Psalm CII. Domine exaudi orationem, &c.
I
My dearest God, let my Pray'r come to Thee,
Nor at my sighes, and cry offended be!
Dart through these pitchy clouds one ray Divine,
A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poures out his complaint before the Lord.
And make Thy glorious Face appear;
If Thou art pleas'd again to shine,
I will no longer fear,
But hope that He, who sees my Pain, will bend His ear.
II
But hear me then, and answer speedily
'Ere 'tis too late, and I no more can cry!
For as dry wood do's in the fornace burn,
And vanishes in smoak away,
So all my strength to smoak do's turn,
And feels its own decay,
Whil'st on my bones, and heart a fire unseen do's prey.
III
So fierce it rages, that I quite forget,
Through pain, and grief my very bread to eat;
The tears I shed do but the flame encrease,
My bones, and flesh become more dry;
And all the while I held my peace,
Less burnt, then now I cry;
And grass the Sun ha's toucht, is not so scorch't as I.
IV
And as the solitary Pelican,
And widdow'd Turtle for their mates complain,
Just like the Owle, which do's in desarts dwell,
Hating, and hated of the light,
That to the Rocks her moans do's tell,
So shun I every sight
By day, and weary with my mournfull cryes the night.
V
Both night, and day I'm made the common scorn,
And those, who hate me, are against me sworn;
Ashes and Tears have been my meat, and drink,
Whil'st I continually did grieve,
Of Thy Just wrath, and hand to think,
What mortal wounds they give,
Lifting me up a greater fall but to receive.
VI
And as the shaddow with the Sun declines,
And disappears, when that no longer shines:
As with the Summer heat flowers pine away;
So pass my years e're well begun:
But an Eternal Now do's stay
On Thyne, ne're to be done,
When thousand Ages shall their several Race have run.
VII
The mis'ries of Thy Sion Thou hast seen,
How great Her Sorrows, what her Cares have been;
To save Thy Sion, Lord, at length arise!
Her mighty Jubilee is come,
And now her very dust we prize,
Her rubbish and Her lome,
And humbly begg Thou would'st return her captives home!
VIII
So shall the heathen fear Thy Holy Name,
And all their Kings Thy Kingdomes rule proclaim:
When thus again Thou Sion shalt rebuild,
And in Thy glory there appear,
When all Her Courts with Vowes are fill'd,
And Thou inclin'st Thine Ear,
The Prayer of the Forsaken, and their groans to hear.
IX
For the next age this story we'll record,
That they, as well as We, may praise the Lord,
Who from the height of Heav'n, His Throne, look'd down,
And did from thence the Earth behold,
Thence heard the dying Pris'ners grone,
Saw Justice chain'd with gold,
And sav'd both Her, and them, for bribes unjustly sold.
X
He sav'd them, that they might His Power declare,
And tell in Sion, what his Praises are;
When all the Nations there shall gath'red be,
And to the Sacred Mount ascend;
When the whole World His Power shall see,
And all its Kings contend,
Who shall the lowest stoop, or richest presents send.
XI
O might I live to see that happy day,
And not be cut off in the middle way!
“My God, what are my years to Thee, said I?
“Or what my age compar'd with Thine,
“If e're my Noon is reach't I dye?
“For Thee no Times confine,
“Nor ages measure out Thy Dayes, as hours do mine.
XII
Of old Thou hast the Earth's Foundations laid,
And on Thy Word the Heav'ns all times have staid;
Thy Word shall make them both fall down again;
Be like a Garment thrown aside,
A Vest with some great rent, or stain;
And all their Ancient pride
Or shall destroy, or under Formes more glorious hide.
XIII
But Thou the same, which Thou hast alwayes been,
Shalt never end, as Thou did'st ne're begin;
When Time itself shall dye, and be no more:
And as Thou art, O God, like Thee,
(Excepting what Thou wert before)
Thy Servants Seed shall be,
And have for them, and theirs a Post-Eternity.
