PSALM XCIV.

Tate and Brady

3, 4 How long, O Lord, shall sinful men
Their solemn triumphs make?
How long their wicked actions boast,
And insolently speak?

5, 6 Not only they thy saints oppress,
But unprovok'd they spill
The widow's and the stranger's blood,
And helpless orphans kill.

7 And yet the Lord shall ne'er perceive,
(Profanely thus they speak,)
Nor any notice of our deeds
The God of Jacob take.

8 At length, ye stupid fools, your wants
Endeavour to discern;
In folly will you still proceed,
And wisdom never learn?

9, 10 Can he be deaf, who form'd the ear?
Or blind, who fram'd the eye?
Shall earth's great Judge not punish those
Who his known will defy?

11 He fathoms all the thoughts of men,
To him their hearts lie bare;
His eye surveys them all, and sees
How vain their counsels are.

12 Bless'd is the man, whom thou, O Lord,
In kindness dost chastise,
And by thy sacred rules to walk
Dost lovingly advise.

13 This man shall rest and safety find
In seasons of distress,
Whilst God prepares a pit for those
That stubbornly transgress.

14 For God will never from his saints
His favour wholly take;
His own possession and his lot
He will not quite forsake.

15 The world shall then confess thee just
In all that thou hast done;
And those that choose thy upright ways
Shall in those paths go on.

16 Who will appear in my behalf
When wicked men invade?
Or who, when sinners would oppress,
My righteous cause shall plead?

17, 18, 19 Long since had I in silence slept,
But that the Lord was near,
To stay me when I slipt: when sad,
My troubled heart to cheer.

20 Wilt thou, who art a God most just,
Their sinful throne sustain,
Who make the law a fair pretence
Their wicked ends to gain?

21 Against the lives of righteous men
They form their close design;
And, blood of innocents to spill,
In solemn league combine.

22 But my defence is firmly plac'd
In God the Lord most high;
He is my rock, to which I may
For refuge always fly.

23 The Lord shall cause their ill designs
On their own heads to fall:
He in their sins shall cut them off;
Our God shall slay them all.