Classic Poem

O God, thy gracious ear apply,
And keep me from despair,
Look down upon my streaming eye,
Give audience to the bursting sigh,
Which interrupts my plaintive pray'r.

Where'er on earth I pitch my tent,
I will thy name invoke,
To sooth me when my strength is spent,
And toilsome heaviness has bent
My heart and members to her yoke.

O land me on some rocky shore
Above my helpless height;
Thou art my hope from long before,
The fortress that mine eyes explore,
As spoilers for my shipwreck wait.

I will within thy temple dwell
And there for ever sing;
There likewise all the choir compell,
For mine infirmities are well
Beneath the shadow of thy wing.

For thou, O righteous Lord, hast heard
My soul's supreme desires;
And hast in covenant appear'd
To those that have thy name rever'd,
And act as thy blest word inspires.

Thou shalt unto thy king extend
The number of his days,
So that his reign shall have no end,
And to his years thou shalt commend
The lot of everlasting praise.

He shall before God's face abide
In sempiternal youth,
O thou whose hosts in heav'n reside,
For his reception there provide
Thy loving mercy—and thy truth.

So shall I never cease to bless
The glory of thy name,
To that in penitence confess,
To that in gratitude address,
By goodly pride and honest shame.