University of Virginia Library


137

PSALM 16. Second Part. (C. M.) The Death and Resurrection of Christ.

I

I set the Lord before my face,
‘He bears my courage up;
‘My heart and tongue their joys express,
‘My flesh shall rest in hope.

II

‘My spirit, Lord, thou wilt not leave
‘Where souls departed are;
‘Nor quit my body to the grave
‘To see corruption there.

III

‘Thou wilt reveal the path of life,
‘And raise me to thy throne;
‘Thy courts immortal pleasure give,
‘Thy presence joys unknown.’

IV

Thus in the name of Christ, the Lord,
The holy David sung,
And Providence fulfils the word
Of his prophetic tongue.

V

Jesus, whom every saint adores,
Was crucify'd and slain;
Behold the tomb its prey restores,
Behold he lives again!

VI

When shall my feet arise and stand
On heaven's eternal hills?
There sits the Son at God's right hand,
And there the Father smiles.

In this version I have applied the three last verses of this psalm to Christ alone, as St. Peter applies them, Acts ii. 23. yet instead of the fourth line of the second stanza, To see corruption there, you may read thus, To dwell for ever there. And then the first three stanzas may be sung alone, and applied to every christian.

 

It is now agreed by the learned, that Sheol, which is rendered hell, signifies only the state of the dead; that is, the grave for the body, and the separate state for the spirit.