1 "Save me, O God, the swelling floods
"Break in upon my soul;
"I sink; and sorrows o'er my head
"Like mighty waters roll.
2 "I cry 'till all my voice be gone,
"In tears I waste the day;
"My God, behold my longing eyes,
"And shorten thy delay.
3 "They hate my soul without a cause,
"And still their number grows;
"More than the hairs around my head,
"And mighty are my foes.
4 "'Twas then I paid that dreadful debt
"That men could never pay,
"And gave those honors to thy law
"Which sinners took away."
5 Thus in the great Messiah's name,
The royal prophet mourns;
Thus he awakes our hearts to grief,
And gives us joy by turns.
6 "Now shall the saints rejoice and find
"Salvation in my name,
"For I have borne their heavy load
"Of sorrow, pain, and shame.
7 "Grief, like a garment, cloth'd me round,
"And sackcloth was my dress,
"While I procur'd for naked souls
"A robe of righteousness.
8 "Amongst my brethren and the Jews
"I like a stranger stood,
"And bore their vile reproach, to bring
"The Gentiles near to God.
9 "I came in sinful mortals stead
"To do my Fathers will;
"Yet, when I cleans'd my Father's house,
"They scandaliz'd my zeal.
10 "My fastings and my holy groans
"Were made the drunkard's song;
"But God, from his celestial throne
"Heard my complaining tongue.
11 "He sav'd me from the dreadful deep,
"Where fears beset me round;
"He rais'd and fix'd my sinking feet
"On well establish'd ground.
12 "'Twas in a most accepted hour,
"My pray'r arose on high,
"And, for my sake, my God shall hear
"The dying sinner's cry."