The Psalms of David ‎#CXLIII

CXLIII. Complaint of heavy afflictions in mind and body

1 My righteous Judge, my gracious GOD!
Hear when I spread my hands abroad
And cry for succour from thy throne;
O make thy truth and mercy known.

2 Let judgment not against me pass:
Behold thy servant pleads thy grace;
Should justice call us to thy bar,
No man alive is guiltless there.

3 Look down in pity, LORD, and see
The mighty woes that burden me:
Down to the dust my life is brought,
Like one long bury'd and forgot.

4 I dwell in darkness and unseen;
My heart is desolate within:
My thoughts in musing silence trace
The ancient wonders of thy grace.

5 Thence I derive a glimpse of hope,
To bear my sinking spirits up;
I stretch my hands to GOD again,
And thirst like parched lands for rain.

6 For thee I thirst, I pray, I mourn;
When will thy smiling face return?
Shall all my joys on earth remove;
And GOD for ever hide his love?

7 My GOD, thy long delay to save,
Will sink thy pris'ner to the grave;
My heart grows faint, and dim mine eye;
Make haste to help before I die.

8 The night is witness to my tears,
Distressing pains, distressing fears;
O might I hear thy morning voice,
How would my weary'd pow'rs rejoice.

9 In thee I trust, to thee I sigh,
And lift my heavy soul on high;
For thee sit waiting all the day,
And wear the tiresome hours away.

10 Break off my fetters, LORD, and show
The paths in which my feet should go;
If snares and foes beset the road,
I'll flee to hide me near my GOD.

11 Teach me to do thy holy will,
And lead me to thy heav'nly hill;
Let the good Spirit of thy love
Conduct me to thy courts above.

12 Then shall my soul no more complain,
The tempter then shall rage in vain;
And flesh that was my foe before,
Shall never vex my spirit more.

Text Information

• First Line: My righteous Judge, my gracious GOD!
• Title: Complaint of heavy afflictions in mind and body
• Meter: Long Metre
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1780
• Scripture:
  Psalm 143

Tune Information

(No tune information)