A translation of the psalms of David :: :: University of Virginia Library

Thee will I love, O Lord, my tow'r,
My Saviour of almighty pow'r
Is God, in whom I dare;
By whom my conq'ring bands are led,
My buckler in the hour of dread,
And refuge from despair.

I will invoke the great Supreme
Whose matchless merits are the theme
Of everlasting praise;
So when the furious warriours chafe,
I shall command the battle safe
From terror and amaze.

The sorrows of a death-like gloom,
And all the visions of the tomb
Came threat'ning as at hand;
And blood in such profusion spilt
By swords extravagant of guilt
My trembling heart unmann'd.

Hell with her agonizing pains,
And horror of eternal chains,
My vestibule alarm'd;
And by my active health forsook,
A ghastly consternation shook,
And all my strength disarm'd.

Thro' trouble when my members fail,
O Lord, I will myself avail
Of thy most holy name;
To thee prefer my soul's complaint,
And from diseases and restraint
Thy blest protection claim.

So that within thy sacred shrine
Thou shalt thy gracious ears incline,
As I thy help beseech;
Thy psalmist to the height shall soar,
And up at Heaven's interior door
Shall thine attention reach.

Strong dread redoubled to convulse
All nature's frame at every pulse,
And from their topmost height,
Down to the bottom of their base,
The hills were shaken and gave place,
Because his wrath was great.

Out in his presence issue wreathes
Of lucid smoak, and as he breathes
Flames from his mouth transpire;
Which rage so vehement and fierce,
The bowels of the earth they pierce,
And set her mines on fire.

The empyrean at his frown
Was humbled, and the heav'ns came down
With all the host incens'd
Of Michael summon'd from his seat,
And gathering underneath his feet,
The darkness was condens'd.

And on the innumerable flight
Of cherubims, the sons of light,
He rode in grand career;
And bore on the stupendous force
And speed of winged winds his course,
O'er vaulted space to steer.

A thick tremendous veil he made,
The glorious majesty to shade,
Where in the midst he storm'd;
And his pavilion was a cloud
Of deepest water, which to shroud,
His alter'd face he form'd.

But then the brightness which he beam'd,
As he the copious lustre stream'd,
The dusky scene controuls;
And as the gloom around was clear'd,
From out the central blaze appear'd,
Hail mixt with burning coals.

God also thunder'd—the most high
Pronounc'd his thunder in the sky,
The rolling pomp to drive;
And at his omnipresent word,
Above, beneath, around occurr'd
Hailstones and coals alive.

He from his loaded quiver drew
The forked arrows, and they flew
To make obstruction void;
He bade the heathen wrath avast,
And with the lightning that he cast,
Their menaces destroy'd.

The secret water springs the while
Were seen ev'n to the source of Nile,
And in the world beneath,
The pillars of th'inferior arch
Stood naked at the fires that search,
And his strong vengeance breathe.

His blessed angel he shall send
To fetch me, and in pow'r defend
From his terrific scourge;
With which he visits all around,
And from the floods of the profound
I shall to peace emerge.

He shall in love prevent my fall,
Till my worst enemy of all
With guilty shame shall blush;
And save me from the gross disgust
Of men with ruffian rage robust,
Whose furious weight would crush.

In that sad hour of pinching need,
They strove my progress to impede,
And from my point debarr'd;
But Christ the Lord, to whom I pray,
Upheld my goings in the way,
At once my guide and guard.

He saw my jeopardy discharg'd,
And freedom's ample walk enlarg'd
With plenty and content;
He set me in a spacious place,
Because I found peculiar grace,
When kneeling to repent.

The Lord shall my reward prepare,
Because my dealings have been fair,
And from all treach'ry free;
According to the spotless hue,
With which these harmless hands I shew,
My recompence shall be.

For I with courage have abode
By God and truth, and kept the road
Which goes to endless bliss;
Nor have deserted from his cause,
Like men that have not known his laws
The godless and remiss.

Because with application strict
I to thy laws my mind addict,
Their import to discern;
Nor poorly single out a part,
But keep them all with all my heart
As of the last concern.

I likewise found myself intire,
And pure from every vain desire,
Lascivious and unclean;
My former follies I eschew'd,
And all the past of life review'd,
My thoughts from vice to wean:

Wherefore the Lord, whom thus I please,
And which my righteous dealing sees
With his paternal eyes,
According as my hands are pure,
Shall to my soul in heav'n secure
The blest immortal prize.

Where saints and holy angels dwell,
Thou shalt in holiness excell,
And shalt have perfect peace;
Where perfected beyond the sketch
Of Nature, to their utmost stretch,
Faith, hope and grace increase.

In living waters thou shalt bathe,
And God with purity shall swathe
Thy loins as with a girth;
And with the clean and undefil'd,
Thou shall be number'd as a child,
In this thy second birth.

For thou shalt save the poor oppress'd,
And have his grievances redress'd,
By thine immediate aid;
And pompous pride, that is above
The works of charity and love,
Thou shalt to want degrade.

Thou shalt indulge a farther length
To David's life, and with new strength
My blazing lamp shall burn;
Again my vessel shall embark,
And God shall dissipate the dark,
And urge the day's return.

Thro' thee I shall maintain my post,
Nor of the fury of an host,
Or numbers, make account;
And, as thy present help supports,
Shall leap o'er battlements and forts,
And every bar surmount.

God's way is just, his word the same,
And proof against the sev'nfold flame,
When challeng'd to the test;
He is the Saviour and the shield
Of all that in his truth reveal'd
Their firm affiance rest.

For what is the Supreme, or who
But God Almighty, and all-true
On his eternal throne;
What is this pow'r and strength of ours,
And what is strength, or what are pow'rs
But God's, and God alone?

It is the Lord that girds my sword,
Whose grace and might their help afford,
Calm thought with wrath to mix;
Against each giant foe of Gath,
'Tis he alone directs my path,
His champion's fame to fix.

His mandates to my seat impart
The swiftness of the nimble hart,
To run with them that fly;
He takes me up from off the ground,
On which with active speed I bound,
And sets me up on high.

The Lord has with my forces fought,
And these my hardy members taught
The battle to sustain;
My hands are practical and apt,
And with their vigour I have snapt
A bow of steel in twain.

Thou'st plac'd salvation's glorious helm
Upon thy servant, and his realm
E'en to remotest Dan;
I rise augmented from thy rod,
And thy kind chastisement, O God,
Shall magnify the man.

Thou shalt enlarge me round about,
And wheresoe'er I take my rout,
My pilgrimage equip;
By thee directed I shall move,
And thou shalt keep as in a groove.
My footsteps lest they slip.

With God and Israel's cause at stake,
I shall their armies overtake,
Which our perdition seek;
Nor will my rapid courses slack,
Nor bring Jehudah's standard back,
Till I have made them meek.

I will attack them sword in hand,
Nor shall they my sure stroke withstand,
While God my arm uplifts;
One shall his thirst of glory glut
With hundreds vanquish'd—ten shall put
Ten thousand to their shifts.

Thy pow'r shall gird and brace my loins,
Whene'er the fierce encounter joins,
Thine angel shall aggrieve
The foe that Israel's coast alarms,
Till I by my victorious arms
Immortal fame atchieve.

Thou'st made mine enemies retreat,
Nor could they, previous of defeat,
My fair battalia front;
And I shall quell their boistrous boasts,
Invested by the Lord of Hosts,
With brav'ry scorners want.

Their clamours shall ascend the skies,
But none shall stay to hear their cries
Of angels or of men;
To God they shall address their suit,
Yet they shall have but little fruit,
To their devotions then.

They came in number, like the dust,
Their weapons in our heart to thrust,
Like dust they shall recede;
Or crumbled clay before the wind,
Nor shall an atom stay behind,
To signify their deed.

Thou shalt preserve thy servant's life
From faction and domestick strife,
However rais'd or spread;
And fresh from every clime and shore,
The heathen shall thy name adore,
With David at their head.

My swelling sails shall be unfurl'd,
And to reform a distant world,
Thou shall my fleets convoy;
And nations from thy word remote,
I to thine honour will devote,
And in thy ways employ.

Soon as my precepts they imbibe,
They shall to their good truth subscribe,
And their rude manners change;
Yea perjured hypocrites shall throng
To God and Jesus, whom they wrong
As they themselves estrange.

The stranger shall be taken in,
Redeem'd from slavery and sin,
Their Saviour to invoke—
Their nature shall no more despond
Of mercy, but embrace the bond
Of peace and Christ his yoke.

The God of all perfection lives,
And reigns o'er all things, and he gives
The laurel to my lance;
And I will bless him and applaud
His pow'rful succour, and his laud
And magnitude advance.

E'en he whose holy angels wage
Their warfare with me, and engage
Against the strength of stealth,
Of hate and falshood, and confirms
My people in submissive terms
By plenty, peace and wealth.

He shall my soul's salvation set
O'er those that cruel men abet,
Still pouring fresh and fresh;
And for my safety shall provide
From every loud blasphemer's pride,
And from an arm of flesh.

I therefore will my Saviour thank,
And from a faithful heart and frank
The song of praise produce;
And to the Gentiles will I sing
Of him who guides the warrior's sling,
Or fills the peaceful cruse.

Great things and prosperous hast thou done
In love to David—and his Son
Shall ride the royal mule;
King David thy free choice appoints,
And from his loins thy seer anoints
A man thy tribes to rule.