University of Virginia Library

PSALM XXIX.

Sing, Ye Sons of Might, O sing
Praise to Heav'n's eternal King;
Pow'r and strength to Him assign,
And before his hallow'd shrine
Yield the homage that his Name
From a Creature's lips may claim.
“Hark! his voice in thunder breaks;
Hush'd to silence, while he speaks,
Ocean's waves from pole to pole
Hear the awful accents roll:
See, as louder yet they rise,
Echoing through the vaulted Skies,
Loftiest Cedars lie o'erthrown,
“Cedars of steep Lebanon.
See, uprooted from its seat,
Lebanon itself retreat;
Trembling at the threat divine,
Sirion hastes its flight to join:
See them like the heifer borne,
Like the beast whose pointed horn
Strikes with dread the sylvan train,
Bound impetuous on the plain.
Now the bursting clouds give way,
And the vivid lightnings play,
And the wilds by Man untrod
Hear, dismay'd, th' approaching God.
Cades, o'er thy lonely waste
Oft the dreaded sounds have past:
Oft his stroke the Wood invades:
Widow'd of their leafy shades
Mightiest Oaks its fury know;
While the pregnant Hind her throe
Instant feels, and on the earth
Trembling drops th' unfinish'd birth.
Prostrate on the sacred floor
Israel's Sons his name adore,
While his acts to ev'ry tongue
Yield its argument of song.
He the swelling surge commands;
Fix'd his Throne for ever stands;
He “his People shall increase,
“Arm with strength, and bless with peace.