PSALM XXXIX.

Tate and Brady

2 Like one that's dumb I silent stood,
And did my tongue refrain
From good discourse; but that restraint
Increas'd my inward pain.

3 My heart did glow with working thoughts,
And no repose could take,
Till strong reflection fann'd the fire,
And thus at length I spake:

4 Lord, let me know my term of days,
How soon my life will end;
The num'rous train of ills disclose,
Which this frail state attend.

5 My life, thou know'st, is but a span,
A cipher sums my years;
And ev'ry man, in best estate,
But vanity appears.

6 Man like a shadow vainly walks,
With fruitless cares oppress'd;
He heaps up wealth, but cannot tell
By whom 'twill be possess'd.

7 Why then should I on worthless toys
With anxious care attend?
On thee alone my steadfast hope
Shall ever, Lord, depend.

8, 9 Forgive my sins, nor let me scorn'd
By foolish sinners be;
For I was dumb, and murmur'd not,
Because 'twas done by thee.

10 The dreadful burden of thy wrath
In mercy soon remove;
Lest my frail flesh too weak to bear
The heavy load should prove.

11 For when thou chasten'st man for sin
Thou mak'st his beauty fade,
(So vain a thing is he,) like cloth
By fretting moths decay'd.

12 Lord, hear my cry, accept my tears,
And listen to my pray'r;
Who sojourn like a stranger here,
As all my fathers were.

13 O spare me yet a little time,
My wasted strength restore;
Before I vanish quite from hence,
And shall be seen no more.