Psalm XXXI

I. Lord, in thy great, thy glorious name,
I place my hope, my only trust;
Save me from sorrow, guilt and shame,
Thou ever-gracious, ever-just.

II. Attentive bow thy pitying ear,
Let mercy fly to my relief,
Be thou my refuge, ever near,
A sure defence from all my grief.

III. Thou art my rock, thy name alone
The fortress where my hopes retreat;
O make thy pow'r and mercy known,
To safety guide my trembling feet.

IV. Preserve me from the fatal snare
Of secret foes, who plot my fall;
And make my life thy tender care,
My God, my strength, my hope, my all.

V. To thy kind hand, O gracious Lord,
My soul I chearfully resign;
My Saviour God, I trust thy word,
For truth, immortal truth is thine.

VI. I hate their works, I hate their ways,
Who follow vanity and lies;
But to the Lord my hopes I raise,
And trust his pow'r who built the skies.

VII. In thee, my God, I will rejoice,
While mercy makes my soul her care;
For thou hast heard my mournful voice,
In all my sorrows God was near.

VIII. Thou hast not left my life to groan,
Where chains and tyrant foes oppress;
Enlarg'd by thee, my feet have known
The sweets of liberty and peace.

XI. Thy wonted mercy, Lord, renew,
See how my inward troubles rise;
My melting soul with pity view,
And these dejected weeping eyes.

X. My life is spent in grief and tears,
In sighs my hours roll slow away,
My strength decays, while sins and fears
Sink all my frame in deep decay.

XI. While black reproaches blot my fame,
And neighbors join with cruel foes,
My friends who now forget the name,
With horror fly, and shun my woes:

XII. 'Till from their memory I slide,
And sink in dark oblivion's shade,
A broken vessel thrown aside,
And mix unheeded with the dead.

XIII. I heard the cruel slander rise,
While foes and fears beset me round;
I heard the murd'rous bands devise
To crush me helpless to the ground.

XIV. But I have trusted in thy name,
O Lord, my hope, my fix'd abode;
And still avow'd my humble claim,
(O sweet support!) thou art my God.

XV. My life, my all, is in thy hand;
Let thy almighty pow'r controul
The rage of this remorseless band,
And save my persecuted soul.

XVI. O let thy favour, bliss divine!
Thy smile with heav'nly radiance break,
And round thy fainting servant shine;
O save me for thy mercy's sake.

XVII. Leave not my hope to sink in shame,
God of my pray'r, in whom I trust;
Let wicked men, who hate thy name,
Lose all their glory in the dust.

XVIII. Deep in the grave be lying tongues
In everlasting silence laid,
Whose proud disdain, and sland'rous wrongs,
The injur'd innocent invade.

XIX. What endless bliss, o bounteous Lord,
(Immensely great, divinely free!)
Hast thou reserv'd for their reward,
Who fear thy name, and trust in thee?

XX. Thy gracious hand shall near thee hide
These happy fav'rites of thy care;
Safe at thy feet they shall abide,
Nor pride, nor slander reach them there.

XXI. Blest be the Lord, forever blest,
Whose mercy bids my fears remove;
The sacred walls which guard my rest,
Are his almighty pow'r and love.

XXII. I rashly said, I sink, I die,
Cut off, abandon'd to despair;
Yet thou, my God, hast heard my cry,
And gracious answer'd all my pray'r.

XXIII. Ye saints, to whom his mercy flows,
O love, for ever love the Lord;
While on the proud his hand bestows,
A dreadful, and a just reward.

XXIV. Ye humble souls, who seek his face,
Let sacred courage fill your heart;
Hope in the Lord, and trust his grace,
And he shall heav'nly strength impart.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #158