PSALM 37. v. 23–37. Third Part. (C. M.) The Way and End of the Righteous and the Wicked.
I
My God, the steps of pious men
Are order'd by thy will;
Tho' they should fall they rise again,
Thy hand supports them still.
II
The Lord delights to see their ways,
Their virtue he approves;
He'll ne'er deprive them of his grace,
Nor leave the men he loves.
III
The heavenly heritage is their's,
Their portion and their home;
He feeds them now, and makes them heirs
Of blessings long to come.
IV
Wait on the Lord, ye sons of men,
Nor fear when tyrants frown;
Ye shall confess their pride was vain,
When justice casts them down.
V
The haughty sinner have I seen,
Nor fearing man nor God,
Like a tall bay-tree fair and green,
Spreading his arms abroad.
VI
And lo! he vanish'd from the ground,
Destroy'd by hands unseen;
Nor root, nor branch, nor leaf was found
Where all that pride had been.
VII
But mark the man of righteousness,
His several steps attend;
True pleasure runs through all his ways,
And peaceful is his end.
This long psalm abounds with useful instructions and encouragements
to piety, but the verses are very much unconnected and independent;
therefore I have contracted and transposed them, so as to
reduce them to three hymns of a moderate length, and with some connection of the sense.
