Psalm XXXIII

Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord rejoice,
For praise is lovely when a heart sincere
Inspires the lips, and tunes the grateful strain.
Awake the harp! awake the sounding lyre!
Let every string awake its tuneful power,
To aid the voice, and raise the sacred hymn!

Begin the song! the exalted theme demands
New strains of joy! let every charming sound
That art or nature knows awake to praise!
The word of God is sacred, just and right,
Inviolably firm, and all his works
With glorious evidence attest his truth.

In holiness and justice he delights,
And perfect rectitude is his alone.
Earth, fill'd with blessings from his bounteous hand,
Declares the boundless goodness of the Lord.
His potent word spread the wide arch of heaven;
The starry host obey'd the voice divine,
And instant kindled through the fair expanse.

He leads the waters through their sandy beds;
The waters own his hand, and to the sea
Obedient bring their congregated stores.
Let universal nature fear the Lord,
Let all the inhabitants of earth adore,
With awful reverence their Creator's name.

He spake! the sovereign mandate was obey'd;
Fix'd on his firm decree all nature stands.
The heathen nations, strangers to the Lord,
In vain their impious counsels would pursue;
In vain their deep contrivances are laid:
He sees and disappoints their idle schemes,
Which ere they take effect, are lost in air.

The counsel of the Lord shall stand for ever,
His sacred purposes be all fulfill'd,
And future ages witness to his truth.
How blest the nation who can call the Lord
Their God, their guardian friend! his chosen people,
His own inheritance; distinguish'd lot!

From heaven, where in eternal majesty
He sits enthron'd, his awful eye beholds
The sons of men; from his supreme abode
He views the inhabitants of this low world;
He made their hearts, he sees their every thought,
And weighs the various actions of their lives.

No powerful monarch by his numerous host
Surrounded, is preserv'd, if God withdraw
His kind protection; mortal strength is weak
In all its pride, and impotent to save.
In vain the warlike horse his aid supplies,
To speed his helpless, trembling master's flight;
Nor strength nor speed eludes pursuing fate.

But oh, with watchful eye, and tender care,
The Lord regards the souls that fear his name,
And on his sovereign mercy fix their hope:
He guards their lives from every deathful stroke.
Nor war shall hurt them, nor shall famine waste.
On him we wait, our God, our help, our shield;
On him with humble confidence depend:
In him our souls for ever shall rejoice;
For we have trusted in his holy name.

O be thy mercy, Lord, our constant trust,
Our blissful portion, mercy large and full,
Unbounded and immortal as our hopes!