PSALM 112. As the 113th Psalm. The Blessings of the liberal Man.
I
That man is blest who stands in awe
Of God, and loves his sacred law:
His seed on earth shall be renown'd;
His house the seat of wealth shall be,
An inexhausted treasury,
And with successive honours crown'd.
II
His liberal favours he extends,
To some he gives, to others lends;
A generous pity fills his mind:
Yet what his charity impairs,
He saves by prudence in affairs,
And thus he's just to all mankind.
III
His hands, while they his alms bestow'd,
His glory's future harvest sow'd;
The sweet remembrance of the just.
Like a green root, revives and bears
A train of blessings for his heirs,
When dying nature sleeps in dust.
IV
Beset with threatening dangers round,
Unmov'd shall he maintain his ground;
His conscience holds his courage up:
The soul that's fill'd with virtue's light
Shines brightest in affliction's night,
And sees in darkness beams of hope.
V
Ill tidings never can surprise
His heart that fix'd on God relies,
Tho' waves and tempests roar around:
Safe on the rock he sits, and sees
The shipwreck of his enemies,
And all their hope and glory drown'd.
VI
The wicked shall his triumph see,
And gnash their teeth in agony
To find their expectations crost:
They and their envy, pride and spite,
Sink down to everlasting night,
And all their names in darkness lost.
Many lines of this metre, and some of the next psalm, proper
metre, are borrowed from Mr. Tate's version.
