PAGE 074:
PSALM 39. Second Part. C.M.
The vanity of man as mortal.
1 |
TEACH me the measure of my days,
Thou maker of my frame:
I would survey life's narrow space,
And learn how frail I am.
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2 |
A span is all that we can boast;
How short, how fleet our time!
Man is but vanity and dust,
In all his flow'r and prime.
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3 |
See the vain race of mortals move
Like shadows o'er the plain:
They rage and strive, desire and love;
But all their noise is vain.
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4 |
Some walk in honour's gaudy show;
Some dig for golden ore;
They toil for heirs they know not who,
And straight are seen no more.
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5 |
What should I wish or wait for then
From creatures, earth and dust?
They make our expectations vain,
And disappoint our trust.
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6 |
Now I forbid my carnal hope,
My fond desires recall:
I give my mortal interest up,
And make my God my all.
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PSALM 39. Third Part. C.M.
Sick-bed devotion.
1 |
GOD of my life, look gently down,
Behold the pains I feel;
But I am dumb before thy throne,
Nor dare dispute thy will.
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2 |
Diseases are thy servants, Lord,
They come at thy command:
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PAGE 075:
PSALM 39. Third Part. C.M.
Sick-bed devotion. (cont.)
2 |
I'll not attempt a murm'ring word,
Against thy chast'ning hand.
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3 |
Yet I may plead with humble cries,
"Remove thy sharp rebukes:"
My strength consumes, my spirit dies,
Thro' thy repeated strokes.
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4 |
Crush'd as a moth beneath thy hand,
We moulder to the dust:
Our feeble pow'rs can ne'er withstand,
And all our beauty's lost.
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5 |
This mortal life decays apace,
How soon the bubble's broke!
Adam, and all his num'rous race,
Are vanity and smoke.
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6 |
I'm but a sojourner below,
As all my fathers were;
May I be well prepared to go,
When I the summons hear.
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7 |
But, if my life be spar'd a while
Before my last remove;
Thy praise shall be my bus'ness still,
And I'll declare thy love.
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PSALM 40. First Part. C.M.
Deliverance from great distress.
1 |
WAITED patient for the Lord;
He bow'd to hear my cry:
He saw me resting on his word,
And brought salvation nigh.
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2 |
He rais'd me from a horrid pit,
Where mourning long I lay;
And from my bonds releas'd my feet,
Deep bonds of miry clay.
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3 |
Firm on a rock he made me stand;
And taught my cheerful tongue
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