Psalm 95
Words: Isaac Watts
(Note, this page also contains Short Metre and Long
Metre versions
A Psalm before prayer.
1 Sing to the Lord Jehovah's name,
And in his strength rejoice;
When his salvation is our theme,
Exalted be our voice.
2 With thanks approach his awful sight,
And psalms of honor sing;
The Lord's a God of boundless might,
The whole creation's King.
3 Let princes hear, let angels know,
How mean their natures seem,
Those gods on high and gods below,
When once compared with him.
4 Earth, with its caverns dark and deep,
Lies in his spacious hand;
He fixed the seas what bounds to keep,
And where the hills must stand.
5 Come, and with humble souls adore,
Come, kneel before his face;
O may the creatures of his power
Be children of his grace!
6 Now is the time; he bends his ear,
And waits for your request;
Come, lest he rouse his wrath and swear,
"Ye shall not see my rest."
A Psalm before sermon.
1 Come, sound his praise abroad,
And hymns of glory sing;
Jehovah is the sov'reign God,
The universal King.
2 He formed the deeps unknown;
He gave the seas their bound;
The wat'ry worlds are all his own,
And all the solid ground.
3 Come, worship at his throne;
Come, bow before the Lord:
We are his works, and not our own;
He formed us by his word.
4 To-day attend his voice,
Nor dare provoke his rod;
Come, like the people of his choice,
And own your gracious God.
5 But if your ears refuse
The language of his grace,
And hearts grow hard, like stubborn Jews,
That unbelieving race;
6 The Lord, in vengeance dressed,
Will lift his hand and swear,
"You that despise my promised rest
Shall have no portion there."
v. 1--8, 6--11.
Canaan lost through unbelief; or, A warning to delaying sinners. 1 Come, let our voices join to raise
A sacred song of solemn praise;
God is a sov'reign King, rehearse
His honors in exalted verse.
2 Come, let our souls address the Lord,
Who framed our natures with his word;
He is our Shepherd; we the sheep
His mercy chose, his pastures keep.
3 Come, let us hear his voice to-day,
The counsels of his love obey;
Nor let our hardened hearts renew
The sins and plagues that Isr'el knew.
4 Isr'el, that saw his works of grace,
Yet tempt their Maker to his face;
A faithless, unbelieving brood,
That tried the patience of their God.
5 Thus saith the Lord: "How false they prove
Forget my power, abuse my love!
Since they despise my rest, I swear,
Their feet shall never enter there."
6 Look back, my soul, with holy dread,
And view those ancient rebels dead;
Attend the offered grace to-day,
Nor lose the blessing by delay.
7 Seize the kind promise while it waits,
And march to Zion's heav'nly gates:
Believe, and take the promised rest;
Obey, and be forever blessed.
