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3 Although, amazed for a while,
Unconscious of his wonted fmile,
O'erwhelm'd with grief, o'erwhelm'd with
My foul the Lord restores again.

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4 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
No terror fhall my heart affail::
I'm with my God, I fear no ill,
Thy rod and staff me comfort ftill.
5 My table thou haft furnifhed,
Thy holy oil anoints my head,
Thou fill'ft my cup with heav'nly wine,
Thou mak'ft my face with joy to fhine:
And, to confound my foes the more,
Thefe triumphs of thy love, before
Their very prefence thou haft fhown,
And glorified thy HOLY ONE.
Thy love and mercy, all my days,
Shall fill my life with joy and praife;
And, when the bleffed hour is come,
Thou'lt take me to thy glory home.
My Father, Shepherd, Lord, and God,
For ever blefs'd in thine abode,
I'll shout and fing to thee, along
With all my circling elect throng:
What thou, my Father, art to mic,
Thy Son to all thy flock fhall be,
Till I thy kingdom perfect bring,
Their Father, Shepherd, Lord, and King,

PSALM XXIV.

ALTHOUGH it feems perfectly true, as all the commentators fay, that this Pfalm (and perhaps all the reft) was ufed to be fung in parts, by the different bands of facred mufic which David (no doubt by the direction of the Holy Ghoft) had appointed for the fervice of the fanctuary; yet, if G

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we attend any further than that, to the dull, dry, bare, and beggarly difquifitions of thofe carnallyminded Jewith-fpirited interpreters, concerning the proceffion of the ark, its being received into the temple, and fet upon its own place, with fuch like childish ideas, and nugatory obfervations, retailed and enumerated every day, and almost in every place of worship, in the moft ftale and tedious manner imaginable, how do we find our whole fpirit, fervour, and devotion, in a most amazing manner, all at once, as if it were by enchantment, damped, defroyed, and fhrunk to nothing, after the manner, if we may fo fay, of the plump kine, and full ears of corn, which were devoured and fwallowed up by the lean, thin, blafted, and fhrivelled!-But if, cealing from the Rabbies and Doctors, we take the fpirit of the Pfalm from the Spirit who infpired it, and read it in its own light, the light of its parallels, and efpecially the light of the New Teftament, we will find, inftead of the darkness of the Mofaic veil, the glory of God fhining in the face of Jefus, filling our whole hearts; particularly, we will difcern, as here. clearly reprefented, the three peculiarly diftinguifhed eftates of the Lord Jefus Chrift, THE SON OF GOD:-I. Before his incarnation, as it is writ ten, John i. 1. In the beginning was the WORD; and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God-All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.'-And Col. i. 17. He' (the Son) is ⚫ before all things, and by him all things confift.'

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So alfo fays the Pfalm, ver. 1, 2. The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereofFor he hath founded it."-IT. His eftate of humiliation in the fleth, as it is written, John i. 14. And the WORD was made Alefh, and dweit among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth;'-and Gal. iv. 4. When the fulness of time was come, God fent forth his

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⚫ Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that 4 we might receive the adoption of fons; and Phil. ii. 8. Being found in fashion as a man, he ⚫ humbled himfelf, and became obedient unto ⚫ death, even the death of the crofs.-Wherefore • God alfo hath highly exalted him.'-So faith alfo the Pialm, ver. 37. Who fhall afcend in⚫ to the hill of the Lord?He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart-He fhall receive the blelling from the Lord.'-(As to the 6th verfe, fee the general preface).-III. His eftate of exaltation, commencing, and manifefting itself, in the glory of his refurrection, afcenfion, &c. as it is written, Pet. i. 21. God raifed him up from the dead, and gave him glory;'-and Heb, ii. 9. "We fee Jefus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the fuffering of death, crowned 'with glory and honour and Rom. i. 4. * De"clared the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the refurrection from the dead; and Acts i. 9. While they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their fight;'and ver. 11. (the angels faid), Ye men of Galilee, why ftand ye gazing up into heaven? This fame Jefus, which is taken up from 'you into heaven, fhall fo come, in like manner as ye have feen him go into heaven;'-and chap. iii. 21. Whom the heavens must receive till the ⚫ times of restitution of all things.'-And faith not the Pfalm alfo the fame, addreffing the heavens, by a figure divinely bold, if it be a figure at all; for what is faid is done? Lift up your heads, "Oye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory fhall come in,' &c.-Now, unprejudiced reader, fay, if you do not find fpirit and life fpringing up within you from this view of Jefus, our Forerunner, pathing into the heavens by his own blood once for all, and one for all, having obtained eternal redemption; and fay alfo, if you do not think this the G 2 spirit

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spirit and the truth of this prefent Pfalm, and confequently of all its parallels, feveral whereof you will have remarked proposed for your own confideration in the illuftrations of Pfalms i. ii. iii. and xv. But, of all the evidences to the fame purpose, which feize the heart, and command conviction, innumerable as they really are, none feem more furprisingly ftriking (though not quoted in the margin) than those which arife from the two following Pfalms, viz. Pfal. xlvii. 5. God is gone up with a fhout;', and Pfal. Ixviii. 18. Thou haft afcended on high;' explained and applied as fulfilled in Christ, Eph. iv. 8. Wherefore he ⚫ faith, when he afcended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men-for the perfecting the faints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Chrift.' Behold the Gon, behold the MAN,' EMMANUEL, both conjoin'd in one, The God of glory.-Zion, fee, Thy mighty One who faveth thee. Rejoice, O earth, through all thy coaftss Behold thy King, the Lord of Hofts, Afcending heav'n most gloriously,

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That men might dwell with God on high!

WH

WHO owns the earth, and all abroad,
Th' incarnate WORD, the CHRIST OF
God,

Who fram'd the worlds, and all in them-
Let heav'n and earth refound his fame!
2 He fpread the dry-land o'er the fea,
And bade it on the floods to flay:
Establish'd by his pow'r divine,
Let land and fea to praise him join!

3 Who, who fhall win the arduous way, And in Jehovah's mountain stay?

4

His hands are clean, his heart is pure,
Who there fhall go,, and there endure:

He

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He must not lift aloft his mind
To vanities of any kind;

Nor muft he to Jehovah fwear,
And then to vile deceit draw near.

He fhall afcend the heav'nly throne,
The prize his righteousness hath won:
To him the kingdom all is due;
The kingdom he bestows on you:
Behold your King, who dares to truft
Himfelf with God, though clad in duft!-
6 Who JACOB'S GOD defire to fee,
Bleft generation! THIS IS HE!

7 Expand ye, wide expand, ye doors,
Difplay, difplay your heav'nly bow'rs`;
Expand, ye everlasting gates;
The King of glory at you waits!
8 But who of glory is the King,
Of whom fo glorioufly you fing?
The Lord of hofts, and none but he,
The King of glory boasts to be:

He comes to feize the god-like prize;
To dwell with God above the fkies;
To claim Jehovah's grace and throne,
The prize his val'rous arm has won,
9 Expand ye, wide expand, ye doors;
Difplay, display your heav'nly bow'rs;
Expand, ye everlasting gates;
The King of glory at you waits!

10 But who of glory is the King,
Of whom fo gloriously you fing?
The Lord of Hofts, and none but he,
The King of glory boasts to be.
He comes to feize the god-like prize;
To dwell with God above the skies;
To claim Jehovah's grace and throne, !
The prize his val'rous foul has won.

G.3

PSALM

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