's head
Puts him beneath your feet.
6 "Because on me they set their love,
"I'll save them," saith the Lord;
"I'll bear their joyful souls above
Destruction and the sword.
7 "My grace shall answer when they call;
In trouble I'll be nigh,
My power shall help them when they fall,
And raise them when they die.
8 "Those that on earth my name have known,
I'll honour them in heaven;
There my salvation shall be shown,
And endless life be given."
Psalm 92 - Part One.
A Psalm for the Lord's day.
1 Sweet is the work, my God my King,
To praise thy name, give thanks and sing,
To shew thy love by morning light,
And talk of all thy truth at night.
2 Sweet is the day of sacred rest,
No mortal cares shall seize my breast;
O may my heart in tune be found,
Like David's harp of solemn sound!
3 My heart shall triumph in my Lord,
And bless his works, and bless his word;
Thy works of grace, how bright they shine!
How deep thy counsels! how divine!
4 Fools never raise their thoughts so high;
Like brutes they live, like brutes they die;
Like grass they flourish, till thy breath
Blast them in everlasting death.
5 But I shall share a glorious part
When grace hath well refin'd my heart,
And fresh supplies of joy are shed,
Like holy oil, to cheer my head.
6 Sin, (my worst enemy before)
Shall vex my eyes and ears no more;
My inward foes shall all be slain,
Nor Satan break my peace again.
7 Then shall I see, and hear, and know,
All I desir'd or wish'd below;
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of joy.
Psalm 92 - Part Two.
Verses 12ff. The church is the garden of God.
1 Lord, 'tis a pleasant thing to stand
In gardens planted by thine hand;
Let me within thy courts be seen
Like a young cedar fresh and green.
2 There grow thy saints in faith and love,
Blest with thine influence from above;
Not Lebanon with all its trees
Yields such a comely sight as these.
3 The plants of grace shall ever live;
(Nature decays but grace must thrive);
Time, that doth all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish strong and fair.
4 Laden with fruits of age, they shew
The Lord is holy, just, and true;
None that attend his gates shall find
A God unfaithful or unkind.
Psalm 93.
The eternal and sovereign God.
1 Jehovah reigns; he dwells in light,
Girded with majesty and might:
The world created by his hands,
Still on its first foundation stands.
2 But ere this spacious world was made,
Or had its first foundations laid,
Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Thyself the ever-living God.
3 Like floods the angry nations rise
And aim their rage against the skies;
Vain floods that aim their rage so high!
At thy rebuke the billows die.
4 For ever shall thy throne endure;
Thy promise stands for ever sure;
And everlasting holiness
Becomes the dwellings of thy grace.
Psalm 93.
The eternal and sovereign God.
1 The Lord of glory reigns; he reigns on high;
His robes of state are strength and majesty:
This wide creation rose at his command,
Built by his word, and 'stablish'd by his hand:
Long stood his throne ere he began creation,
And his own Godhead is the firm foundation.
2 God is th' eternal King: thy foes in vain
Raise their rebellions to confound thy reign:
In vain the storms, in vain the floods arise,
And roar and toss their waves against the skies;
Foaming at heaven, they rage with wild commotion,
But heaven's high arches scorn the swelling ocean.
3 Ye tempests, rage no more ye floods, be still;
And the mad world submissive to his will:
Built on his truth, his church must ever stand;
Firm are his promises, and strong his hand:
See his own sons, when they appear before him,
Bow at his footstool, and with fear adore him.
Psalm 93.
The eternal and sovereign God.
1 The Lord Jehovah reigns,
And royal state maintains,
His head with awful glories crown'd;
Array'd in robes of light,
Begirt with sovereign might,
And rays of majesty around.
2 Upheld by thy commands,
The world securely stands;
And skies and stars obey thy word:
Thy throne was fix'd on high
Before the starry sky;
Eternal is thy kingdom, Lord.
3 In vain the noisy crowd,
Like billows fierce and loud,
Against thine empire rage and roar;
In vain, with angry spite,
The surly nations fight,
And dash like waves against the shore.
4 Let floods and nations rage,
And all their powers engage,
Let swelling tides assault the sky;
The terrors of thy frown
Shall beat their madness down;
Thy throne for ever stands on high.
5 Thy promises are true,
Thy grace is ever new;
There fix'd thy church shall ne'er remove:
Thy saints with holy fear
Shall in thy courts appear,
And sing thine everlasting love.
Psalm 94 - Part One.
Verses 1-2, 7-14. Saints chastised, and sinners destroyed;
or, Instructive afflictions.
1 God, to whom revenge belongs,
Proclaim thy truth aloud
Let sovereign power redress our wrongs,
Let justice smite the proud.
2 They say, "The Lord nor sees nor hears;"
When will the fools be wise!
Can he be deaf who form'd their ears?
Or blind, who made their eyes?
3 He knows their impious thoughts are vain,
And they shall feel his power;
His wrath shall pierce their souls with pain
In some surprising hour.
4 But if thy saints deserve rebuke,
Thou hast a gentler rod;
Thy providences and thy book
Shall make them know their God.
5 Blest is the man thy hands chastise,
And to his duty draw;
Thy scourges make thy children wise
When they forget thy law.
6 But God will ne'er cast off his saints,
Nor his own promise break;
He pardons his inheritance
For their Redeemer's sake.
Psalm 94 - Part Two.
Verses 16-23. God our support and comfort.
1 Who will arise and plead my right
Against my numerous foes,
While earth and hell their force unite,
And all my hopes oppose?
2 Had not the Lord, my rock, my help,
Sustain'd my fainting head,
My life had now in silence dwelt,
My soul amongst the dead.
3 "Alas! my sliding feet!" I cry'd;
Thy promise was my prop;
Thy grace stood constant by my side,
Thy Spirit bore me up.
4 While multitudes of mournful thoughts
Within my bosom roll,
Thy boundless love forgives my faults,
Thy comforts cheer my soul.
5 Powers of iniquity may rise,
And frame pernicious laws;
But God, my refuge, rules the skies,
He will defend my cause.
6 Let malice vent her rage aloud,
Let bold blasphemers scoff;
The Lord our God shall judge the proud,
And cut the sinners off.
Psalm 95.
A Psalm before prayer.
1 Sing to the Lord Jehovah's name,
And in his strength rejoice;
When his salvation is our theme,
Exalted be our voice.
2 With thanks approach his awful sight,
And psalms of honour sing;
The Lord's a God of boundless might,
The whole creation's King.
3 Let princes hear, let angels know,
How mean their natures seem,
Those gods on high, and gods below,
When once compar'd with him.
4 Earth, with its caverns dark and deep
Lies in his spacious hand,
He fix'd the seas what bounds to keep,
And where the hills must stand.
5 Come, and with humble souls adore,
Come, kneel before his face;
O may the creatures of his power
Be children of his grace!
6 Now is the time: he bends his ear,
And waits for your request;
Come, lest he rouse his wrath and swear,
"Ye shall not see my rest."
Psalm 95.
A Psalm before sermon.
1 Come, sound his praise abroad,
And hymns of glory sing;
Jehovah is the sovereign God,
The universal King.
2 He form'd the deeps unknown;
He gave the seas their bound;
The watery worlds are all his own,
And all the solid ground.
3 Come, worship at his throne,
Come, bow before the Lord:
We are his works and not our own;
He form'd us by his word.
4 Today attend his voice,
Nor dare provoke his rod;
Come, like the people of his choice,
And own your gracious God.
5 But if your ears refuse
The language of his grace,
And hearts grow hard, like stubborn Jews,
That unbelieving race;
6 The Lord in vengeance dressed,
Will lift his hand and swear,
"You that despise my promis'd rest,
Shall have no portion there."
Psalm 95.
Verses 1-3, 6-11. Canaan lost through unbelief;
or, A warning to delaying sinners.
1 Come, let our voices join to raise
A sacred song of solemn praise;
God is a sovereign King; rehearse
his honours in exalted verse.
2 Come, let our souls address the Lord,
Who fram'd our natures with his word;
He is our Shepherd; we the sheep
His mercy chose, his pastures keep.
3 Come, let us hear his voice today,
The counsels of his love obey;
Nor let our harden'd hearts renew
The sins and plagues that Israel knew.
4 Israel, that saw his works of grace,
Yet tempt their Maker to his face;
A faithless unbelieving brood
That tired the patience of their God.
5 Thus saith the Lord, "how false they prove;
Forget my power, abuse my love;
Since they despise my rest, I swear,
Their feet shall never enter there."
6 [Look back my soul, with holy dread,
And view those ancient rebels dead;
Attend the offer'd grace today,
Nor lose the blessing by delay.
7 Seize the kind promise while it waits,
And march to Zion's heavenly gates;
Believe, and take the promis'd rest;
Obey, and be for ever blest.]
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