Classic Poem

1.

My grateful tongue, immortal King,
Thy Mercy shall for ever sing,
My verse to time's remotest day
Thy Truth in sacred notes display.

2.

That Mercy (thus thy Voice mine ear
Bespeaks,) on firmest base I rear;
That Truth in Heav'n my lips command
From age to age confirm'd to stand.

3.

My Love to Jesse 's Son reveal'd
Th' irrevocable Oath has seal'd;
Th' irrevocable Oath is sworn;
Nought shall my steady purpose turn.

4.

Blest Object of my choice! Thy Line,
Protected by the Hand divine,
In long descent thy Throne shall heir,
Nor rolling years their pow'r impair.

5.

Thy Acts, great God, Heav'n's lofty Seat
With awful wonder shall repeat;
Assembled Saints their voice shall raise,
And ev'ry tongue proclaim thy praise.

6.

O say, what strength shall vie with Thine?
What Name among the Seats divine,
Of equal excellence possess'd,
Thy sov'reignty, great God, contest?

7.

Ye Tribes that form his chosen Choir,
Let Israel 's God your fear inspire,
Ye Natives of each neighb'ring shore,
With prostrate hearts his pow'r adore.

8.

Thee, Lord, Heav'n's Hosts their Leader own;
Thee Might unbounded, Thee alone,
With endless majesty has crown'd,
And faith unsullied vests thee round.

9.

'Tis thine the Ocean's rage to guide,
And calm at will its swelling tide:
From Thee the deep-inflicted wound,
Her guilt's just portion, Egypt found;

10.

When, rang'd in fight, the lawless Band
Thy pow'r, presumptuous, durst withstand,
Each foe thine Arm beheld with dread,
And back in wild confusion fled.

11.

The Heav'n above, and Earth below,
Thee, Lord, their great Possessor know;
By Thee this Orb to being rose,
And All that Nature's bounds inclose.

12.

While Tabor 's brow, with ev'ning red,
And Eastern Hermon 's unshorn head,
Wide through their echoing groves thy name
In songs of grateful joy proclaim; —

13.

From Thee amid th'ethereal space
The North and South assume their place;
Strong is thine Arm; thy stedfast Will
Thy Hands with sure effect fulfil;

14.

While Justice, 'mid th' ethereal plain,
And Equity thy Throne sustain,
And white-rob'd Truth and Mercy fair
Thy steps precede, thy path prepare.

15.

O, Blest the Tribes, whose willing ear
Awakes the festal shout to hear;
Who thankful see, where'er they tread,
Thy fav'ring beams around them spread.

16.

How shall they joy from day to day
Thy boundless Mercy to display,
Thy Righteousness, indulgent Lord,
With holy confidence record.

17.

By blest experience taught to know
What blessings from thy Bounty flow!
Thy Strength their surest help they deem,
Thy Grace their dignity supreme!

18.

Behold, ye Saints, behold a Shield
In Israel 's aid by God upheld;
Behold exalted to the Throne
A King, whom He has seal'd his own.

19.

Thy Visions, Lord, from Heav'n reveal'd,
The raptur'd Prophet has beheld;
And thus thy Voice in awful strains
The purpose of thy Love explains.

20.

To One selected from thy Line
Thy safety, Jacob , I consign,
And, cloth'd with strength, before thy eyes
High o'er his Equals bid him rise.

21.

See David , prompt my will t' obey:
On Him th' important charge I lay,
And copious on his favour'd head
The consecrating unction shed.

22.

My hand shall hold him fast; my care
From each assault, from ev'ry snare,
Shall guard him; nigh me shall he stand
Safe from each proud Oppressor's hand.

23.

When hostile Crouds his wrath provoke,
With certain and resistless stroke
My Arm shall crush the impious train,
And load with slaughter'd heaps the plain.

24.

On Mercy and on Truth divine
Behold him (nor in vain) recline
His trust, and, by my strength upborne,
Aloft, exulting, lift the horn;

25.

While (such my Will) o'er subject Lands
In wide extent are stretch'd his hands;
Beneath his left the Ocean rolls,
His right th' Assyrian Flood controuls,

26.

Thou art my Father, (thus my Name
His lips, instinct with grateful flame,
Aloud shall hail;) My God in Thee,
And Rock of sure defence, I see.

27.

Him, pleas'd, my Firstborn I avow,
Bid mightiest Kings before him bow,
And Blessings to his reach expand,
Insur'd by Compact's sacred band.

28.

Transfer'd by Me from Sire to Son,
To Heav'n's extremest date his Throne
Shall last; if to my Laws his line,
With grateful zeal, their steps incline:

29.

But should their hearts reject my sway,
Fond in forbidden paths to stray,
My rod their trespass shall pursue,
My scourge their stubborn will subdue.

30.

Yet never, never, shall my Love
From Him its steady beams remove;
Ne'er shall my Truth forget to guard
The promise by my lips declar'd.

31.

To David , once, (nor need I more,)
Once by my Sanctity I swore,
That, cherish'd by my care, his Race
Thy Throne, O Judah , long shall grace;

32.

Long as the Sun, with welcome ray,
Shall warmth and life to Earth convey,
Or Thou, O Moon, in circuit wide
The witness of my Compact glide.

33.

Yet Ah! repuls'd, contemn'd, by Thee,
Th' Anointed of thy hand we see
No more thy plighted mercy share,
But, doom'd thy wrath, just God, to bear.

34.

With countless woes he strives: His Crown
Low in the dust by Thee is thrown;
No more his Forts ascend on high,
But, fall'n, in heapy ruins lie;

35.

No more his Walls the War exclude;
But passers-by with insult rude
His rights invade, and Nations round
His ear with keen reproaches wound.

36.

Behold while rang'd in close array
Insulting hosts around him stay,
Their hand by Thine uprais'd, each foe
Aims at his head the deathful blow;

37.

With fiercest joy their bosom burns,
While back with edge rebated turns
His sword, and, thy support withheld,
His vanquish'd legions quit the field.

38.

His pow'r extinct, his lustre gone,
On earth, subverted, lies his Throne:
Age on his Youth has stoln; and shame
With thickest cloud obscures his fame.

39.

How long shall I, with anguish torn,
Thy face, my God, averted mourn?
How long behold, in dire amaze,
Thy wrath with flames incessant blaze?

40.

O weigh within thy thought my State!
How frail my life! how short its date!
Why is thine Art employ'd in vain,
Or Man created but to pain?

41.

O leave not, Lord, my doubtful Mind
To sad inquietude resign'd,
While thus through varied scenes of woe
With hast'ning step to death we go.

42.

For who shall boast, of human frame,
Exemption from his doom to claim,
Or, arm'd with native might, withstand
The Sepulchre's rapacious hand?

43.

Say, where is now the Love, O where,
Which erst thy lips to David sware?
That Love, by Truth eternal seal'd,
Again to view, great Father, yield:

44.

O think what wrongs thy Servants bear,
Wrongs pour'd on Me in largest share,
As deep within my silent breast
Each offer'd insult I digest.

45.

Elate with pow'r, the nations round
My Ear with keen reproaches wound,
And impious Crouds his steps revile,
Whom Thou hast touch'd with sacred oil.

46.

O wife in all thy Works! thy Name
Let Man's whole Race aloud proclaim,
And, grateful, through the length of days,
In ceaseless songs repeat thy praise.