Tag: Songs of Christ

Second Version (L.M.)

1    Lord, hear my pray’r, and let my cry

          Have speedy access unto thee;

2    In day of my calamity

          O hide not thou thy face from me.

     Hear when I call to thee; that day

          An answer speedily return:

3    My days, like smoke, consume away,

          And, as an hearth, my bones do burn.

4    My heart is wounded very sore,

          And withered, like grass doth fade:

     I am forgetful grown therefore

          To take and eat my daily bread.

5    By reason of my smart within,

          And voice of my most grievous groans,

     My flesh consumed is, my skin,

          All parch’d, doth cleave unto my bones.

6    The pelican of wilderness,

          The owl in desert, I do match;

7    And, sparrow-like, companionless,

          Upon the house’s top, I watch.

8    I all day long am made a scorn,

          Reproach’d by my malicious foes:

     The madmen are against me sworn,

          The men against me that arose.

9    For I have ashes eaten up,

          To me as if they had been bread;

     And with my drink I in my cup

          Of bitter tears a mixture made.

10    Because thy wrath was not appeas’d,

          And dreadful indignation:

     Therefore it was that thou me rais’d,

          And thou again didst cast me down.

11   My days are like a shade alway,
          Which doth declining swiftly pass;
     And I am withered away,
          Much like unto the fading grass.

12   But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,
          From change and all mutation free,
     And to all generations sure
          Shall thy remembrance ever be.

13   Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet
          Thou to mount Sion shalt extend:
     Her time for favour which was set,
          Behold, is now come to an end.

14   Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,
          Her very dust to them is dear.
15   All heathen lands and kingly thrones
          On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

16   God in his glory shall appear,
          When Sion he builds and repairs.
17   He shall regard and lend his ear
          Unto the needy’s humble pray’rs:

     Th’ afflicted’s pray’r he will not scorn.
18        All times this shall be on record:
     And generations yet unborn
          Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

19   He from his holy place look’d down,
          The earth he view’d from heav’n on high;
20   To hear the pris’ner’s mourning groan,
          And free them that are doom’d to die;

21   That Sion, and Jerus’lem too,
          His name and praise may well record,
22   When people and the kingdoms do         
Assemble all to praise the Lord.

23   My strength he weaken’d in the way,

          My days of life he shortened.

24   My God, O take me not away

          In mid-time of my days, I said:

     Thy years throughout all ages last.

25        Of old thou hast established

     The earth’s foundation firm and fast:

          Thy mighty hands the heav’ns have made.

26   They perish shall, as garments do,

          But thou shalt evermore endure;

     As vestures, thou shalt change them so;

          And they shall all be changed sure:

27   But from all changes thou art free;

          Thy endless years do last for aye.

28   Thy servants, and their seed who be,

          Establish’d shall before thee stay.

First Version (C.M.)

1    O Lord, unto my pray’r give ear,

          my cry let come to thee;

2    And in the day of my distress

          hide not thy face from me.

     Give ear to me; what time I call,

          to answer me make haste:

3    For, as an hearth, my bones are burnt,

          my days, like smoke, do waste.

4    My heart within me smitten is,

          and it is withered

     Like very grass; so that I do

          forget to eat my bread.

5    By reason of my groaning voice

          my bones cleave to my skin.

6    Like pelican in wilderness

          forsaken I have been:

     I like an owl in desert am,

          that nightly there doth moan;

7    I watch, and like a sparrow am

          on the house-top alone.

8    My bitter en’mies all the day

          reproaches cast on me;

     And, being mad at me, with rage

          against me sworn they be.

9    For why? I ashes eaten have

          like bread, in sorrows deep;

     My drink I also mingled have

          with tears that I did weep.

10   Thy wrath and indignation

          did cause this grief and pain;

     For thou hast lift me up on high,

          and cast me down again.

11   My days are like unto a shade,
          which doth declining pass;
     And I am dry’d and withered,
          ev’n like unto the grass.

12   But thou, Lord, everlasting art,
          and thy remembrance shall
     Continually endure, and be
          to generations all.

13   Thou shalt arise, and mercy have
          upon thy Sion yet;
     The time to favour her is come,
          the time that thou hast set.

14   For in her rubbish and her stones
          thy servants pleasure take;
     Yea, they the very dust thereof
          do favour for her sake.

15   So shall the heathen people fear
          the Lord’s most holy name;
     And all the kings on earth shall dread
          thy glory and thy fame.

16   When Sion by the mighty Lord
          built up again shall be,
     In glory then and majesty
          to men appear shall he.

17   The prayer of the destitute
          he surely will regard;
     Their prayer will he not despise,
          by him it shall be heard.

18   For generations yet to come
          this shall be on record:
     So shall the people that shall be
          created praise the Lord.

19   He from his sanctuary’s height
          hath downward cast his eye;
     And from his glorious throne in heav’n
          the Lord the earth did spy;

20   That of the mournful prisoner
          the groanings he might hear,
     To set them free that unto death
          by men appointed are:

21   That they in Sion may declare
          the Lord’s most holy name,
     And publish in Jerusalem
          the praises of the same;

22   When as the people gather shall
          in troops with one accord,
     When kingdoms shall assembled be
          to serve the highest Lord.

23   My wonted strength and force he hath

          abated in the way,

     And he my days hath shortened:

24         Thus therefore did I say,

     My God, in mid-time of my days

          take thou me not away:

     From age to age eternally

          thy years endure and stay.

25   The firm foundation of the earth

          of old time thou hast laid;

     The heavens also are the work

          which thine own hands have made.

26   Thou shalt for evermore endure,

          but they shall perish all;

     Yea, ev’ry one of them wax old,

          like to a garment, shall:

     Thou, as a vesture, shalt them change,

          and they shall changed be:

27   But thou the same art, and thy years

          are to eternity.

28   The children of thy servants shall

          continually endure;

     And in thy sight, O Lord, their seed

          shall be establish’d sure.

1    O thou my soul, bless God the Lord;

          and all that in me is

     Be stirred up his holy name

          to magnify and bless.

2    Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God,

          and not forgetful be

     Of all his gracious benefits

          he hath bestow’d on thee.

3    All thine iniquities who doth

          most graciously forgive:

     Who thy diseases all and pains

          doth heal, and thee relieve.

4    Who doth redeem thy life, that thou

          to death may’st not go down;

     Who thee with loving-kindness doth

          and tender mercies crown:

5    Who with abundance of good things

          doth satisfy thy mouth;

     So that, ev’n as the eagle’s age,

          renewed is thy youth.

6    God righteous judgment executes

          for all oppressed ones.

7    His ways to Moses, he his acts

          made known to Isr’el’s sons.

8    The Lord our God is merciful,

          and he is gracious,

     Long-suffering, and slow to wrath,

          in mercy plenteous.

9    He will not chide continually,

          nor keep his anger still.

10   With us he dealt not as we sinn’d,

          nor did requite our ill.

11   For as the heaven in its height

          the earth surmounteth far;

     So great to those that do him fear

          his tender mercies are:

12   As far as east is distant from

          the west, so far hath he

     From us removed, in his love,

          all our iniquity.

13   Such pity as a father hath

          unto his children dear;

     Like pity shews the Lord to such

          as worship him in fear.

14   For he remembers we are dust,

          and he our frame well knows.

15   Frail man, his days are like the grass,

          as flow’r in field he grows:

16   For over it the wind doth pass,

          and it away is gone;

     And of the place where once it was

          it shall no more be known.

17   But unto them that do him fear

          God’s mercy never ends;

     And to their children’s children still

          his righteousness extends:

18   To such as keep his covenant,

          and mindful are alway

     Of his most just commandements,

          that they may them obey.

19   The Lord prepared hath his throne

          in heavens firm to stand;

     And ev’ry thing that being hath

          his kingdom doth command.

20   O ye his angels, that excel

          in strength, bless ye the Lord;

     Ye who obey what he commands,

          and hearken to his word.

21   O bless and magnify the Lord,

          ye glorious hosts of his;

     Ye ministers, that do fulfil

          whate’er his pleasure is.

22   O bless the Lord, all ye his works,

          wherewith the world is stor’d

     In his dominions ev’ry where.

          My soul, bless thou the Lord.

1    Bless God, my soul. O Lord my God,

          thou art exceeding great;

     With honour and with majesty

          thou clothed art in state.

2    With light, as with a robe, thyself

          thou coverest about;

     And, like unto a curtain, thou

          the heavens stretchest out.

3    Who of his chambers doth the beams

          within the waters lay;

     Who doth the clouds his chariot make,

          on wings of wind make way.

4    Who flaming fire his ministers,

          his angels sp’rits, doth make:

5    Who earth’s foundations did lay,

          that it should never shake.

6    Thou didst it cover with the deep,

          as with a garment spread:

     The waters stood above the hills,

          when thou the word but said.

7    But at the voice of thy rebuke

          they fled, and would not stay;

     They at thy thunder’s dreadful voice

          did haste them fast away.

8    They by the mountains do ascend,

          and by the valley-ground

     Descend, unto that very place

          which thou for them didst found.

9    Thou hast a bound unto them set,

          that they may not pass over,

     That they do not return again

          the face of earth to cover.

10   He to the valleys sends the springs,

          which run among the hills:

11   They to all beasts of field give drink,

          wild asses drink their fills.

12   By them the fowls of heav’n shall have

          their habitation,

     Which do among the branches sing

          with delectation.

13   He from his chambers watereth

          the hills, when they are dry’d:

     With fruit and increase of thy works

          the earth is satisfy’d.

14   For cattle he makes grass to grow,

          he makes the herb to spring

     For th’ use of man, that food to him

          he from the earth may bring;

15   And wine, that to the heart of man

          doth cheerfulness impart,

     Oil that his face makes shine, and bread

          that strengtheneth his heart.

16   The trees of God are full of sap;

          the cedars that do stand

     In Lebanon, which planted were

          by his almighty hand.

17   Birds of the air upon their boughs

          do chuse their nests to make;

     As for the stork, the fir-tree she

          doth for her dwelling take.

18   The lofty mountains for wild goats

          a place of refuge be;

     The conies also to the rocks

          do for their safety flee.

19   He sets the moon in heav’n, thereby

          the seasons to discern:

     From him the sun his certain time

          of going down doth learn.

20   Thou darkness mak’st, ’tis night, then beasts

          of forests creep abroad.

21   The lions young roar for their prey,

          and seek their meat from God.

22   The sun doth rise, and home they flock,

          down in their dens they lie.

23   Man goes to work, his labour he

          doth to the ev’ning ply.

24   How manifold, Lord, are thy works!

          in wisdom wonderful

     Thou ev’ry one of them hast made;

          earth’s of thy riches full:

25   So is this great and spacious sea,

          wherein things creeping are,

     Which number’d cannot be; and beasts

          both great and small are there.

26   There ships go; there thou mak’st to play

          that leviathan great.

27   These all wait on thee, that thou may’st

          in due time give them meat.

28   That which thou givest unto them

          they gather for their food;

     Thine hand thou open’st lib’rally,

          they filled are with good.

29   Thou hid’st thy face; they troubled are,

          their breath thou tak’st away;

     Then do they die, and to their dust

          return again do they.

30   Thy quick’ning spirit thou send’st forth,

          then they created be;

     And then the earth’s decayed face

          renewed is by thee.

31   The glory of the mighty Lord

          continue shall for ever:

     The Lord Jehovah shall rejoice

          in all his works together.

32   Earth, as affrighted, trembleth all,

          if he on it but look;

     And if the mountains he but touch,

          they presently do smoke.

33   I will sing to the Lord most high,

          so long as I shall live;

     And while I being have I shall

          to my God praises give.

34   Of him my meditation shall

          sweet thoughts to me afford;

     And as for me, I will rejoice

          in God, my only Lord.

35   From earth let sinners be consum’d,

          let ill men no more be.

     O thou my soul, bless thou the Lord.

          Praise to the Lord give ye.

1    Give thanks to God, call on his name;

          to men his deeds make known.

2    Sing ye to him, sing psalms; proclaim

          his wondrous works each one.

3    See that ye in his holy name

          to glory do accord;

     And let the heart of ev’ry one

          rejoice that seeks the Lord.

4    The Lord Almighty, and his strength,

          with stedfast hearts seek ye:

     His blessed and his gracious face

          seek ye continually.

5    Think on the works that he hath done,

          which admiration breed;

     His wonders, and the judgments all

          which from his mouth proceed;

6    O ye that are of Abr’ham’s race,

          his servant well approv’n;

     And ye that Jacob’s children are,

          whom he chose for his own.

7    Because he, and he only, is

          the mighty Lord our God;

     And his most righteous judgments are

          in all the earth abroad.

8    His cov’nant he remember’d hath,

          that it may ever stand:

     To thousand generations

          the word he did command.

9    Which covenant he firmly made

          with faithful Abraham,

     And unto Isaac, by his oath,

          he did renew the same:

10   And unto Jacob, for a law,

          he made it firm and sure,

     A covenant to Israel,

          which ever should endure.

11   He said, I’ll give Canaan’s land

          for heritage to you;

12   While they were strangers there, and few,

          in number very few:

13   While yet they went from land to land

          without a sure abode;

     And while through sundry kingdoms they

          did wander far abroad;

14   Yet, notwithstanding suffer’d he

          no man to do them wrong:

     Yea, for their sakes, he did reprove

          kings, who were great and strong.

15   Thus did he say, Touch ye not those

          that mine anointed be,

     Nor do the prophets any harm

          that do pertain to me.

16   He call’d for famine on the land,

          he brake the staff of bread:

17   But yet he sent a man before,

          by whom they should be fed;

     Ev’n Joseph, whom unnat’rally

          sell for a slave did they;

18   Whose feet with fetters they did hurt,

          and he in irons lay;

19   Until the time that his word came

          to give him liberty;

     The word and purpose of the Lord

          did him in prison try.

20   Then sent the king, and did command

          that he enlarg’d should be:

     He that the people’s ruler was

          did send to set him free.

21   A lord to rule his family

          he rais’d him, as most fit;

     To him of all that he possess’d

          he did the charge commit:

22   That he might at his pleasure bind

          the princes of the land;

     And he might teach his senators

          wisdom to understand.

23   The people then of Israel

          down into Egypt came;

     And Jacob also sojourned

          within the land of Ham.

24   And he did greatly by his pow’r

          increase his people there;

     And stronger than their enemies

          they by his blessing were.

25   Their heart he turned to envy

          his folk maliciously,

     With those that his own servants were

          to deal in subtilty.

26   His servant Moses he did send,

          Aaron his chosen one.

27   By these his signs and wonders great

          in Ham’s land were made known.

28   Darkness he sent, and made it dark;

          his word they did obey.

29    He turn’d their waters into blood,

          and he their fish did slay.

30   The land in plenty brought forth frogs

          in chambers of their kings.

31   His word all sorts of flies and lice

          in all their borders brings.

32   He hail for rain, and flaming fire

          into their land he sent:

33   And he their vines and fig-trees smote:

          trees of their coasts he rent.

34   He spake, and caterpillars came,

          locusts did much abound;

35   Which in their land all herbs consum’d,

          and all fruits of their ground.

36   He smote all first-born in their land,

          chief of their strength each one.

37   With gold and silver brought them forth,

          weak in their tribes were none.

38   Egypt was glad when forth they went,

          their fear on them did light.

39   He spread a cloud for covering,

          and fire to shine by night.

40   They ask’d, and he brought quails: with bread

          of heav’n he filled them.

41   He open’d rocks, floods gush’d, and ran

          in deserts like a stream.

42   For on his holy promise he,

          and servant Abr’ham, thought.

43   With joy his people, his elect

          with gladness, forth he brought.

44   And unto them the pleasant lands

          he of the heathen gave;

     That of the people’s labour they

          inheritance might have.

45   That they his statutes might observe

          according to his word;

     And that they might his laws obey.

          Give praise unto the Lord.

1    Praise ye the Lord. The man is bless’d

          that fears the Lord aright,

     He who in his commandements

          doth greatly take delight.

2    His seed and offspring powerful

          shall be the earth upon:

     Of upright men blessed shall be

          the generation.

3    Riches and wealth shall ever be

          within his house in store;

     And his unspotted righteousness

          endures for evermore.

4    Unto the upright light doth rise,

          though he in darkness be:

     Compassionate, and merciful,

          and righteous, is he.

5    A good man doth his favour shew,

          and doth to others lend:

     He with discretion his affairs

          will guide unto the end.

6    Surely there is not any thing

          that ever shall him move:

     The righteous man’s memorial

          shall everlasting prove.

7    When he shall evil tidings hear,

          he shall not be afraid:

     His heart is fix’d, his confidence

          upon the Lord is stay’d.

8    His heart is firmly stablished,

          afraid he shall not be,

     Until upon his enemies

          he his desire shall see.

9    He hath dispers’d, giv’n to the poor;

          his righteousness shall be

     To ages all; with honour shall

          his horn be raised high.

10   The wicked shall it see, and fret,

          his teeth gnash, melt away:

     What wicked men do most desire

          shall utterly decay.