econd Palm, sung by _Peter_ and
_John_ and their Company, _Acts_ 4. 23, 24, &c. You find there an
Addition of Praise in the Beginning, _Lord thou art God which hast made
Heaven and Earth, and the Sea, and all that in them is_. Then there is
a Narration of what _David_ spoke, _who by the Mouth of thy servant_
David _hast said_, &c. Next follow the two first Verses of that Psalm,
but not in the very Words of the Psalmist: Afterwards an Explication of
the _Heathen_ and the _People_, (viz.) the _Gentiles_ and _Israel_: The
_Kings_ and the _Rulers_, (viz.) _Herod_ and _Pontius Pilate_, and the
_Holy Child Jesus_, is God's _anointed_. Then there is an Enlargement
of the Matter of Fact by a Consideration of the Hand of God in it, and
the Song concludes with the breathing of their Desires towards God for
Mercies most precisely suited to their Day and Duty; and you find when
they had sung, they went to Prayer in the Assembly, and then they
preached the Word of God by the holy Ghost, and with amazing Success. O
may I live to see Psalmody perform'd in these evangelick Beauties of
Holiness! May these Ears of mine be entertain'd with such Devotion in
Publick, such Prayer, such Preaching, and such Praise! May these Eyes
behold such returning Glory in the Churches! Then my Soul shall be all
Admiration, my Tongue {256} shall humbly attempt to mingle in the
Worship, and assist the Harmony and the Joy.

After we have found the true Method of translating _Jewish_ Songs for
the Use of the _Christian_ Church, let us enquire also how lawful and
necessary 'tis to compose Spiritual Songs of a more evangelic Frame for
the Use of Divine Worship under the Gospel.

The _First_ Argument I shall borrow from all the foregoing Discourse
concerning the Translation of the Psalms of _David_: For by that
time they are fitted for Christian Psalmody, and have all the
Particularities of Circumstance that related to _David_'s Person, and
Times alter'd and suited to our present Case; and the Language of
_Judaism_ is chang'd into the Stile of the Gospel; the Form and
Composure of the Psalm can hardly be called inspired or Divine: only
the Materials or the Sense contain'd therein may in a large Sense be
called the Word of God, as it is borrowed from that Word. Why then may
it not be esteemed as lawful to take some Divine Sense and Materials
agreeable to the Word of God, and suited to the present Case and
Experience of Christians, and compose them into a Spiritu