Category: Songs of Christ

Tune: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

1    O praise the Lord, for he is good;
          his mercy lasteth ever.
2    Let those of Israel now say,
          His mercy faileth never.

3    Now let the house of Aaron say,
          His mercy lasteth ever.
4    Let those that fear the Lord now say,
          His mercy faileth never.

5    I in distress call’d on the Lord;
          the Lord did answer me:
     He in a large place did me set,
          from trouble made me free.

6    The mighty Lord is on my side,
          I will not be afraid;
     For any thing that man can do
          I shall not be dismay’d.

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7    The Lord doth take my part with them

          that help to succour me:

     Therefore on those that do me hate

          I my desire shall see.

8    Better it is to trust in God

          than trust in man’s defence;

9    Better to trust in God than make

          princes our confidence.

10   The nations, joining all in one,

          did compass me about:

     But in the Lord’s most holy name

          I shall them all root out.

11   They compass’d me about; I say,

          they compass’d me about:

     But in the Lord’s most holy name

          I shall them all root out.

12   Like bees they compass’d me about;

          like unto thorns that flame

     They quenched are: for them shall I

          destroy in God’s own name.

13   Thou sore hast thrust, that I might fall,

          but my Lord helped me.

14   God my salvation is become,

          my strength and song is he.

15   In dwellings of the righteous

          is heard the melody

     Of joy and health: the Lord’s right hand

          doth ever valiantly.

16   The right hand of the mighty Lord

          exalted is on high;

     The right hand of the mighty Lord

          doth ever valiantly.

17   I shall not die, but live, and shall

          the works of God discover.

18   The Lord hath me chastised sore,

          but not to death giv’n over.

19   O set ye open unto me

          the gates of righteousness;

     Then will I enter into them,

          and I the Lord will bless.

20   This is the gate of God, by it

          the just shall enter in.

21   Thee will I praise, for thou me heard’st

          and hast my safety been.

22   That stone is made head corner-stone,

          which builders did despise:

23   This is the doing of the Lord,

          and wondrous in our eyes.

24   This is the day God made, in it

          we’ll joy triumphantly.

25   Save now, I pray thee, Lord; I pray,

          send now prosperity.

26   Blessed is he in God’s great name

          that cometh us to save:

     We, from the house which to the Lord

          pertains, you blessed have.

27   God is the Lord, who unto us

          hath made light to arise:

     Bind ye unto the altar’s horns

          with cords the sacrifice.

28    Thou art my God, I’ll thee exalt;

          my God, I will thee praise.

29    Give thanks to God, for he is good:

          his mercy lasts always.

1    O thou the God of all my praise,

          do thou not hold thy peace;

2    For mouths of wicked men to speak

          against me do not cease:

     The mouths of vile deceitful men

          against me open’d be;

     And with a false and lying tongue

          they have accused me.

3    They did beset me round about

          with words of hateful spight:

     And though to them no cause I gave,

          against me they did fight.

4    They for my love became my foes,

          but I me set to pray.

5    Evil for good, hatred for love,

          to me they did repay.

6    Set thou the wicked over him;

          and upon his right hand

     Give thou his greatest enemy,

          ev’n Satan, leave to stand.

7    And when by thee he shall be judg’d,

          let him condemned be;

     And let his pray’r be turn’d to sin,

          when he shall call on thee.

8    Few be his days, and in his room

          his charge another take.

9    His children let be fatherless,

          his wife a widow make.

10   His children let be vagabonds,

          and beg continually;

     And from their places desolate

          seek bread for their supply.

11   Let covetous extortioners

          catch all he hath away:

     Of all for which he labour’d hath

          let strangers make a prey.

12   Let there be none to pity him,

          let there be none at all

     That on his children fatherless

          will let his mercy fall.

13   Let his posterity from earth

          cut off for ever be,

     And in the foll’wing age their name

          be blotted out by thee.

14   Let God his father’s wickedness

          still to remembrance call;

     And never let his mother’s sin

          be blotted out at all.

15   But let them all before the Lord

          appear continually,

     That he may wholly from the earth

          cut off their memory.

16   Because he mercy minded not,

          but persecuted still

     The poor and needy, that he might

          the broken-hearted kill.

17   As he in cursing pleasure took,

          so let it to him fall;

     As he delighted not to bless,

          so bless him not at all.

18   As cursing he like clothes put on,

          into his bowels so,

     Like water, and into his bones,

          like oil, down let it go.

19   Like to the garment let it be

          which doth himself array,

     And for a girdle, wherewith he

          is girt about alway.

20   From God let this be their reward

          that en’mies are to me,

     And their reward that speak against

          my soul maliciously.

21   But do thou, for thine own name’s sake,

          O God the Lord, for me:

     Sith good and sweet thy mercy is,

          from trouble set me free.

22   For I am poor and indigent,

          afflicted sore am I,

     My heart within me also is

          wounded exceedingly.

23   I pass like a declining shade,

          am like the locust tost:

24   My knees through fasting weaken’d are,

          my flesh hath fatness lost.

25   I also am a vile reproach

          unto them made to be;

     And they that did upon me look

          did shake their heads at me.

26   O do thou help and succour me,

          who art my God and Lord:

     And, for thy tender mercy’s sake,

          safety to me afford:

27   That thereby they may know that this

          is thy almighty hand;

     And that thou, Lord, hast done the same,

          they may well understand.

28   Although they curse with spite, yet, Lord,

          bless thou with loving voice:

     Let them asham’d be when they rise;

          thy servant let rejoice.

29   Let thou mine adversaries all

          with shame be clothed over;

     And let their own confusion

          them, as a mantle, cover.

30   But as for me, I with my mouth

          will greatly praise the Lord;

     And I among the multitude

          his praises will record.

31   For he shall stand at his right hand

          who is in poverty,

     To save him from all those that would

          condemn his soul to die.

1    When Isr’el out of Egypt went,

          and did his dwelling change,

     When Jacob’s house went out from those

          that were of language strange,

2    He Judah did his sanctuary,

          his kingdom Isr’el make:

3    The sea it saw, and quickly fled,

          Jordan was driven back.

4    Like rams the mountains, and like lambs

          the hills skipp’d to and fro.

5    O sea, why fledd’st thou? Jordan, back

          why wast thou driven so?

6    Ye mountains great, wherefore was it

          that ye did skip like rams?

     And wherefore was it, little hills,

          that ye did leap like lambs?

7    O at the presence of the Lord,

          earth, tremble thou for fear,

     While as the presence of the God

          of Jacob doth appear:

8    Who from the hard and stony rock

          did standing water bring;

     And by his pow’r did turn the flint

          into a water-spring.

1    I love the Lord, because my voice

          and prayers he did hear.

2    I, while I live, will call on him,

          who bow’d to me his ear.

3    Of death the cords and sorrows did

          about me compass round;

     The pains of hell took hold on me,

          I grief and trouble found.

4    Upon the name of God the Lord

          then did I call, and say,

     Deliver thou my soul, O Lord,

          I do thee humbly pray.

5    God merciful and righteous is,

          yea, gracious is our Lord.

6    God saves the meek: I was brought low,

          he did me help afford.

7    O thou my soul, do thou return

          unto thy quiet rest;

     For largely, lo, the Lord to thee

          his bounty hath exprest.

8    For my distressed soul from death

          deliver’d was by thee:

     Thou didst my mourning eyes from tears,

          my feet from falling, free.

9    I in the land of those that live

          will walk the Lord before.

10   I did believe, therefore I spake:

          I was afflicted sore.

11   I said, when I was in my haste,

          that all men liars be.

12   What shall I render to the Lord

          for all his gifts to me?

13   I’ll of salvation take the cup,

          on God’s name will I call:

14   I’ll pay my vows now to the Lord

          before his people all.

15   Dear in God’s sight is his saints’ death.

16         Thy servant, Lord, am I;

     Thy servant sure, thine handmaid’s son:

          my bands thou didst untie.

17   Thank-off ‘rings I to thee will give,

          and on God’s name will call.

18   I’ll pay my vows now to the Lord

          before his people all;

19   Within the courts of God’s own house,

          within the midst of thee,

     O city of Jerusalem.

          Praise to the Lord give ye.

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.