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THE

PSALMS OF DAVID,

IMITATED IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE

NEW TESTAMENT,

AND APPLIED TO THE

CHRISTIAN STATE AND WORSHIP.

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BY ISAAC WATTS, D. D.

LUKE xxiv, 44.—All things must be fulfilled which were
written in the PSALMS concerning me.

HEB. XI, 32.-DAVID, SAMUEL, and the Prophets
Ver. 40. That they without us should not be made perfect.

Carefully revised,

WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MUSICAL EXPRESSION.

BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG,
Theological Bookseller, No. 50, Cornhill,

U. CROCKER, PRINTER,

Mus. 489.78145

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS-to wit:

District Clerk's Office.

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the fourteenth day of August, A. D. 1819, and in the forty-fourth year of the Independence of the United States of America, SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG of the said District, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims proprietor, in the words following, to wit:

"The Psalms of David, imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. By Isaac Watts, D. D. Luke xxiv. 44. All things must be fulfilled which were written in the psalms concerning me. Heb. xi. 32. DAVID, SAMUEL, and the Prophets Ver. 40. That they without us should not be made perfect." Carefully revised, with Directions for Musical Expression."

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, intitled "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned;" and also to an act etitled, "An act supplementary to an act, intitled an act for the enconragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints."

JNO. W. DAVIS,
Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

College Library

Edmund a whitman.
00420.1933

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EDITOR'S PREFACE.

AMONG the psalmists of the Christian Church, Dr. WATTS stands pre-eminent. His Psalms and Hymns have an established and consecrated character; and-to Christians of sound piety and correct taste, it is matter of devout gratulation and thankfulness, that they are so extensively used, and so highly venerated. The Book, however, like the best of human works, has its imperfections. In regard to some subjects it is redundant, in regard to others it is deficient; and some of its contents fall very considerably below its general excellence. These, imperfections have been extensively felt and acknowledged; and for the remedy of them, various attempts have been made, with various success. Of those attempts the compiling of "CHRISTIAN PSALMODY" was one.

The work was undertaken from no spirit of innovation; but from a sincere desire for the improvement and stability of our publick Psalmody. On a careful examination of Dr. Watts's Book, it was found, or thought to be found, that it might be very considerably abridged, without any detriment: that some entire Parts, and many stanzas of other Parts of the Psalms, and that some eutire Hymus, and many stanzas of others, might very well be spared,as the subject-matter and sentiments of them, were contained, and as well or better expressed, in what would still remain. By such an abridgement, some important advantages would be gained: redundancies would be retrenched; passages of little merit would be excluded; some Parts of Psalms, and some Hymns, so prolix and complex as seldom, perhaps never, to be given out in public, would be reduced to convenient and excellent portions for use; especially, room would be made for the admission of not a small number of Select Hymns, from various authors, eligible either for their sterling worth, or for their suitableness to supply the defi ciencies of Watts's. And thus, if the design were judiciously executed, a body of Psalms and Hymns would be formed, more compact, more complete, and more worthy of extensive adoption for permanent use, than auy before presented to our churches.

To the high purposes of Psalmody, good and well adapted Tunes are essentially requisite. To aid the laudable exertions of respectable societies and individuals, for the general and established use of such tunes, was a primary object of this work. It was found to be the opinion of many, well qualified to judge, that a small but judicious selection of tunes, in the same book with the Psalms and Hymns, would

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