Classic Poem

PSALM CVI.

Part I.

W ITH grateful hearts Jehovah's praise resound,
In goodness Great, Whose mercy hath no bound.
What language can express His mighty deeds,
Or utter His due praise which words exceeds?
Thrice blessed they who His commands observe,
Nor ever from the track of justice swerve.
Great God! O with benevolent aspect
(Ev'n with the love Thou bear'st to Thine elect)
Behold and succour; that my ravish'd eyes
May see a period of their miseries,
Who Thee adore; that I may give a voice
To Thy great acts, and in their joy rejoice.
We, as our fathers, have Thy grace exil'd,
Revolted, and our souls with sin defil'd.
They, of Thy miracles in Egypt wrought,
So full of fear and wonder, never thought;
Thy mercies, than their hairs in number more;
But murmur'd on the Erythraean shore.
Yet for His honour sav'd them from the foe,
That all the world His wondrous pow'r might know.
There the commanded sea asunder rent,
While Israel through his dusty channel went.
Whom He from Pharaoh and his army saves,
The swift-returning floods their fatal graves.

Part II.

Then they His word believ'd, and sung His praise;
Yet soon forgot, and wander'd from His ways.
Who long for flesh to pamper their excess,
And tempt Him in the barren wilderness.
He grants their wish, and, with a flight of fowls.
Sent meagre death into their hungry souls.
They Moses' gentle government oppose,
And envy Aaron whom the Lord had chose.
The yawning earth then in her silent womb
Did Dathan and Abiram's troops entomb.
A swiftly-spreading fire among them burns,
And those conspirators to ashes turns.
Yet they, the slaves of sin, in Horeb made
A calf of gold, and to an idol pray'd.
The Lord, their glory, thus exchanged they
For th' image of a beast that feeds on hay;
Forgot their Saviour, all His wonders shown
In Zoan, and the plains by Nile o'erflown;
The wonders acted by His pow'rful Hand,
Where the Red Sea obey'd His stern command.
God had pronounc'd their ruin: Moses then,
His servant Moses, and the best of men,
Stood in the breach which their rebellion made,
And by his pray'r the Hand of vengeauce stay'd.

Part III.

Yea they this fruitful Paradise despis'd,
Nor His so-oft confirmed promise priz'd,
But mutinied against their faithful guide,
And basely wish'd they had in Egypt died.
For this the Lord advanc'd His dreadful Hand,
To overthrow them on th' Arabian sand;
To scatter their rebellious seed among
Their foes, expos'd to poverty and wrong.
Besides, Baal-Peor they ador'd, and fed
On sacrifices offer'd to the dead.
Thus their impieties the Lord incense,
Who smote them with devouring pestilence.
But when with noble anger Phinees slew
The bold offenders, He His plagues withdrew.
This was reputed for a righteous deed,
Which should for ever consecrate his seed.
So they at Meribah His anger mov'd,
The sacred prophet for their sakes reprov'd.
Their cries his saint-like sufferance provoke,
Who rashly in his soul's distemper spoke,
Nor ever enter'd the affected land.
They, still rebellious to Divine Command,
Preserv'd those nations by His wrath subdu'd,
Mix'd with the heathen, and their sins pursu'd;
Their cursed idols serve with rites profane,
(Snares to their soul) and from no crime abstain.

Part IV.

Their sons and virgin-daughters sacrifice
To devils, and look on with tearless eyes.
Defil'd the land with innocent blood, which sprung
From their own loins on flaming altars flung.
Unto adulterate deities they pray'd,
And worshipped those gods their hands had made.
These crying sins exasperate the Lord,
Who now His own inheritance abhorr'd.
Giv'n up unto the heathen for a prey;
Slaves to their foes; who hate them most, obey.
Deliver'd oft; as oft His wrath provoke,
And with increasing sins renew their yoke.
Yet He compassionates their miseries,
And with soft pity hears their mournful cries.
His former promise calls to mind, relents,
And in His mercy of His wrath repents.
In savage hearts unknown compassion bred,
By whom but lately into thraldom led.
Great God of gods, Thy votaries protect,
And from among the barbarous re-collect!
That we to Thee may dedicate our days,
And jointly triumph in Thy glorious praise.
Blest, O for ever blest, be Israel's King:
All you His people, Hallelujah sing.
Amen, Amen .