Classic Poem

Now Israel
may say, and that truly,
If that the Lord
had not our cause maintain'd;
If that the Lord
had not our right sustain'd,
When cruel men
against us furiously
Rose up in wrath,
to make of us their prey;

Then certainly
they had devour'd us all,
And swallow'd quick,
for ought that we could deem;
Such was their rage,
as we might well esteem.
And as firece floods
before them all things drown,
So had they brought
our soul to death quite down.

The raging streams,
with their proud swelling waves,
Had then our soul
o'erwhelmed in the deep.
But bless'd be God,
who doth us safely keep.
And hath not giv'n
us for a living prey
Unto their teeth,
and bloody cruelty.

Ev'n as a bird
out of the fowler's snare
Escapes away,
so is our soul set free:
Broke are their nets,
and thus escaped we.
Therefore our help
is in the Lord's great name,
Who heav'n and earth
by his great pow'r did frame.