Doctor Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David ‎#275

275. Praise to God for his Goodness and Truth

1 I'll praise my Maker with my breath;
And when my voice is lost in death
Praise shall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures.

2 Why should I make a man my trust?
Princes must die and turn to dust;
Vain is the help of flesh and blood;
Their breath departs, their pomp and power
And thoughts all vanish in an hour,
Nor can they make their promise good.

3 Happy the man, whose hopes rely
On Israel's God; he made the sky,
And earth and seas with all their train;
His truth forever stands secure;
He saves th' opprest, he feeds the poor,
And none shall find his promise vain.

4 The Lord hath eyes to give the blind;
The Lord supports the sinking mind;
He sends the labouring conscience peace
He helps the stranger in distress,
The widow and the fatherless,
And grants the prisoner sweet release.

5 He loves his saints, he knows them well,
But turns the wicked down to hell;
Thy God, O Zion, ever reigns;
Let every tongue, let every age,
In this exalted work engage:
Praise him in everlasting strains.

6 I'll praise him while he lends me breath,
And when my voice is lost in death
Praise shall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures.

Text Information

• First Line: I'll praise my Maker with my breath
• Title: Praise to God for his Goodness and Truth
• Meter: As the 113th Psalm
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1787
• Scripture:
  Psalm 146
• Topic: Afflicted: supported; Afflictions: in mind and body; Creatures: no trust in them; Faithfulness: Of God; God: goodness and truth; God: worthy of all praise; God: kind to his people; Goodness of God; Mercies: and truth of God; Princes vain; Souls in separate state; Trust in the Creatures vain

Tune Information

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