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MOUNT HERMONFrom a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass., and used by special permission.
"Therefore do I remember thee from the land of Jordan, And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar."
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As the hart panteth after the water brooks,So panteth my soul after thee, O God.My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:When shall I come and appear before God?My tears have been my meat day and night,While they continually say unto me, "Where is thy God?"These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God,With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holy-day.Why art thou cast down, O my soul?And why art thou disquieted within me?Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise himFor the health of his countenance.O my God, my soul is cast down within me:Therefore do I remember thee from the land of Jordan,And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts:All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime,And in the night his song shall be with me,Even a prayer unto the God of my life.{62}I will say unto God my rock, "Why hast thou forgotten me?"Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me;While they continually say unto me, "Where is thy God?"Why art thou cast down, O my soul?And why art thou disquieted within me?Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him,Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation:O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou cast me off?Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,And to thy tabernacles.Then will I go unto the altar of God,Unto God my exceeding joy:And upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.Why art thou cast down, O my soul?And why art thou disquieted within me?Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him,Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
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We have heard with our ears, O God,Our fathers have told us,What work thou didst in their days,In the days of old.Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand;But them thou didst plant:Thou didst afflict the peoples;But them thou didst spread abroad.For they got not the land in possession by their own sword,Neither did their own arm save them;But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance,Because thou wast favorable unto them.Thou art my King, O God:Command deliverance for Jacob.Through thee will we push down our adversaries:Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.For I will not trust in my bow,Neither shall my sword save me.But thou hast saved us from our adversaries,And hast put them to shame that hate us.In God have we made our boast all the day long,And we will give thanks unto thy name for ever.{64}But now thou hast cast us off, and brought us to dishonour;And goest not forth with our hosts.Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary:And they which hate us spoil for themselves.Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat;And hast scattered us among the nations.Thou sellest thy people for nought,And hast not increased thy wealth by their price.Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours,A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.Thou makest us a byword among the nations,A shaking of the head among the peoples.All the day long is my dishonour before me,And the shame of my face hath covered me,For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth;By reason of the enemy and the avenger.All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee,Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.Our heart is not turned back,Neither have our steps declined from thy way;That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals,And covered us with the shadow of death.If we have forgotten the name of our God,Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;Shall not God search this out?For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long;We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.{65}Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?Arise, cast us not off for ever.Wherefore hidest thou thy face,And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?For our soul is bowed down to the dust:Our belly cleaveth unto the earth.Rise up for our help,And redeem us for thy lovingkindness' sake.
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My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter:I speak the things which I have made touching the king:My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.Thou art fairer than the children of men;Grace is poured into thy lips:Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,O mighty one,Thy glory and thy majesty.And in thy majesty ride on prosperously,Because of truth and meekness and righteousness:And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.Thine arrows are sharp;The peoples fall under thee;They are in the heart of the king's enemies.Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness:Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed theeWith the oil of gladness above thy fellows.All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.{67}Kings' daughters are among thy honourable women:Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house:So will the king desire thy beauty;For he is thy lord; and reverence thou him.And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;The rich among the people shall entreat thy favor.The king's daughter within the palace is all glorious:Her clothing is inwrought with gold.She shall be led unto the king in broidered work:The virgins her companions that follow herShall be brought unto thee.With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led:They shall enter into the king's palace.Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:Therefore shall the peoples give thee thanks for ever and ever.
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God is our refuge and strength,A very present help in trouble.Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,And though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas;Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:God shall help her, and that right early.The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved:He uttered his voice, the earth melted.The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our refuge.Come, behold the works of the Lord,What desolations he hath made in the earth.He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;He burneth the chariots in the fire.Be still, and know that I am God:I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our refuge.
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O clap your hands, all ye peoples;Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.For the Lord Most High is terrible;He is a great King over all the earth.He shall subdue the peoples under us,And the nations under our feet.He shall choose our inheritance for us,The excellency of Jacob whom he loved.God is gone up with a shout,The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.Sing praises to God, sing praises.Sing praises unto our King, sing praises.For God is the King of all the earth:Sing ye praises with understanding.God reigneth over the nations:God sitteth upon his holy throne.The princes of the peoples are gathered togetherTo be the people of the God of Abraham:For the shields of the earth belong unto God;He is greatly exalted.
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Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,In the city of our God, in his holy mountain.Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,Is mount Zion, on the sides of the north,The city of the great King.We have thought on thy lovingkindness, O God,In the midst of thy temple.As is thy name, O God,So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:Thy right hand is full of righteousness.Let mount Zion be glad,Let the daughters of Judah rejoice,Because of thy judgments.Walk about Zion, and go round about her:Tell the towers thereof.Mark ye well her bulwarks,Consider her palaces;That ye may tell it to the generation following.For this God is our God for ever and ever:He will be our guide even unto death.
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SHEPHERD WITH HIS FLOCK.Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.
This beautiful picture is typical of the Oriental country. The view is the Scamander made famous by Homer, and the country is in the vicinity of old Troy, mentioned in the New Testament and again brought to notice by the conflicts of the great European war (1916).
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God, even God, the Lord, hath spoken,And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto thegoing down thereof.Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,God hath shined forth.Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence:A fire shall devour before him,And it shall be very tempestuous round about him.He shall call to the heavens above,And to the earth, that he may judge his people:Gather my saints together unto me;Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.And the heavens shall declare his righteousness;For God is judge himself.Hear, O my people, and I will speak;O Israel, and I will testify unto thee:I am God, even thy God.I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;And thy burnt offerings are continually before me.I will take no bullock out of thy house,Nor he-goats out of thy folds.For every beast of the forest is mine,And the cattle upon a thousand hills.{74}I know all the fowls of the mountains:And the wild beasts of the field are mine.If I were hungry, I would not tell thee:For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.Will I eat the flesh of bulls,Or drink the blood of goats?Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;And pay thy vows unto the Most High:And call upon me in the day of trouble;I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot outmy transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,And cleanse me from my sin.For I acknowledge my transgressions:And my sin is ever before me.Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,And done that which is evil in thy sight:That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest,And be clear when thou judgest.Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Hide thy face from my sins,And blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, O God;And renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from thy presence;And take not thy holy spirit from me.Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation:And uphold me with a free spirit.Then will I teach transgressors thy ways;And sinners shall be converted unto thee.{76}O Lord, open thou my lips;And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it:Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
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Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me;For my soul taketh refuge in thee:Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge,Until these calamities be overpast.I will cry unto God Most High;Unto God that performeth all things for me.He shall send from heaven, and save me,When he that would swallow me up reproacheth;God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.My soul is among lions;I lie among them that are set on fire,Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,And their tongue a sharp sword.Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;Let thy glory be above all the earth.They have prepared a net for my steps;My soul is bowed down:They have digged a pit before me;They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves.My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:I will sing, yea, I will sing praises.Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp:I myself will awake right early.{78}I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples:I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.For thy mercy is great unto the heavens,And thy truth unto the skies.Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;Let thy glory be above all the earth.
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Hear my cry, O God;Attend unto my prayer.From the end of the earth will I call unto thee, when myheart is overwhelmed:Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.For thou hast been a refuge for me,A strong tower from the enemy.I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever:I will take refuge in the covert of thy wings.My soul waiteth only upon God:From him cometh my salvation.He only is my rock and my salvation:He is my high tower; I shall not be greatly moved.My soul, wait thou only upon God;For my expectation is from him.He only is my rock and my salvation:He is my high tower; I shall not be moved.With God is my salvation and my glory:The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
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Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion:And unto thee shall the vow be performed.O thou that hearest prayer,Unto thee shall all flesh come.Iniquities prevail against me:As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,and causest to approach unto thee,That he may dwell in thy courts:We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,The holy place of thy temple.By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness,O God of our salvation;Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth,And of them that are afar off upon the sea:Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains;Being girded about with might:Which stilleth the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,And the tumult of the peoples.They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens:Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.{81}Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,Thou greatly enrichest it;The river of God is full of water:Thou providest them corn, when thou hast so prepared the earth.Thou waterest her furrows abundantly;Thou settlest the ridges thereof:Thou makest it soft with showers;Thou blessest the springing thereof.Thou crownest the year with thy goodness;And thy paths drop fatness.They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness:And the hills are girded with joy.The pastures are clothed with flocks;The valleys also are covered over with corn;They shout for joy, they also sing.
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Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth:Sing forth the glory of his name:Make his praise glorious.All the earth shall worship thee,And shall sing unto thee;They shall sing to thy name.O bless our God, ye peoples,And make the voice of his praise to be heard:Which holdeth our soul in life,And suffereth not our feet to be moved.For thou, O God, hast proved us:Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.Come, and hear, all ye that fear God,And I will declare what he hath done for my soul.I cried unto him with my mouth,And he was extolled with my tongue.If I regard iniquity in my heart,The Lord will not hear:But verily God hath heard;He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.Blessed be God,Which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
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"The river of God is full of water."
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God be merciful unto us, and bless us,And cause his face to shine upon us;That thy way may be known upon earth,Thy saving health among all nations.Let the peoples praise thee, O God;Let all the peoples praise thee.O let the nations be glad and sing for joy:For thou shalt judge the peoples righteously,And govern the nations upon earth.Let the peoples praise thee, O God;Let all the peoples praise thee.The earth hath yielded her increase:God, even our own God, shall bless us.God shall bless us;And all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
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Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered;Let them also that hate him flee before him.As smoke is driven away, so drive them away:As wax melteth before the fire,So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God:Yea, let them rejoice with gladness.Sing unto God, sing praises to his name:Cast up a highway for him that rideth through the deserts;His name is the Lord; and exult ye before him.A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows,Is God in his holy habitation.God setteth the solitary in families:He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity;But the rebellious dwell in a parched land.O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,When thou didst march through the wilderness;The earth trembled,The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God:Yon Sinai trembled at the presence of God, the God of Israel.Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain,Thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.Thy congregation dwelt therein:Thou, O God, didst prepare of thy goodness for the poor.The Lord giveth the word:The women that publish the tidings are a great host.Kings of armies flee, they flee;And she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil.
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Make haste, O God, to deliver me;Make haste to help me, O Lord.Let them be ashamed and confoundedThat seek after my soul:Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonourThat delight in my hurt.Let them be turned back by reason of their shameThat say, "Aha! Aha!"Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee;And let such as love thy salvation say continually,"Let God be magnified."But I am poor and needy;Make haste unto me, O God:Thou art my help and my deliverer;O Lord, make no tarrying!
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He shall judge thy people with righteousness,And thy poor with judgment.The mountains shall bring peace to the people,And the hills, in righteousness.He shall judge the poor of the people,He shall save the children of the needy,And shall break in pieces the oppressor.They shall fear thee while the sun endureth,And so long as the moon, throughout all generations.He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:As showers that water the earth.In his days shall the righteous flourish;And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,And from the River unto the ends of the earth.They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him;And his enemies shall lick the dust.The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.Yea, all kings shall fall down before him:All nations shall serve him.For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth;And the poor, that hath no helper.He shall have pity on the poor and needy,{89}And the souls of the needy he shall save.He shall redeem their soul from oppression and violence;And precious shall their blood be in his sight:And they shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:And men shall pray for him continually;They shall bless him all the day long.There shall be abundance of corn in the earthupon the top of the mountains;The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.His name shall endure for ever;His name shall be continued as long as the sun:And men shall be blessed in him;All nations shall call him blessed.Give the king thy judgments, O God,And thy righteousness unto the king's son.Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,Who only doeth wondrous things:And blessed be his glorious name for ever;And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.Amen, and Amen.
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I will make mention of the deeds of the Lord;For I will remember thy wonders of old.I will meditate also upon all thy work,And muse on thy doings.Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary:Who is a great god like unto God?Thou art the God that doest wonders:Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people,The sons of Jacob and Joseph.The waters saw thee, O God;The waters saw thee, they were afraid:The depths also trembled.The clouds poured out water;The skies sent out a sound:Thine arrows also went abroad.The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind;The lightnings lightened the world:The earth trembled and shook.Thy way was in the sea,And thy paths in the great waters,And thy footsteps were not known.Thou leddest thy people like a flock,By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, shine forth.Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy might,And come to save us.Turn us again, O God;And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.O Lord God of hosts,How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,And given them tears to drink in large measure.Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours:And our enemies laugh among themselves.Turn us again, O God of hosts;And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt:Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it.Thou preparedst room before it,And it took deep root, and filled the land.The mountains were covered with the shadow of it,{92}And the boughs thereof were like cedars of God.She sent out her branches unto the sea,And her shoots unto the River.Why hast thou broken down her fences,So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts:Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine,And the stock which thy right hand hath planted,And the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.It is burned with fire, it is cut down:They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.So shall we not go back from thee:Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts;Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
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BEDOUINS WITH CAMELS IN THE PLAIN NEAR MOUNT SINAI.Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.
"We arrived at a certain place where the mountains betwixt which we were traveling opened out into a huge, wide, and very fair valley, and beyond this valley appeared the Mount of God, Sinai. This is a very extensive valley, lying under the side of the Mount of God. This is the huge and wide valley in which the children of Israel sojourned in those days, when Saint Moses ascended into the Mount of God and was there forty days and forty nights. This is the valley in which the calf was made; the place is shown to this day, for a great stone stands fixed to the very spot. As you go round about the mountain it appears to be one, though when you get within it there are many; but the whole is called the Mount of God, especially the one on whose summit is the place where the glory of God descended, as it is written; and it is in the middle of them all; and while all these mountains that are in the group are more glorious than I had ever expected to see, yet this one in the middle is so much higher than all the others, that when we approached it, straightway all these mountains which had appeared to us so glorious seemed but as little hills."--From the very interesting Diary of Saint Sylvia of Aquitaine, who about the year 385 made a pilgrimage to the East. This diary, which is one of the earliest "travel books" ever written, has only recently been discovered.
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How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord;My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God.Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house,And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts,My King, and my God.Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:They will be still praising thee.Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;In whose heart are the high ways to Zion.Passing through the valley of Weeping they make it a place of springs;Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.They go from strength to strength,Everyone of them appeareth before God in Zion.O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer:Give ear, O God of Jacob.Behold, O God our shield,And look upon the face of thine anointed.For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.{96}I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.For the Lord God is a sun and a shield:The Lord will give grace and glory:No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.O Lord of hosts,Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
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Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land:Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people,Thou hast covered all their sin.Thou hast taken away all thy wrath:Thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.Turn us, O God of our salvation,And cause thine indignation toward us to cease.Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?Wilt thou not quicken us again:That thy people may rejoice in thee?Shew us thy mercy, O Lord,And grant us thy salvation.I will hear what God the Lord will speak:For he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:But let them not turn again to folly.Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him;That glory may dwell in our land.Mercy and truth are met together;Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.Truth springeth out of the earth;And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good;And our land shall yield her increase.Righteousness shall go before him;And shall make his footsteps a way to walk in.
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Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and answer me;For I am poor and needy.Preserve my soul; for I am godly:O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.Be merciful unto me, O Lord;For unto thee do I cry all the day long.Rejoice the soul of thy servant;For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer;And hearken unto the voice of my supplications.In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee;For thou wilt answer me.There is none like unto thee among the gods, O Lord;Neither are there any works like unto thy works.All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord;And they shall glorify thy name.For thou art great, and doest wondrous things:Thou art God alone.Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth:Unite my heart to fear thy name.I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart;{99}And I will glorify thy name for evermore.For great is thy mercy toward me;And thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest pit.O God, the proud are risen up against me,And the congregation of violent men have sought after my soul,And have not set thee before them.But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious,Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth.O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me;Give thy strength unto thy servant,And save the son of thine handmaid.Shew me a token for good;That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed,Because thou, Lord, hast helped me, and comforted me.
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His foundation is in the holy mountains.The Lord loveth the gates of ZionMore than all the dwellings of Jacob.Glorious things are spoken of thee,O city of God.I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me:Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia:This one was born there.Yea, of Zion it shall be said,This one and that one was born in her;And the Most High himself will establish her.The Lord will count, when he writeth up the peoples,This one was born there.They that sing as well as they that dance shall say,All my fountains are in thee.
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MOUNT TABORFrom a photograph in the possession of Rev. Louis F. Giroux of the American International College, Springfield, Mass., and used by his kind permission.
"Esdraelon's plain still boasts its myrtle bowers,Golden with corn, or carpeted with flowers:How like a sainted mind that seeks the skies,Crowned with a glory, Tabor's tops arise.Jasmine's white bells and henna's yellow bloom,Breathe out their sweets till rocks e'en drink perfume;In viewless clouds those odors mount the air,And Tabor stands like some rich altar there."
--Nicolas Michell
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I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever;Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord;Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.For who in the skies can be compared unto the Lord?Who among the sons of the mighty is like unto the Lord?Thou rulest the pride of the sea:When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine:The world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.The north and the south, thou hast created them:Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.Thou hast a mighty arm:Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne:Mercy and truth go before thy face.Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:They walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.In thy name do they rejoice all the day:And in thy righteousness are they exalted.For thou art the glory of their strength:And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.For our shield belongeth unto the Lord;And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
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Lord, thou hast been our dwelling placeIn all generations.Before the mountains were brought forth,Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.Thou turnest man to destruction;And sayest, Return, ye children of men.For a thousand years in thy sightAre but as yesterday when it is past,And as a watch in the night.Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.For we are consumed in thine anger,And in thy wrath are we troubled.Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.The days of our years are threescore years and ten,Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;Yet is their pride but labour and sorrow;{105}For it is soon gone, and we fly away.Who knoweth the power of thine anger,And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?So teach us to number our days,That we may get us an heart of wisdom.Return, O Lord; how long?And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.O satisfy us in the morning with thy mercy;That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,And the years wherein we have seen evil.Let thy work appear unto thy servants,And thy glory upon their children.And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us:And establish thou the work of our hands upon us;Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.