Classic Poem

In thee, O righteous Lord, I lay
The ground of all my creed;
Let not confusion disarray
My well form'd thoughts, but as I pray
My soul unto her safety speed

From heaven's interior shrine mature
Thy favourable aid;
Admission there let me procure,
In condescension to the poor,
When his remonstrances are made.

Be thou my bulwark to defend,
Like some strong bastion's mole,
That every sense of fear may end,
When on thy succour I depend,
To shield my body and my soul.

For thou art my munition strong,
And citadel of might;
Be my companion and my song,
To lead me safe thro' life along,
And for thy name's sake set me right.

Extract my soul from out the net,
Which they with secret spleen,
And as each other they abet,
With joint antipathy have set,
For on thy mighty pow'r I lean.

To thy good keeping I commit
My spirit, as is due,
For thou shalt of her sins acquit,
And save my soul from out the pit,
O Lord, thou God supremely true.

I scorn the fools that put their trust
In superstitious craft;
That worship vanities and lust,
And bow themselves before a bust,
But to the Lord my sighs I waft.

I will with joy and gladness hail
Thy charitable care;
Thou'st put my troubles in thy scale,
And made thy mercies countervail,
My tottering fabrick to repair.

Thou hast not given me up, nor bound
Within the stranger's hand,
Nor in the streights hast run aground
My vessel, but secure and sound
Hast brought her to a spacious land

Lord, let thy beams of mercy shine,
For terror and distaste,
And every bitter woe is mine;
My eyes to see such objects pine,
Yea both my flesh and spirit waste.

My life within my veins is cold
With heaviness and tears,
And I with mourning am grown old,
Ere yet succeeding times have roll'd
The stated complement of years.

My strength my wasting frame forsakes
Thro' sin and rank abuse;
Each member with convulsion shakes,
My bones with various pains and aches
Are robb'd of their nutricious juice.

My name was nam'd as a reproof,
That neither friend nor foes,
Nor neighbours came beneath my roof,
And my companions kept aloof,
As other company they chose

The world have all my deeds forgot,
And I am in the place
Of one, whose memory is not,
Whose body damps sepulchral rot,
And like an useless broken vase.

For I have heard the godless crowd
In blasphemy and strife,
And fear on every side's avow'd,
While fraud and faction are allow'd
To meet, and scheme against my life.

But thou, Lord, art my corner-stone,
I put my trust in thee,
And I thine omnipresence own,
O Christ, thou art my God alone,
To whom I bow the faithful knee.

In thy dispose is every hour
Of mine allotted time;
Save me from their confed'rate pow'r
Whose bands with steadfast malice show'r
Their darts, and from rebellion's crime.

Thy lustrous countenance reveal,
My watchings to reward,
And by thy gracious mercies heal
The cruel agonies I feel,
Thro' Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord.

O Lord, let no foul shame abash
The man that pays his vows,
But rather let confusion dash
The wicked, profligate and rash,
And thus a sense of guilt arouse.

The lying lips, O Lord, refrain,
That in despite extream,
And cruelty and sour disdain,
First take their Saviour's name in vain,
Then all his righteous sons blaspheme.

O how abundant is the store
Thy bounteous love provides
For all that thy commands adore,
Ere yet the course of life is o'er,
With wealth, and bliss in heav'n besides.

Thou in thy bosom shall protect
Their souls from kindling ire,
And to their peace have such respect,
That in thine house thou shalt select
A place for virtue to retire

With thankful heart and willing mind,
I will the Lord renown,
Because he has been loving kind,
And to my need a fort assign'd
Within a strong redoubted town.

In that precipitate pursuit,
When I was forc'd to fly,
I said my pray'r has cast its fruit;
The Lord will not my strength recruit,
Nor watch me with his gracious eye.

Yet not the less thou didst accept
The voice that I preferr'd;
Thou heardst the cries with which I wept,
And God amidst my doubtings kept
The purpose of his holy word.

O love the Lord all ye his sons,
On whom his angels smile;
For God preserves the man that runs
His race with faithfulness, and shuns
The commerce of the proud and vile.

Be strong and of a manly heart,
Ye champions of the cause,
And God new courage shall impart,
To parry every sword and dart
From those that triumph in his laws.