Version of Paraphrase of the Psalm, A - Psalm 10
1.
Say, Lord, why thus thy aiding pow'r
Deserts us in the needful hour,
Why clouds impervious, round thee roll'd,
Thy presence from our sight withhold.
2.
Shall impious men escape thy view,
While thus the guiltless they pursue?
O let them, by themselves chastis'd,
The ills sustain for Him devis'd, —
3.
No longer boast their mad desires,
And acts which headlong rage inspires,
Or joyous grasp their lawless gain,
And Thee, the soul's best wealth, disdain.
4.
Proud Wretch! who shuns o'er Nature's face
The footsteps of thy care to trace,
And Thee, th' all-potent Monarch, Thee
Denies, who gav'st himself to be.
5.
Behold, while, high above all height,
Thy Judgements, Lord, his distant sight
Elude, this Minister of woe
Blast with his breath each obvious foe;
6.
" See, proof to each assault I stand:
" What pow'r shall e'er my fear demand?
" What ill, to life's remotest day,
" Obstruct the tenour of my way? "
7.
His venom'd lips, with curses fraught,
Words ill according to his thought
Have utter'd, and beneath his tongue
Lurk fraud, and violence, and wrong.
8.
Beside the solitary way,
Intent the helpless poor to flay,
He waits, and with malignant eye
Insidious marks each passer by.
9.
As, couch'd within his bushy lair,
The lion fierce with hideous glare
Around him casts his wide survey,
And meditates the future prey, —
10.
So longs the man of blood to seize
The Souls that own thy just Decrees;
When planted with successful care,
His nets their captive feet insnare:
11.
What, Lord, his fury shall withstand,
Or save them from the murth'rous Band,
That, leagu'd in fin, assist his toil,
And share with him the guilty spoil?
12.
" Shall Heav'n's high Lord, he cries, descend
" The human actions to attend?
" The paths by Me at will persu'd
" His mem'ry and his thought elude. "
13.
Rise, mightiest Lord, and list thy hand,
Nor let the injur'd poor demand
Thy saving Aid with fruitless Pray'r,
But guard them by thy fost'ring Care.
14.
Why should the souls, who Thee defy,
With impious Tongue reproachful cry,
" 'Tis not within th' Almighty's plan
" To scrutinize the acts of Man? "
15.
What eyes, like thine, eternal Sire,
Through sin's obscurest depths inquire?
What Judge, like Thee, on Virtue's foes
The needful vengance can impose?
16.
The meek observer of thy Laws
To Thee commits his injur'd cause;
In Thee, each anxious fear resign'd,
The fatherless a Father find.
17.
O, break the arm of impious might;
So shall their threats no more excite
Our dread, nor thy offended eye
The triumphs of their guilt descry.
18.
Thine is the throne: Beneath thy reign,
Immortal King! the tribes profane
Behold their dreams of conquest o'er,
And vanish to be seen no more.
19.
Thou, Lord, thy People's wish canst read,
Ere from their lips the pray'r proceed;
'Tis thine their drooping hearts to rear,
And when they call incline thine car;
20.
'Tis Thine the Orphan's cheek to dry,
The guiltless Suff'rer's cause to try,
To rein each earthborn Tyrant's will,
And bid the Sons of Pride be still.
Say, Lord, why thus thy aiding pow'r
Deserts us in the needful hour,
Why clouds impervious, round thee roll'd,
Thy presence from our sight withhold.
2.
Shall impious men escape thy view,
While thus the guiltless they pursue?
O let them, by themselves chastis'd,
The ills sustain for Him devis'd, —
3.
No longer boast their mad desires,
And acts which headlong rage inspires,
Or joyous grasp their lawless gain,
And Thee, the soul's best wealth, disdain.
4.
Proud Wretch! who shuns o'er Nature's face
The footsteps of thy care to trace,
And Thee, th' all-potent Monarch, Thee
Denies, who gav'st himself to be.
5.
Behold, while, high above all height,
Thy Judgements, Lord, his distant sight
Elude, this Minister of woe
Blast with his breath each obvious foe;
6.
" See, proof to each assault I stand:
" What pow'r shall e'er my fear demand?
" What ill, to life's remotest day,
" Obstruct the tenour of my way? "
7.
His venom'd lips, with curses fraught,
Words ill according to his thought
Have utter'd, and beneath his tongue
Lurk fraud, and violence, and wrong.
8.
Beside the solitary way,
Intent the helpless poor to flay,
He waits, and with malignant eye
Insidious marks each passer by.
9.
As, couch'd within his bushy lair,
The lion fierce with hideous glare
Around him casts his wide survey,
And meditates the future prey, —
10.
So longs the man of blood to seize
The Souls that own thy just Decrees;
When planted with successful care,
His nets their captive feet insnare:
11.
What, Lord, his fury shall withstand,
Or save them from the murth'rous Band,
That, leagu'd in fin, assist his toil,
And share with him the guilty spoil?
12.
" Shall Heav'n's high Lord, he cries, descend
" The human actions to attend?
" The paths by Me at will persu'd
" His mem'ry and his thought elude. "
13.
Rise, mightiest Lord, and list thy hand,
Nor let the injur'd poor demand
Thy saving Aid with fruitless Pray'r,
But guard them by thy fost'ring Care.
14.
Why should the souls, who Thee defy,
With impious Tongue reproachful cry,
" 'Tis not within th' Almighty's plan
" To scrutinize the acts of Man? "
15.
What eyes, like thine, eternal Sire,
Through sin's obscurest depths inquire?
What Judge, like Thee, on Virtue's foes
The needful vengance can impose?
16.
The meek observer of thy Laws
To Thee commits his injur'd cause;
In Thee, each anxious fear resign'd,
The fatherless a Father find.
17.
O, break the arm of impious might;
So shall their threats no more excite
Our dread, nor thy offended eye
The triumphs of their guilt descry.
18.
Thine is the throne: Beneath thy reign,
Immortal King! the tribes profane
Behold their dreams of conquest o'er,
And vanish to be seen no more.
19.
Thou, Lord, thy People's wish canst read,
Ere from their lips the pray'r proceed;
'Tis thine their drooping hearts to rear,
And when they call incline thine car;
20.
'Tis Thine the Orphan's cheek to dry,
The guiltless Suff'rer's cause to try,
To rein each earthborn Tyrant's will,
And bid the Sons of Pride be still.
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