Classic Poem

1.

To Thee, great God, my soul shall rise;
On Thee my stedfast mind relies;
O save me, Lord, from shame and woe,
And blast the triumphs of my foe.

2.

Nor shame nor woe the heart attends,
Whose trust on Jacob 's God depends:
But grief, confusion, doubt, and fear
The souls that rashly sin shall tear.

3.

Thy paths, blest Source of light, display,
And teach my doubting steps thy way.
God of my health, from morn to eve
In Thee my hopes have learn'd to live:

4.

O lead me in thy truth, and store
My heart with thy celestial lore;
Thy mercy, Lord, recall to mind,
Whose beams from earliest age have shin'd.

5.

O let oblivion's thickest veil
Th' offences of my youth conceal,
That I with Them my lot may bear,
Whose souls thy kind remembrance share.

6.

Good, Lord, and just art Thou; thy Love
Returning Sinners joy to prove,
And led by thy auspicious ray
Correct the error of their way.

7.

In Thee shall each of humble mind
The Friend and sure Instructor find,
And each, whose trust on Thee is plac'd,
Shall happiness perpetual taste;

8.

Thus, while the dictates of thy Law,
His thoughts to full obedience awe,
With joy thy paths the Just shall tread,
By Mercy and by Truth outspread.

9.

Thy wonted pity, Lord, impart,
While in the anguish of my heart
The burthen of my guilt I own,
And humbled bow before thy Throne.

10.

Ye Souls that to his fear incline,
Secure to God your steps resign,
And learn from his directing hand
What path may best your choice demand.

11.

How blest, thy precepts, Lord, who knows!
As o'er Life's pilgrimage he goes,
See Peace and Safety nightly spread
Their tent around his favour'd head:

12.

See, rang'd in fair descent, his line
The lot which thy Decrees assign
Divide, and, long as time shall last,
The blessings of thy Bounty taste.

13.

Who bow to Thee th' attentive ear,
The secrets of thy will shall hear;
Thy Compact, Lord, to such reveal'd,
Shall light and heav'nly transport yield.

14.

Wrapt in the hostile snare I lie,
Yet lift to Thee th' expecting eye,
Till thou my full relief decree,
And bid my captive soul go free.

15.

O turn thee, Lord, in pity turn,
Behold me helpless and forlorn;
See various griefs my heart oppress;
My wants supply, my wrongs redress;

16.

O let me thy attention win,
And seal the pardon of my sin;
For who like Thee with quick'ning ray
Can chase each cloud of grief away.

17.

While factious Crouds around me wait,
Inflam'd with rage, and impious hate,
Stretch to my aid the arm of pow'r,
And guard me in the dang'rous hour.

18.

Let not my soul, on Thee reclin'd,
Its sorrows utter to the wind;
Let Truth and spotless Innocence
Their succours to my heart dispense.

19.

Indulgent to my pray'r, with Mine
My Country's wish'd deliv'rance join;
God of my hope, thy Love disclose,
And heal, O heal, thy People's woes.