Classic Poem

With God the Lord, most great and high;
Dominion is and fear:
He peace preserves above the sky
And regions of the air.

Though numberless his armies are,
The creatures all his hosts,
Yet never was a God of war,
But still of peace, he boasts.

On whom does not his light arise?
His goodness unto all
Extends, like to his watchful eyes,
Inspecting great and small.

Wide as the universe, ev'n so
Hath God his table spread;
And all his creatures, high and low,
Still at his cost are fed.

Since on his pow'r and goodness great
We evermore depend,
And can do nothing as a debt,
Without a lie pretend:

If we shall murmur and complain,
It is without a cause,
When he his gifts resumes again,
But not our right withdraws.

Besides, our great and heinous crimes,
By which we Heav'n provoke,
Expose us justly, many times,
To his revenging stroke.

Who then of mankind can before
His high tribunal stand,
Plead guiltless; and, on justice score,
His law-discharge demand?

To being 'mong the tainted race
Can man untained pass,
And clean escape the leaven base,
That does infect the mass?

Sun, moon, and stars, the torches bright,
That beautify the sky,
Are stain'd, and spotted in the sight
Of God's all-searching eye.

O then! since this omniscient God
Does human actions scan,
What num'rous stains, both deep and broad,
Must he discern in man!

In man, a vitious worm, whose lust
'Gainst heav'n incessant spurns;
A worthless worm, who back to dust
And putrefaction turns!