PSALM LXXXI.

SING joyfully unto GOD, our strength; exalt your voices to the GOD of Jacob.

2 Raise your voice in a psalm, and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp, and the lute. 3 Sound the trumpet on the new moon, at the stated time on our feast-day :

4 For such is the command given to Israel, and the ordinance of the GOD of Jacob;

5 The charge which he gave to Jeseph, when he came forth from the land of Egypt, where he heard a strange language.

6 "I eased his shoulder," saith Jehovah," of his burden; his hands were delivered from carrying the bricks.

7 "Thou calledst upon me in distress, and I delivered thee; I answered thee from the hiding-place of the thunder.

8 "I proved thee at the waters of Meribah; when I said; Hear, o my people! and I will bear witness against thee.

9 "O Israel! if thou wilt hearken unto me, let no strange GOD be in thee; neither do thou worship any strange GOD :

10 "For, I JEHOVAH, am thy GOD, who

brought

brought thee forth from the land of Egypt: open thy mouth, and I will fill it.

I I

11 "But my people would not hearken unto my voice; Israel would not obey me. 12 "So I gave them up to the imaginations of their own hearts, and let them walk in their own counsels."

13 O! that my people would hearken unto me; that Israel would have walked in my ways!

14 I would soon have humbled their enemies; and turned mine hand against their adversaries.

15 The haters of JEHOVAH should have fallen before them; and I would have been with them for ever.

16 I would have fed them with the finest wheat, and satisfied them with the choicest honey.

PSALM LXXXII.

GOD standeth in the assemblies of the judges in the midst of them he giveth judgment.

2 "How long," saith he, "will ye pronounce unjust judgment; and respect the persons of the wicked?

U 4

3" Defend

3 "Defend the oppressed and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

4" Deliver the poor and the indigent; protect them from the hand of the wicked."

5 They do not know, neither will they understand; but will go on in darkness: all the foundations of the land are in a tottering state.

you:

:"

6 I have, indeed, said; "Ye were GODS, and sons of the most high, all of 7 But ye shall do like common men, and fall like one of the poor.

8 Arise, O GOD! and judge the land thyself! for thou art the rightful possessor

of all nations.

PSALM LXXXIII.

O GOD! hold not thy peace; be not still, neither be thou silent, O GOD!

2 For lo! thine enemics are tumultuous, and those who hate thee lift up their heads.

3 They have craftily designed mischief against thy people; and consulted together against those whom thou favourest.

4 "Come," say they, "let us extirpate them, that they be no longer a nation; that the

the name of Israel may be remembered no more :"

5 For the tents of the Edomites and the Ishmaelites; the tents of the Moabites and the Hagarenes;

6 The Gebalites and Ammonites and Amalekites, and the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre ;

7 Have united together with one accord, and are confederated against thee.

8 The Assyrians also are joined unto them; they are auxiliaries to the children of Lot.

9 Do thou unto them as thou didst unto the Midianites, as unto Sisera, and unto Jabin who perished at the river Kishon, and became dung on the earth at Endor.

10 Make them and their nobles like Oreb and Zeb; make all their princes like Zebah and Salmana :

11 Because they have said, "Let us possess ourselves of the habitation of GOD." 12 O my GOD! make them like chaff, like stubble before the wind.

13 As fire consumeth the forest, and as flame setteth the mountains into a blaze ;

SO

so pursue them with thy tempest, and drive them away withthy whirlwind.

14 Overspread their countenances with shame, until they seek thy name, O JEHOVAH!

15 Make them to be abashed and dismayed for ever; turn them back and destroy them.

16 That it may be known, that thou, whose name is JEHOVAH, and thou alone, art the most high over all the earth.

PSALM LXXXIV.

HOW lovely are thy dwellings, O JEHOVAH! GOD of hosts!

2 My soul desireth and longeth for the courts of JEHOVAH! mine heart and my flesh cry unto the living GOD.

3 Yea, the sparrow findeth herself an house, and the ring-dove a nest, where she may lodge her young:

4 But when shall I approach thine house and thine altars, O JEHOVAH ! GOD of hosts! my king and my GOD!

5 Happy are those who dwell in thine house, and are continually praising thee in their hearts.

6 Happy