Classic Poem

1.

Lord (for on Thee supported stand
My hopes,) O let thy aiding hand
The justice of my cause proclaim,
And save me from impending shame.

2.

Thy ear, thou Majesty divine,
Propitious to my pray'r incline:
Haste to my help, and let thy pow'r
My rock present and brazen tow'r:

3.

That rock, that tow'r, my God, in Thee,
Snatch'd from surrounding ills, I see;
Shew me thy path, and so thy Name
Shall praise and thanks perpetual claim.

4.

O let me, by thy counsel led,
That path with step unerring tread,
And, sav'd by thy preventive care,
Shake from my feet the broken snare.

5.

God of my strength, the Wise, the Just,
To Thee my spirit I intrust;
From Thee, when terrors clos'd me round,
My soul its full redemption found.

6.

My thoughts the self-deceiving train,
Enslav'd to superstitions vain,
Abhor, and 'midst increasing woes
Their confidence on Thee repose.

7.

Thy Mercy shall my thanks employ,
My constant theme, my highest joy;
For Thou, my soul by griefs pursu'd,
My state with pitying eye hast view'd.

8.

Thy hand, while rang'd in close array
Insulting hosts around me lay,
Gave to the wind their vain design,
And made the paths of freedom mine.

9.

Once more, my fight with inward grief
Consum'd, vouchsafe me thy relief,
Confess me thine, dispel the sighs
That in my heaving bosom rise;

10.

For while my soul its ceaseless pains
Deep through its inmost frame sustains,
Life's noon for eve exchang'd I bear,
And Age invited on by Care.

11.

The guilt that in my thought revolves
My strength impairs, my joints dissolves;
The scorn of Foes, and, keener yet,
The scorns of Friends, my soul beset:

12.

My former guests, if in their way
My wasted form they now survey,
With horror struck the sight forego,
And shun th' infection of my woe.

13.

With lonely step the earth I tread,
Forgotten as the silent Dead,
Or as the vase of meanest clay,
In useless fragments cast away.

14.

My same opprobrious tongues invade,
While terrors wrap me in their shade,
And crouds with meditated rage
Against my life their pow'rs engage.

15.

Yet see me, Lord, in Thee confide;
Thou art my God, my heart has cried;
From Thee my time its limit knows;
O save me from devouring foes.

16.

O let thy presence on me beam,
Thy clemency my life redeem,
Nor let me, Lord, the shame sustain
Thy aid to ask, and ask in vain.

17.

Theirs be the shame, thy pow'r who brave,
Nor cease their insults, till the grave,
Absorbing quick the guilty throng,
In endless silence seal their tongue:

18.

Such silence on their lips impose,
Whose words their pride-swoln heart disclose,
At Wisdom's Sons their malice aim,
And blast with lies the guiltless name.

19.

O, how shall All who seek thy Love
The fulness of thy bounty prove!
And teach th' admiring World to see
How blest the souls that trust in Thee!

20.

Thy Saints, while breath their life prolongs,
Sav'd by thy care from strife of tongues,
Shall see thy tabernacle spread
Its awful splendors o'er their head.

21.

Blest be the name of Jacob 's God,
Whose Love, in happiest hour bestow'd,
Has giv'n within my lot to fall
The strong-built City's guarding wall.

22.

Awhile, with uncollected mind,
As banish'd from thy sight, I pin'd;
But Thou thy Servant's pray'r hast heard,
In anguish of my heart prefer'd.

23.

Ye Souls devoted to his fear,
With thankful love your God revere,
Who wakes your chosen Train to guard,
And deals to Pride its just reward.

24.

Be strong, be stedfast: So your mind
From Him its full support shall find,
(Ye Saints that in his care confide,)
Nor own nor ask a help beside.