Psalms 56-58

Psalm 56

1 GOD counts the sorrows of His saints, Their groans affect His ears;

Thou hast a book for my complaints, A bottle for my tears.

2 When to Thy throne I raise my cry, The wicked fear and flee: So swift is prayer to reach the sky; So near is God to me.

3 In Thee, most holy, just and true, I have reposed my trust; Nor will I fear what man can do, The offspring of the dust.

4 Thy solemn vows are on me, Lord;

Thou shalt receive my praise:

I'll sing, "How faithful is Thy word;

How righteous all Thy ways!"

5 Thou hast secured my soul from death;

Oh set Thy prisoner free That heart and hand, and life and breath, May be employ'd for Thee.

Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 57

1 MY God, in whom are all the springs Of boundless love and grace unknown, Hide me beneath Thy spreading wings, Till the dark cloud is overblown.

2 Up to the heavens I send my cry; The Lord will my desires perform;

He sends His angels from the sky, And saves me from the threatening storm.

3 Be thou exalted, O my God, Above the heavens, where angels dwell;

Thy power on earth be known abroad, Ana land to land Thy wonders tell.

4 My heart is fix'd, my song shall raise Immortal honours to Thy name;

Awake my tongue, to sound His praise, My tongue, the glory of my frame.

5 High o'er the earth His mercy reigns, And reaches to the utmost sky; His truth to endless years remains, When lower worlds dissolve and die.

6 Be Thou exalted, O my God, Above the heavens, where angels dwell;

Thy power on earth be known abroad, And land to land Thy wonders tell.

Isaac Watts, 1719.

Psalm 58

1 LORD, make my conversation chaste, And all my understanding purge, Lest with the wicked throng I haste And down to hell my pathway urge.

2 They from the womb are all estranged, The serpent's poison fills each vein, They're not by wise persuasion changed, But like the adder deaf remain.

3 As lions' teeth the hunters break; As angry torrents soon are dry; So shall Thy bow swift vengeance take Upon the proud who truth defy.

4 As melts the snail with slimy trail; As thorns consume in rapid blaze;

Before Thy wrath Thy foes shall fail, Thy whirlwinds shall their souls amaze.

5 O God, Thou judgest all the earth, Thy justice cheers my cleansed heart;

Restrain my soul from sinners' mirth, Lest in their doom I hear a part.

Charles H. Spurgeon, 1866.