The whole Psalter translated into English Metre :: :: University of Virginia Library

Here haue ye paynted beforne your eyes tweyne
The restles witte of the fell wycked wyght,
How he careth and carkth for his lytheir gayne,
How he flotth aloft in hye power and myght,
And setth God and his hallowes all in despyte,
Whose cursed steps the iust makth his orison,
In lyfe not to tread to hys confusion.

Dixit iniustus.

1

Musing vpon the variable busines,
That thys troubly world haunth by sea & lande
My hart geueth me that sinne and wyckednes,
Suggestth to the wycked that he may stand.
Wythout any feare safely of Gods hand,
For no feare of hym is in all hys sight,
Of Gods law he is bereaued the shyning lyght.

2

Me fel to mynd that he wonted thus to go,
To flatter aye hymselfe in his own sight,
For sinne the venom did enchaunt hym so,
That in it he hase his whole delyte,
And thynkth in hart that all is aright,
But God will spye out his sinne abominable,
Though to the world it hath visour commendable.

3

Busily in mynd I gan to reuolue,
His words vnrighteous and craftely layd,
All truth and Iustice of God to dissolue
But mere deceit in hipocrisye wayghed
And would not be controld of that he sayd,
To learne of any man he did disdayne,
How the very right way he mought attayne.

4

I noted eke so by night what he thought,
When Gods men vsen: to recount their trespas
But his head in his bed all mischiefe sought
Imagening all goodnes to deface,
To banyshe all truth and that to disgrace,
In no godly way set was his busy brayne,
For all wicked wayes he toke for hys gayne.

5

The wicked thus heaping his sinne on hye
Where by desert he might be forsake:
How meruelous O Lord is than thy mercy,
That from this world thy care thou dost not take,
Hye vp to heauen and clouds his course doth it make,
All men to feede both good and eke the bad,
Such faythfulnes euer thy promyse haue had.

6

Thy prouidence O God most meruelous,
To all men mortall is inscrutable,
More stable and hye then mountaynes hideous
More deepe then sea botomles, vnsearcheable
Be thy secret iudgements insuperable,
For not man only of thy power doth tast,
But brute beasts of thee also hath their repast.

7

Man might muse much O God this to expēd
But what earthly man could this matter tell,
How thou by thy hand doost all things defend,
In what bounty thy mercy doth excell,
How profound eke thou art in thy counsell,
Well Adams childern may well in thee trust,
Under thy good wings to be shadowed iust.

8

Who wil thy blessed word trust in faith sure,
They shalbe filled with all plenteousnes,
For thy store house is full of all pleasure
For thou geuest them to tast of thy sprits goodnes,
Whose swete welles they shall drynke by thy larges,
From whose bellyes shall lyuely water spring,
Others to refreshe to thy gloryfyeng.

9

For with the only be these welles of lyfe,
Of frayle men spring but podels of myre,
From whom sourdeth errour & croked strife,
In the only is that we can require,
Both lyght truth and lyfe to fill our desire,
For in thy lyght truely, lyght must we see,
Or els in all darkenes wrapt shall we dee.

10

Thy gentle goodnes O Lord impart,
To such as faythfully thy word do kepe,
Who know thee both wyse & merciful in hart,
That from day to day they may thy face seke,
For they to thee beare aright their hartes meke
Thy rightousnes they know & thy iudgements
Thy holy worde & eke thy commaundementes.

11

Since than the meke of hart be so at ease,
And proude be out of fauour all exilde:
Kepe me O Lord from pride their foule disease
For they haue both thee and thy worde reuylde
Let not my foote be in theyr steps begylde,
Kepe away from my soule their violence,
That they lay no hand vpon my pacience.

12

Thus depe musing with my selfe in a trance
Callyng to mynde the endes of good and bad:
Though they tweine here lead a life in distance
How the bad for hys myrth shall once be sad,
And the good for theyr woe shall once be glad,
How the nought shal be cast on the worse hand
then deemd I in fine, that truth shal sure stand.