PSALM 103. v. 8–18. Second Part. (S. M.) Abounding Compassion of God; or, Mercy in the midst of Judgment.
I
My soul repeat his praise
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
II
God will not always chide;
And when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
III
High as the heavens are rais'd
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
IV
His power subdues our sins,
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.
V
The pity of the Lord
To those that fear his name
Is such as tender parents feel;
He knows our feeble frame.
VI
He knows we are but dust,
Scatter'd with every breath;
His anger like a rising wind,
Can send us swift to death.
VII
Our days are as the grass,
Or like the morning flower;
If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field,
It withers in an hour.
VIII
But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.
