Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?
Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
Wilt thou not quicken us again: That thy people may rejoice in thee?
Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, And grant us thy salvation.
I will hear what G.o.d the Lord will speak: For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: But let them not turn again to folly.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; That glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth springeth out of the earth; And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; And our land shall yield her increase.
Righteousness shall go before him; And shall make his footsteps a way to walk in.
--_Psalm 85_.
{98}
THE CRY OF THE NEEDY
Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and answer me; For I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul; for I am G.o.dly: O thou my G.o.d, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
Be merciful unto me, O Lord; For unto thee do I cry all the day long.
Rejoice the soul of thy servant; For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; And hearken unto the voice of my supplications.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; For thou wilt answer me.
There is none like unto thee among the G.o.ds, O Lord; Neither are there any works like unto thy works.
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; And they shall glorify thy name.
For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art G.o.d alone.
Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: Unite my heart to fear thy name.
I will praise thee, O Lord my G.o.d, with my whole heart; {99} And I will glorify thy name for evermore.
For great is thy mercy toward me; And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest pit.
O G.o.d, the proud are risen up against me, And the congregation of violent men have sought after my soul, And have not set thee before them.
But thou, O Lord, art a G.o.d full of compa.s.sion and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; Give thy strength unto thy servant, And save the son of thine handmaid.
Shew me a token for good; That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed, Because thou, Lord, hast helped me, and comforted me.
--_Psalm 86_.
{100}
THE PRAISE OF ZION
His foundation is in the holy mountains.
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of G.o.d.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me: Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: This one was born there.
Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; And the Most High himself will establish her.
The Lord will count, when he writeth up the peoples, This one was born there.
They that sing as well as they that dance shall say, All my fountains are in thee.
--_Psalm 87_.
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[Ill.u.s.tration]
MOUNT TABOR
From a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the American International College, Springfield, Ma.s.s., and used by his kind permission.
"Esdraelon"s plain still boasts its myrtle bowers, Golden with corn, or carpeted with flowers: How like a sainted mind that seeks the skies, Crowned with a glory, Tabor"s tops arise.
Jasmine"s white bells and henna"s yellow bloom, Breathe out their sweets till rocks e"en drink perfume; In viewless clouds those odors mount the air, And Tabor stands like some rich altar there."
--_Nicolas Mich.e.l.l_
{103}
THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH ARE THINE
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever; Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord; Thy faithfulness also in the a.s.sembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared unto the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto the Lord?
Thou rulest the pride of the sea: When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.
Thou hast a mighty arm: Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne: Mercy and truth go before thy face.
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.
In thy name do they rejoice all the day: And in thy righteousness are they exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength: And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
For our shield belongeth unto the Lord; And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
--_Psalm 89:1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11-18_.
{104}
AS A WATCH IN THE NIGHT
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place In all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art G.o.d.
Thou turnest man to destruction; And sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: In the morning they are like gra.s.s which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed in thine anger, And in thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are pa.s.sed away in thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labour and sorrow; {105} For it is soon gone, and we fly away.