Part 45 (1/2)

5 He cuts the bars of bra.s.s in two, And lets the smiling prisoners thro'; Takes off the load of guilt and grief, And gives the labouring soul relief.

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

How great his works! how kind his ways!

Let every tongue p.r.o.nounce his praise.

Psalm 107:3. Third Part.

Intemperance punished and pardoned; or, A psalm for the glutton and the drunkard.

1 Vain man, on foolish pleasures bent, Prepares for his own punishment; What pains, what loathsome maladies From luxury and l.u.s.t arise!

2 The drunkard feels his vitals waste, Yet drowns his health to please his taste; Till all his active powers are lost, And fainting life draws near the dust.

3 The glutton groans and loathes to eat, His soul abhors delicious meat; Nature, with heavy loads opprest, Would yield to death to be releas'd.

4 Then how the frighted sinners fly To G.o.d for help with earnest cry!

He hears their groans, prolongs their breath, And saves them from approaching death,

5 No med'cines could effect the cure So quick, so easy, or so sure: The deadly sentence G.o.d repeals, He sends his sovereign word, and heals,

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

And let their thankful offerings prove How they adore their Maker's love.

Psalm 107:4. Fourth Part. L. M.

Deliverance from storms, and s.h.i.+pwreck; or, The Seaman's song.

1 Would you behold the works of G.o.d, His wonders in the world abroad, Go with the mariners, and trace The unknown regions of the seas.

2 They leave their native sh.o.r.es behind, And seize the favour of the wind, Till G.o.d command, and tempests rise That heave the ocean to the skies.

3 Now to the heavens they mount amain, Now sink to dreadful deeps again; What strange affrights young sailors feel, And like a staggering drunkard reel!

4 When land is far, and death is nigh, Lost to all hope, to G.o.d they cry; His mercy hears the loud address, And sends salvation in distress.

5 He bids the winds their wrath a.s.suage; The furious waves forget their rage; 'Tis calm; and sailors smile to see The haven where they wish'd to be.

6 O may the sons of men record The wondrous goodness of the Lord!

Let them their private offerings bring, And in the church his glory sing.

Psalm 107:5. Fourth Part. C. M.

The Mariner's psalm.

1 Thy works of glory, mighty Lord, Thy wonders in the deeps, The sons of courage shall record Who trade in floating s.h.i.+ps.

2 At thy command the winds arise, And swell the towering waves; The men astonish'd mount the skies And sink in gaping graves.

3 [Again they climb the watery hills, And plunge in deeps again; Each like a tottering drunkard reels, And finds his courage vain.