Psalm LXXIII.
1
Sure God is good to Israel,
To men of heart sincere:
But as for me, my feet did slip,
And nigh to falling were.
2
For I was envious, when I saw,
The wicked prosper so:
How free they are from deadly pangs,
How stout and strong they go.
3
They often are from troubles free,
When all are plagu'd beside;
Which makes them hug and wrap themselves
In violence and pride.
4
Their eyes with fat stand strutting out;
They have what heart can crave:
Corrupt they are; and wicked words
Are all the talk they have.
5
They proudly of oppression boast,
Yea with blasphemous talk,
Their mouth against the heavens is set,
And through the earth doth walk.
6
This makes good men reflect with tears,
And much lament and grieve:
That God regards the things below,
They scarcely can believe.
7
See how the wicked tribe, said I,
In riches thrive amain:
Then surely I have cleans'd my heart,
And wash'd my hands in vain.
8
For all day long I have endur'd
Great plagues and sufferings:
And every morning of my life,
Some new affliction brings.
9
But if to speak at such a rate,
O Lord, I should pretend:
I know against thy children dear
I deeply should offend.
10
When this I could not understand,
Into thy house I went:
And then the end of all these men,
To me was evident.
11
For thou hast set these wicked men
In slippery places all:
And they that now are lifted up,
Shall soon to ruin fall.
12
Thy terrors shall consume them all,
And make them vanish quite:
Much like a dream when one awakes,
Or image of the night.
13
Thus was my heart perplexed sore,
And grieved in my breast:
I was almost as ignorant
As if I were a beast.
14
But Lord I ever am with thee,
And thou wilt hold me fast:
And with thy counsel guide me safe
To Glory at the last.
15
O who is there in heaven above,
Like thee that I desire?
Nor is there one in all the earth,
But thee, that I require.
16
When both my flesh and heart shall fail,
The Lord will me restore:
For of my heart he is the strength,
And portion evermore.
17
For they that are estrang'd from thee,
Shall perish every one:
Thou hast to ruin brought them all,
That have a whoring gone.
18
But surely it is good for me,
That I draw near to God:
In him I trust that all his works,
I shall declare abroad.
