Psalm XC

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
In all the Changes [we have] past;
Unto thy wandring people thou
A [certain] guide and safety wast.

Before the mountains were brought forth,
And thou the [earth and] world didst frame,
In and to all Eternity
Thou art [true] God, [and] still the same.

Thou dost dissolve this frame of MAN,
By wasting age, and [chastning] pain;
And say'st unto them, Now return,
You [mortal] sons of men again.

The long time of a thousand years
Appeareth in thy [boundless] sight;
As yesterday when it is past,
And as a [hasty] watch by night.

From whence thou carryest them away
As things a [speedy] torrent doth:
They are asleep; and like the grass
[Which is] but of one morning's growth.

In that morning it flourisheth;
It quickly grows up [and is] green;
And in the evening it's cut down,
[And dead] and withered is seen.

For by thine anger for our sin
We are [from earth] consum'd and spent;
In grief and trouble pass our days,
Through thy [severe] just punishment.

For thou before thy dreadful face
Sett'st our [guilt and] iniquities;
Our secret sins are opened all
In [clearest] light before thine eyes.

Thus while thy righteous wrath we bear,
Our days do pass [away] and fail;
The years of this vain life we spend
As a short [transient] thought or tale.

Our age is threescore years and ten,
If [by strength] lengthened to fourscore,
That strength our labour doth prolong,
And [doth but] make our sorrows more.

It's soon cut off, and we are gone,
Who knows [aright] thy powerful wrath?
Thy anger we fear not in vain,
All sin some [penal] sorrow hath.

Lord teach us this most needful work,
[Aright] to number all our days;
That we to wisdom may apply
Our hearts without [secure] delays.

How long, Lord, shall we feel thy wrath?
[Return] revive us by thy grace;
Let it repent thee of our pains,
[And] pity thy [poor] servants case.

O let thy early mercy us
[Comfort] restore and satisfie,
That we may serve thee all our days
With gladness, and with [holy] joy.

According to the days wherein
[Thy sharp] affliction we have had;
As years of sorrow we have seen,
Let mercy [longer] make us glad.

O let thy work and power be shewn
Unto thy [humbled] servants now;
And let their Children by those works
Thy [saving] grace and glory know.

Adorn us with the beauty of
The [shining] glory of thy face;
Let our just works establish'd be,
[Bless and] maintain them by thy grace.