Psalm 13
Words: Isaac Watts
Note: there is also a Common Metre version on this page
Pleading with God under desertion.
1 How long, O Lord, shall I complain,
Like one that seeks his God in vain?
Canst thou thy face for ever hide,
And I still pray, and be denied?
2 Shall I for ever be forgot,
As one whom thou regardest not?
Still shall my soul thine absence mourn,
And still despair of thy return?
3 How long shall my poor troubled breast
Be with these anxious thoughts oppressed?
And Satan, my malicious foe,
Rejoice to see me sunk so low?
4 Hear, Lord, and grant me quick relief,
Before my death conclude my grief:
If thou withhold thy heav'nly light,
I sleep in everlasting night.
5 How will the powers of darkness boast,
If but one praying soul be lost!
But I have trusted in thy grace,
And shall again behold thy face.
6 Whate'er my fears or foes suggest,
Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;
My heart shall feel thy love, and raise
My cheerful voice to songs of praise.
Complaint under temptations of the devil.
1 How long wilt thou conceal thy face?
O God, how long delay?
When shall I feel those heav'nly rays
That chase my fears away?
2 How long shall my poor lab'ring soul
Wrestle and toil in vain?
Thy word can all my foes control,
And ease my raging pain.
3 See how the prince of darkness tries
All his malicious arts;
He spreads a mist around my eyes,
And throws his fiery darts.
4 Be thou my sun, and thou my shield,
My soul in safety keep;
Make haste, before mine eyes are sealed
In death's eternal sleep.
5 How would the tempter boast aloud
If I become his prey!
Behold, the sons of hell grow proud
At thy so long delay.
6 But they shall fly at thy rebuke,
And Satan hide his head;
He knows the terrors of thy look,
And hears thy voice with dread.
7 Thou wilt display that sov'reign grace,
Where all my hopes have hung;
I shall employ my lips in praise,
And vict'ry shall be sung.
