The Choir and The Oratory or Praise and Prayer. By Josiah Conder |
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“LORD, THOU HAST BEEN OUR DWELLING-PLACE
IN ALL GENERATIONS.”
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 | The Choir and The Oratory |  |
193
“LORD, THOU HAST BEEN OUR DWELLING-PLACE IN ALL GENERATIONS.”
Psalm xc.
In every age, O Lord, Thou to our race
Hast been a refuge and a dwelling-place.
Before the mountain pillars of the earth
Were reared, before the universe had birth,
In uncreated majesty apart,
From everlasting, Thou for ever art.
But Adam's feeble race, Thy sentence just
Resolves to their original, the dust.
For what is life's brief term? What, in Thy sight,
Are ages? But as yesterday;—their flight
Has left no trace;—a watch-tide of the night.
Swift as a flood, and shadowy as a dream,
Fading, like herbage in the noon-tide beam,
Its pomp and glory; morn beholds it rise
And flourish; ere the evening hour, it dies.
Even thus beneath Thy righteous wrath we fade.
For lo! our sins before Thee are arrayed,
Our secret sins in Thy full light displayed.
Hast been a refuge and a dwelling-place.
Before the mountain pillars of the earth
Were reared, before the universe had birth,
In uncreated majesty apart,
From everlasting, Thou for ever art.
But Adam's feeble race, Thy sentence just
Resolves to their original, the dust.
For what is life's brief term? What, in Thy sight,
Are ages? But as yesterday;—their flight
Has left no trace;—a watch-tide of the night.
Swift as a flood, and shadowy as a dream,
Fading, like herbage in the noon-tide beam,
Its pomp and glory; morn beholds it rise
And flourish; ere the evening hour, it dies.
Even thus beneath Thy righteous wrath we fade.
For lo! our sins before Thee are arrayed,
Our secret sins in Thy full light displayed.
194
Hence, withered by Thy frown, our shortened span
Shrinks to a fleeting vapour. Feeble man
His seventy years soon spends; or, if more strong.
To late fourscore he may his toils prolong,
'Mid sins and sorrows; yet, how quickly past
That lengthened term! the patriarch dies at last.
But who the power of Thy displeasure fears?
Who with becoming awe Thy name reveres?
Lord, teach us life's true estimate, that we
May give our hearts to wisdom and to Thee.
Shrinks to a fleeting vapour. Feeble man
His seventy years soon spends; or, if more strong.
To late fourscore he may his toils prolong,
'Mid sins and sorrows; yet, how quickly past
That lengthened term! the patriarch dies at last.
But who the power of Thy displeasure fears?
Who with becoming awe Thy name reveres?
Lord, teach us life's true estimate, that we
May give our hearts to wisdom and to Thee.
How long shall man be from Thy face exiled,
Ere to Thy children Thou art reconciled?
Oh satisfy us early with Thy grace:
So shall our hearts be joyful all our days.
Save thine afflicted people; let them know
Long days of gladness after years of woe.
Thy works of might display; fulfil Thy word;
And to our children shew Thy glory, Lord!
Oh, let Thy favour beam on us, and bless
The labours of our hands with glad success.
Ere to Thy children Thou art reconciled?
Oh satisfy us early with Thy grace:
So shall our hearts be joyful all our days.
Save thine afflicted people; let them know
Long days of gladness after years of woe.
Thy works of might display; fulfil Thy word;
And to our children shew Thy glory, Lord!
Oh, let Thy favour beam on us, and bless
The labours of our hands with glad success.
| The Choir and The Oratory | |