--_Psalm 16_.

{25}

A PLEA FOR HELP.

Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry;
Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Let my sentence come forth from thy presence;
Let thine eyes look upon equity.
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night;
Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing;
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress,
As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips
I have kept me from the ways of the violent.
My steps have held fast to thy paths,
My feet have not slipped.
I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God:
Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest
them which put their trust in thee
From those that rise up against them, by thy right hand.
Keep me as the apple of the eye,
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness:
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
--_Psalm 17_.

{26}

A SONG OF DELIVERANCE.

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried unto my God:
He heard my voice out of his temple,
And my cry before him came into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled,
The foundations also of the mountains moved
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:
Yea, he flew swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion round about him;
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered his voice;
Hailstones and coals of fire.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them. {27}
Then the channels of waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At thy rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from them that hated me, for they were too mighty f