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In him, the poor and helpless find
A Judge that's just, a Father kind.
4 He breaks the captive's heavy chain,
And pris'ners see the light again;
But rebels, that dispute his will,

Shall dwell in chains and darkness still.
5 Kingdoms and thrones to God belong;
Crown him, ye nations, in your song:
His wondrous names and pow'rs rehearse;
His honours shall enrich your verse.

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6 He shakes the heav'ns with loud alarms; How terrible is God in arms!

In Israel are his mercies known,
Israel is his peculiar throne.

7 Proclaim him King, pronounce him blest;
He's your defence, your joy, your rest:
When terrors rise, and nations faint,
God is the strength of ev'ry saint.

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PSALM 68. Second Part. L. M.

The ascension of Christ, and the gift of the Spirit

LORD, when thou didst ascend on high,

Ten thousand angels fill'd the sky: Those heav'nly guards around thee wait, Like chariots, that attend thy state. 2. Not Sinai's mountain could appear More glorious when the Lord was there; While he pronounc'd his dreadful law, And struck the chosen tribes with awe. 3 How bright the triumph none can tell, When the rebellious pow'rs of hell, That thousand souls had captive made, Were all in chains like captives led.

4 Rais'd by his Father to the throne,
He sent the promis'd Spirit down,
With gifts and grace for rebel men,
That God might dwell on earth again.

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PSALM 68. Third Part. L. M.

Praise for common and special mercies.

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E bless the Lord, the just, the good, Who fills our hearts with joy and food; Who pour's his blessings from the skies, And loads our days with rich supplies. 2 He sends the sun his circuit round, To cheer the fruits, to warm the ground; He bids the clouds, with plenteous rain, Refresh the thirsty earth again.

3 'Tis to his care we owe our breath, And all our near escapes from death: Safety and health to God belong,

He heals the weak, and guards the strong.
4 He makes the saint and sinner prove
The common blessings of his love:
But the wide diff'rence that remains,
Is endless joy, and endless pains.

5 The Lord that bruis'd the serpent's head,
On all the serpent's seed shall tread:
The stubborn sinner's hope confound,
And smite him with a lasting wound.

6 But his right hand his saints shall raise
From the deep earth, or deeper seas;
And bring them to his courts above:
There shall they taste his special love.

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PSALM 69. First Part. L. M. Christ's passion and sinners' salvation. EEP in our hearts let us record The deeper sorrows of our Lord; Behold! the rising billows roll,

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To overwhelm his holy soul.

2 In long complaints he spends his breath, While hosts of hell, and pow'rs of death, And all the sons of malice join

To execute their curs'd design.

3 Yet, gracious God, thy pow'r and love
Has made the curse a blessing prove:
Those dreadful suff'rings of thy Son
Aton'd for sins which we had done.
4 The pangs of our expiring Lord
The honours of thy law restor❜d;
His sorrows made thy justice known,
And paid for follies not his own.
5 O for his sake our guilt forgive,
And let the mourning sinner live!
The Lord will hear us in his name,
Nor shall our hope be turn'd to shame.
PSALM 69. Second Part. L. M.

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The sufferings and zeal of Christ.
WAS for my sake, eternal God,
Thy Son sustain❜d that heavy load
Of base reproach, and sore disgrace;
And shame defil'd his sacred face.

The Jews, his brethren and his kin,
Abus'd the man that check'd their sin:
While he fulfill'd thy holy laws,
They hate him, but without a cause.

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3 "My Father's house," said he, was made
"A place for worship, not for trade:"
Then scatt'ring all their gold and brass,
He scourg'd the merchants from the place.
4 Zeal for the temple of his God

Consum'd his life, expos'd his blood:
Reproaches, at thy glory thrown,

He felt and mourn'd them as his own. 5 His friends forsook, his follow'rs fled, While foes and arms surround his head; They curse him with a sland'rous tongue, And the false judge maintains the wrong. 6 His life they load with hateful lies, And charge his lips with blasphemies; They nail him to the shameful tree: There hung my Lord, who died for me. 7 Wretches, with hearts as hard as stones, Insult his piety and groans;

Gall was the food they gave him there, And mock'd his thirst with vinegar. 8 But God beheld; and from his throne Mark'd out the men that hate his Son: The hand that rais'd him from the dead, Shall pour due vengeance on their head. PSALM 69. Third Part. C. M.

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God glorified in the obedience and death of Christ.

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ATHER, I sing thy wond'rous grace,
I bless my Saviour's name;

He bought salvation for the poor,

And bore the sinner's shame.

2 His deep distress hath rais'd us high: His duty and his zeal

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Fulfill'd the law, which mortals broke,
And finish'd all thy will.

3 His dying groans, his living songs
Shall better please my God,

Than harp's or trumpet's solemn sound,
Than goat's or bullock's blood.

4 This shall his humble follow'rs see,
And set their hearts at rest:

They by his death draw near to thee,
And live for ever blest.

5 Let heav'n and all that dwell on high,
To God their voices raise;
While lands and seas assist the sky,
And join t' advance the praise.

6 Zion is thine, most holy God:
Thy Son shall bless her gates;
And glory, purchas'd by his blood,
For thine own Israel waits.

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PSALM 70. L. M.

A prayer of the church for the presence of Christ.

THOU, whose hand the kingdom sways; Whom earth, and hell, and heav'n obeys; To help thy chosen sons appear,

And show thy pow'r and glory here!

2 While stupid wretches, sunk in sleep,
Slide onward to the fiery deep,

To sense, and sin and madness giv'n,
Believe no hell, and wish no heav'n;

3 While fools deride, while foes oppress,
And Zion mourns in deep distress;

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