Charles Wesley

A Poetical Version of Nearly the Whole of the Psalms of David Charles Wesley

IN celebrating the praises of David, the son of Jesse, Jesus the son of Sirach, an apocryphal writer, says, " In all his works he praised the Holy One most high, with words of glory; with his whole heart he sung songs, and loved Him that made him. He setsingers also before the altars, that by their voices they might make sweet melody, and daily sing praises in their songs. He beautified their feasts, and set in order their solemn tunes, until the end, that they might praise his holy name." (Ecclus. xlvii. 8-10.) The songs which David thus sung "with his whole heart '' have been handed down to us in the volume of Divine inspiration with which the world is favoured; and, notwithstanding they are characterized by "as many hearse-like airs as carols," (to use the language of Lord Bacon, the great father of inductive philosophy, with reference to them, ) yet they always have been favourites with those who could make " melody in their hearts," and understood the nature of experimental religion.