A translation of the psalms of David :: :: University of Virginia Library

Arouse—and let thy foes disperse
Thou master of the universe,
Arouse thee from on high;
Take up the trumpet and alarm,
And at the terror of thine arm
Let those that hate thee fly.

Like as afflicting smoke's dispell'd,
Let them be driv'n away and quell'd,
As wax before the fire,
Let fraud at thine effulgence fail,
And let the multitudes in mail
Before my God retire.

But let the men of righteous seed,
Accepted in their father's deed,
Rejoice before the shrine;
Yea, let them shout till heav'n resounds,
There is no need of end or bounds
To joyfulness divine.

Give praise—with songs your praises blend,
And as your thoughts to heav'n ascend,
And leave the world beneath,
Extol his universal name,
Who rides on the celestial flame,
In IAH, which all things breathe.

The father of the friendless child,
To keep the damsel undefil'd,
And judge the widow's cause,
Is God upon his righteous throne,
Whence he the hands to rapine prone
O'ersees and overawes.

Thy Lord domestick peace creates,
And those his Mercy congregates,
Who solitary dwell;
The slave delivers from his chain,
But rebels in dry wastes remain,
And where no waters well.

When thou Jehovah led the way,
Before thy people in array,
From Egypt's barb'rous cost;
Thro' boundless wilds exposed and parch'd,
In pillar'd majesty thou march'd
The captain of the host.

The earth in ecstasy gave place,
With vast vibrations on her base
The present God she found;
Ev'n Israel's God—the heav'ns dissolv'd,
And Sinai's mount in clouds involv'd,
Felt all his rocks rebound.

O God, thou bad'st the heav'ns dispense
The bread of thy benevolence,
Down with the daily dew;
And fixt the people of thy pow'r,
Amidst their doubtings by a show'r
Miraculous and new.

Therein thy congregation dwelt,
E'en midst the manna, which thou dealt
So plentiful and pure;
Thy goodness to confirm the weak,
Thy charity to bless and break,
The largess for the poor.

God, in stupendous glory deck'd,
His gracious covenant direct,
Came down from heav'n to teach;
Great was the trembling and the fear
Of crouds, that rush'd that word to hear,
They were enjoin'd to preach

Each talking tyrant at the head
Of thousands and ten thousands fled,
They fled with all their might;
And all Judea's blooming pride,
The spouse, the damsel and the bride,
Dispos'd the spoil at night.

Though ye the bitter bondage wept,
And midst Rhamnesian tripods slept,
Hereafter is your own;
Ye shall as turtle-doves unfold,
The silver plumage wing'd with gold,
And make melodious moan.

When kings were scatter'd for our sake,
And God alarm'd his host to take
His vengeance on the foe;
On Israel's countenance benign
He made his radiant grace to shine
As bright as Salmon's snow.

Jehovah's hill's a noble heap,
And ev'n as Bashan's spiry steep,
From which the cedars nod;
And Zion's mount herself sublimes,
And swells her goodly crest and climbs
To meet descending God.

Ye haughty hills that leap so high,
What is th'exertion that ye try?
This is God's hallow'd mount,
On whose blest top the glories play,
And where the Lord desires to stay
While we his praise recount.

The chariots of the Lord are made
Of angels in a cavalcade
Ev'n twenty thousand strong,
Those thousands of the first degree,
O'er Sinai—in the midst is He,
And bears the pomp along.

God is gone up from whence he rose
With gifts accepted for his foes,
His loaded altars smoke;
Captivity, from chains repriev'd,
Is made his captive, and receiv'd
To thy most blessed yoke.

God is our help from every ill,
And gives to every want its fill,
For us and all our race;
By him we're every hour review'd,
To him the daily pray'r's renew'd
For daily bread and grace.

God, that great God whom we profess,
Is all-benevolent to bless,
Omnipotent to save;
In God alone is our escape,
From death and all the gulphs that gape,
From terror and the grave.

God shall not send his blessing down
To rest upon the hoary crown
Of those which grace resist;
But shall afflict the heads of all,
That after his repeated call
To penitence, persist.

From Bashan, which they pass'd of yore,
Said God, I will my tribes restore,
And bring them back again;
Where Abr'ham worshipp'd and was bless'd,
Of Canaan they shall be possess'd,
Emerging from the main.

That thy baptized foot may tread,
Where proud blasphemers laid their head,
By judgments unreclaim'd;
And that thy shepherd's dogs may chace
Thy flocks into their pleasant place,
Who made the earth asham'd.

They've seen their errors to disprove
My God in blest procession move,
The pomp of God my king;
Accordant to the train below,
The dances rise, the streamers flow,
And holy flow'rs they fling.

The goodly shew the singers lead,
The minstrels next in place proceed,
With musick sweet and loud;
The damsels, that with wild delight,
The brisk-resounding timbrels smite,
Are in the mid-most crowd.

O thou Jeshurun, yield thy thanks,
All ages, sexes, tribes and ranks,
In congregated bands;
To God united thanks restore,
Brought from the heart its inmost core,
And with protesting hands.

There Benjamin in triumph goes,
Least but in love the Lord of those
That dwell in tents and bow'rs;
And Judah next to the most high,
With Zebulon and Naphtali
Their princedoms and their powr's.

God to the sires of all the tribes
Some great peculiar gift ascribes,
To each his talents told;
The loan with such long-suff'ring lent,
Do thou establish and augment
Ten thousand thousand fold.

From this thy temple which we lay,
To thee the homage they shall pay,
To thee the praise impute;
Kings shall their annual gifts renew,
And give Melchisedec his due,
The glory and the fruit.

Rebuke the spearmen with thy word,
Those calves and bulls of Bashan's herd,
Which from our ways abhor;
Let them pay toll, and hue the wood,
Which are at enmity with good,
And love the voice of war.

The nobles from the sons of Ham,
Shall bring the bullock and the ram,
Idolatrous no more;
The Morians soon shall offer alms,
And bow their heads, and spread their palms,
God's mercy to implore.

Ye blessed angels of the Lord,
Of nations and of kings the ward,
That further thanks and pray'r,
To Jesus Christ your praise resound,
Collected from the regions round
Your tutelary care.

In other days before the sev'n,
Upon that ante-mundane heav'n,
In glorious pomp he rode—
He sends a voice, which voice is might,
In inconceivable delight
Th'acknowledg'd word of God.

Ye heroes foremost in the field
That couch the spear, or bear the shield,
Bless God that ye prevail;
His splendour is on Israel's brow,
He stands all-pow'rful on the prow
Midst all the clouds that sail.

O God, all miracle thou art,
Ev'n thou the God of Israel's heart
Within thy holy shrine,
Thou shalt with strength and pow'r protect,
Thy people in the Lord elect,
Praise, endless praise be thine.