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Pfalm xcii. Bonum eft confiteri.

Tis a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord: and to fing praifes unto thy Name, O most highest ;

2 To tell of thy loving-kindnefs early in the morning: and of thy truth in the night-feafon;

3 Upon an inftrument of ten ftrings, and upon the lute : upon a loud inftrument, and upon the harp.

4 For thou, Lord, haft made me glad through thy works: and I will rejoice in giving praile for the operations of thy hands.

5 O Lord, how glorious are thy works: thy thoughts are very deep.

6 An unwife man doth not well confider this: and a fool doth not understand it.

7 When the ungodly are green as the grafs, and when all the workers of wickednefs do flourish then fhall they be deftroyed for ever; but thou, Lord, art the moft Highest for evermore.

8 For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, lo, thine enemies fhall perifh and all the workers of wickedness fhall be destroyed. 9 But mine horn fhall be exalted like the horn of an unicorn: for I am anointed with fresh oil.

io Mine eye alio fhall fee his luft or mine enemies and mine ear fhall hear his defire of the wicked that arife up against me.

The righteous fhall flourish like a palm-tree: and shall fpread abroad like a cedar in Libanus.

12 Such as be planted in the houfe of the Lord: fhall flourish in the courts of the houfe of our God.

13 They alfo fhall bring forth more fruit in their

and thall be fat and well-liking.

age:

14 That they may fhew how true the Lord my ftrength is: and that there is no unrighteoufnefs in him.

PRACTICAL

OBSERVATIONS.

their diftrefs, and heaps upon them all kinds of bleflings. Thefe glorious privileges and excellent promifes are very proper to comfort and encourage all fuch as fear God, and to fill them with unspeakable joy and unfhaken confidence.

PRAC

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EVENING PRAYER.

Pfalm xciii. Dominus regnavit.

HE Lord is King, and hath put on glorious apparel: the Lord hath put on his apparel, and girded himfelt with ftrength.

2 He hath made the round world fo fure: that it cannot be moved.

3 Ever fince the world began, hath thy feat been pre pared: thou art from everlasting.

4 The floods are rifen, O Lord, the floods have lift up their voice: the floods lift up their waves.

5 The waves of the fea are mighty, and rage horribly: but yet the Lord, who dwelleth on high, is mightier. 6 Thy teltimonies, O Lord, are very fure: holiness be cometh thine house for ever.

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Pfalm xciv. Deus ultionum.

Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth: thou God, to whom vengeance belongeth, fhew thyself.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. Pfalm xcii.] Since we learn, from the firft words of this pfalm, that it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to declare his good. nefs and faithfulness day and night;" we ought all of us to b animated with a holy zeal, to the diligent, cheerful, and earnest difcharge of 1 duty fo just and agreeable. This we shall have a powerful motive to, if we apply ourfelves to the confideration of the works of God, which are great and marvellous; and above all, if we attend to the ways of provi dence, and the conduct of the Almighty towards good and bad men. It fometimes happens that wicked and worldly men flourish and are happy, but their poterity paffeth away like the grafs; God deftroys them, and roots them out utterly. On the contrary, he bleffes the righteous, fecures their happinefs, and inakes them profper and flourish and bear fruit, even unto their old age, and to be in this world examples of his mercy faithfulness.

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Pfalm xciii.] This pfalm teaches us, that God rules with glory magnificence over ali the world: that his throne is eftablished in righte oufnefs; that his power infinitely exceeds that of all created beingst from whence we are to conclude, that he will reign for ever, for the good and advantage of his people, and of all thofe who ferve him and

fubmit themfelves to him.

2 Arile,

2 Arife, thou Judge of the world: and reward the proud after their deferving.

3 Lord, how long fhall the ungodly: how long shall the ungodly triumph?

4 How long fhall all wicked doers fpeak so disdainfully : and make fuch proud boasting?

5 They fmite down thy people, O Lord and trouble thine heritage.

6 They murder the widow and the ftranger: and put the fatherless to death.

7 And yet they fay, Tufh, the Lord fhall not fee: neither fhall the God of Jacob regard it.

8 Take heed, ye unwife among the people: O ye fools, when will ye understand ?`

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear or he that made the eye, fhall he not fee?

10 Or he that nurtureth the heathen: it is he that teacheth man knowledge, fhall not he punish?

11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man: that they are but vain.

12 Bleffed is the man whom thou chafteneft, O Lord: and teacheft him in thy law;

13 That thou mayeft give him patience in time of adverfity until the pit be digged up for the ungodly.

14 For the Lord will not fail his people: neither will he forfake his inheritance;

15 Until righteoufnefs turn again unto judgment: all fuch as are true in heart fhall follow it.

16 Who will rife up with me against the wicked .or who will take my part against the evil-doers ?

17 If the Lord had not helped me: it had not failed but my foul had been put to filence.

18 But when I laid, My foot hath flipped: thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

19 In the multitude of the forrows that I had in my heart: thy comforts have refreshed my foul.

20 Wilt thou have any thing to do with the ftool of wickednefs which imagineth mifchief as a law? 3 T

12 They

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21 They gather them together against the foul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood.

22 But the Lord is my refuge and my God is the ftrength of my confidence.

23 He fhall recompence them their wickedness, and deftroy them in their own malice: yea, the Lord our God shall destroy them.

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MORNING PRAYER.

Pfalm xcv. Venite, exultemus.

Come, let us fing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our falvation.

2 Let us come before his prefence with thanksgiving: and shew ourselves glad in him with pfalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God: and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are all the corners of the earth: and the ftrength of the hills is his alfo.

5 The fea is his, and he made it: and his hands prepared the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and fall down: and kneel - before the Lord our Maker.

7

For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pafture, and the fheep of his hand.

8 To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness ;

9 When your fathers tempted me: proved me, and faw my works.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and faid: It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways:

PRACTICAL

OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm xciv.] This pfalm teaches us, that God will never forfake his people, and his inheritance; that he is the defender of the faithful; that he is the joy of their fouls in the midst of their troubles, and that he fupports them against thofe who perfecute them, and feek to deftroy them.

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If Unto whome I fware in my wrath: that they should not enter into my rest.

Pfalm xcvi. Cantate Domino.

Sing unto the Lord a new fong: fing unto the Lord, all the whole earth.

2 Sing unto the Lord, and praise his Name: be telling of his falvation from day to day.

3

Declare his honour unto the heathen: and his wonders unto all people.

4 For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily be praised: he is more to be feared than all gods.

5 As for all the gods of the heathen, they are but idols : but it is the Lord that made the heavens.

6 Glory and worship are before him: power and honour are in his fanctuary.

7 Afcribe unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people : afcribe unto Lord worfhip and power.

8 Afcribe unto the Lord, the honour due unto his name: bring prefents, and come into his courts.

9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: let the whole earth ftand in awe of him.

10 Tell it out among the heathen, that the Lord is King: and that it is he who hath made the round world fo fait that it cannot be moved: and how that he fhall judge the people righteously.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Pfalm xcv.] This pfalm engages us to two duties. The first is, To render to God, with an holy joy and fervency, the adorations and praifes which belong to him, on account of his power and majesty; but above all, because he is our God, and we have the happiness to be his people. The fecond duty is, To improve the exhortations which David addreffes to the Ifraelites, not to harden their hearts as their fathers had done. These words, " "To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts;" and those, "I have fworn in my wrath, that they fhall not enter into my reft;" do concern Chriftians as well as the Jews; as the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, (chap. iii. 4.) obferves, where he bids us take heed, left, by hardness of heart and rebellion against the gospel, we should be deprived of eternal reft, as the rebellious Ifraelites were excluded from the land of Canaan for their incredulity.

PRAC.

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