A Hymn of Thanksgiving. 55 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, ness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. The needy shall not always be forgotten: The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. XLIV. Psalm 9:7-10, 18. A Hymn of Thanksgiving. Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, The sea, and all that therein is: Which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: The Lord looseth the prisoners: The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: The Lord loveth the righteous: The Lord preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow: But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign for ever, Even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. XLV. A Statesman's Supplication. Psalm 146. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us : that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. XLVI. Ancient Laws. Ist Kings 8: 57-58. If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double. If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution. Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. Ex. 22: 1-3, 22, 23, 25. Thou shalt not raise a false report; put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Ex. 23, 1-2. Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger. Ex. 23: 7-9. Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. XLVII. Idle Words. Deut. 24: 14-15. How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speakA good man out of the good treasure of the eth. heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matt. 12: 34-37. I hate and abhor lying: But thy law do I love. XLVIII. Proverbs. Psalms 119 163. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: But every fool will be meddling. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold. ness: But a faithful man who can find? The just man walketh in his integrity: His children are blessed after him. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Divers weights, and divers measures, Both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Prov 20: 1, 3-7, 9,11. Sin Results in Sorrow. XLIX. Pure Religion. 59 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. L. Right Thoughts. James 3: 26-27. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. 4: 8. LI. Sin Results in Sorrow. The Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Hosea 4:1-7. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Psalm 32:10 |