The Psalms, Translated or Paraphrased in English Verse ::

Thy Suppliant's voice propitious hear;
My life, Blest Lord, from hostile fear
Secure, while Men of impious mind,
Their pow'rs in secret league combin'd,
With factious rage my soul pursue,
And hide, O hide me from their view.
Behold the slaughter-breathing Throng
Whet as a sword their baleful tongue,
And words, as arrows keen, prepare,
That edg'd with death shall walk the air,
Conceal'd from sight each fear disclaim,
And level at the Just their aim,
Nor rest, till in the blameless heart
Their hand has lodg'd the sudden dart.

148

Their dire designs, in guilt allied,
They form; secure, their snares provide;
“And who our aim shall thwart? What eye
“(They ask,) the hidden death descry?”
With future mischiefs teem their breasts,
(As each to each new wiles suggests,)
And seek in art's obscurest veil
Their guilty purpose to conceal.
Ah! Wretches, whither will ye fly?
Behold the arrow from on high
Descend, that bears upon its wing
The wrath of Heav'n's offended King:
The fatal shaft its errand knows,
And red with hottest vengeance glows.

Their tongue, that seeks another's hurt,
Itself their footsteps shall subvert,
And passers by with inward dread
Behold them on the earth outspread.
Each heart shall own, with rev'rent thought,
That Thou the work, great God, hast wrought,
And, pleas'd, thy chastisements shall trace,
Inflicted on their guilty race,
While, rescu'd from their rage, the Just
Exulting fix on Thee their trust.

University of Virginia Library

PSALM LXIV.