6 The virtue of his sovereign word
Restores our fainting breath;
For silent graves praise not the Lord,
Nor is he known in death.
THIRD VERSION. V. 1-7.
I IN mercy, not in wrath, rebuke
Thy feeble worm, my God!
My spirit dreads thine angry look,
And trembles at thy rod.
2 Have mercy, Lord, for I am weak;
Regard my heavy groans:
O let thy voice of comfort speak,
And heal my broken bones.
3 By day, my busy beating head
Is filled with anxious fears;
By night, upon my restless bed
I weep a flood of tears.
4 Thus I sit desolate and mourn,
Mine eyes grow dull with grief:
How long, my Lord, ere thou return,
And bring my soul relief!
50 come, and show thy power to save,
And spare my fainting breath;
For who can praise thee in the grave,
Or sing thy name in death?
FOURTH VERSION. V. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9.
1 GENTLY, gently, lay thy rod
On my sinful head, O God!
Stay thy wrath, in mercy stay,
Lest I sink beneath its sway.
2 Heal me, for my flesh is weak;
Heal me, for thy grace I seek;
This my only plea I make,-
Heal me for thy mercy's sake.
3 Who within the silent grave
Shall proclaim thy power to save?
Lord, my sinking soul reprieve!
Speak, and I all rise and live
4 Lo! he comes-he heeds my plea!
Lo! he comes-the shadows flee!
Glory round me dawns once more;
Rise, my spirit, and adore.
FIRST VERSION. V. 1-6.
God's care and vindication of his people.
1 MY trust is in my heavenly friend,
My hope in thee, my God;
Rise, and my helpless life defend
From those that seek my blood.
2 With insolence and fury they
My soul in pieces tear,
As hungry lions rend the prey
When no deliverer 's near.
3 If I have e'er provoked them first,
Or once abused my foe,
Then let him tread my life to dust,
And lay mine honor low.
4 If there were malice hid in me-
I know thy piercing eyes-
I should not dare appeal to thee,
Nor ask my God to rise.
5 Arise, my God, lift up thy hand,
Their pride and power control;
Awake to judgment, and command
Deliverance for my soul.
SECOND VERSION. V. 8-10.
God the righteous Judge of all.
1 THE Lord is Judge: before his throne
All nations shall his justice own:
O may my soul be found sincere.
And stand approved, with courage there
2 The Lord, in righteousness arrayed,
Surveys the world his hands have made;
Pierces the heart, and tries the reins,
And judgment from on high ordains.
3 My God, my shield! around me place
The shelter of the Saviour's grace:
Then, when thine arm the just shall save,
My life shall triumph o'er the grave.
FIRST VERSION. V. 1, 3, 4, 8.
God's condescension to man
1 O LORD, our heavenly King,
Thy name is all divine
Thy glories round the earth are spread,
And o'er the heavens they shine.
2 When to thy works on high
I raise my wondering eyes,
And see the moon, complete in light,
Adorn the darksome skies:-
3 When I survey the stars
And all their shining forms;-
Lord, what is man, that worthless thing,
Akin to dust and worms?
4 Lord, what is worthless man,
That thou should'st love him so?
Next to thine angels is he placed,
And lord of all below.
5 How rich thy bounties are!
How wondrous are thy ways!
Of meanest things thy power can frame,
A monument of praise.
6 O Lord, our heavenly King,
Thy name is all divine;
Thy glories round the earth are spread,
And o'er the heavens they shine.
SECOND VERSION. V. 1-5, 9.
Christ's condescension, and glorification.
O LORD, our Lord, how wondrous great
Is thine exalted name!
The glories of thy heavenly state
Let men and babes proclaim.
2 When I behold thy works on high, The moon that rules the night, And stars that well adorn the sky, Those moving worlds of light:3 Lord, what is man, or all his race, Who dwells so far below,
That thou should'st visit him with grace
And love his nature so?
4 That thine eternal Son should bear
To take a mortal form,
Made lower than his angels are,
To save a dying worm!
5 Let him be crowned with majesty,
Who bowed his head to death;
And be his honors sounded high,
By all things that have breath.
6 Jesus, our Lord, how wondrous great
Is thine exalted name!
The glories of thy heavenly state,
Let the whole earth proclaim.
THIRD VERSION. V. 1, 5-9.
Christ's condescension, and glorification
1 O LORD, our Lord, in power divine,
How great is thy illustrious name!
Through all the earth thy glories shine,
Placed high above the heavenly frame.
2 Down from his throne thy Son descends
A little time our form to wear:
Beneath th' angelic hosts he bends,
Our sufferings and our guilt to bear.
3 But, lo! thy power exalts him high,
In glorious dignity enthroned!
He bears our nature to the sky,
O'er all thy works the ruler crowned.
4 Jesus, the man, in glory sits,
Creation at his feet obeys:
To him each living tribe submits,
Natives of earth, or air, or seas.
5 Jesus, our Lord, in power divine,
How great is thy illustrious name!
Through all the earth thy glories shine,--
Let the whole earth resound thy fame!
FOURTH VERSION. V. 1, 2.
Children praising God.
1 ALMIGHTY Ruler of the skies,
Through the wide earth thy name is spread, And thine eternal glories rise,
O'er all the heavens thy hands have made.
2 To thee the voices of the young
Triumphant notes of honor raise;
And babes, with uninstructed tongue,
Declare the wonders of thy praise.
3 Thy power assists their tender age
To bring proud rebels to the ground,
To still the bold blasphemer's rage,
And all their policy confound.
4 Children amid thy temple throng
To see their great Redeemer's face,
The Son of David is their song,
And young hosannas fill the place.
5 The frowning scribes and angry priests
In vain their impious cavils bring:
Revenge sits silent in their breasts,
While Jewish babes proclaim their King.
Adam and Christ, lords of the old and new creation.
1 LORD, what was man when made at first,
Adam, the offspring of the dust,
That thou shouldst set him and his race,
But just below an angel's place ;-
2 That thou shouldst raise his nature so,
And make him lord of all below,
Make every beast and bird submit,
And lay the fishes at his feet?
3 But O! what brighter glories wait
To crown the second Adam's state!
What honors shall thy Son adorn,
Who condescended to be born!
4 See him below his angels made,
See him in dust among the dead,
To save a ruined world from sin:
Yet he shall reign with power divine.
6 The world to come, redeemed from all
The miseries that attend the fall,
New made, and glorious, shall submit
At our exalted Saviour's feet
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