Of your anointed one. It is better to worship
One day with you than spend a thousand days
In the clamoring company of other people.
It is better to enter the house of God
As a humble servant than dwell in a palace 30
With many sinners. The Lord loves best
Compassionate people who are righteous in purpose.
God will bestow on them both grace and glory,
For he will never withhold any good thing
From the innocent heart. Blessed are those 35
Who seek for themselves the power and protection,
The might and mercy, of the eternal God.
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You have blessed the good land, gracious Lord,
And undone the cruel captivity of Jacob.
You have pardoned all your people for their sins,
Absolving them of their offenses. You withdrew your anger,
Sparing us your vengeance, relieving our fears. 5
Turn us around, O Lord and Savior,
Transform us, avert your anger from us,
Save us from the fury that stirs in your heart.
Do not carry forward with cruel intent
Your righteous wrath from generation to generation. 10
Turn us readily to you, Christ almighty—
Let all of your people rejoice in you.
Show us your mercy, O mighty Lord,
Offer us on earth an abundance of salvation.
Afterwards I will hear what the holy Lord 15
Wants me to hear in my deepest heart.
He fervently seeks peace for his people,
Particularly for those who search for him.
The Lord is close to those who come to him
With devout awe and reverent grace. 20
He offers them on earth a great glory.
The keenest virtues come to them—
Mighty justice and the spirit of mercy.
The love of peace embraces them—
A sense of family sustains them. 25
The richest truth rose up from the earth
While righteousness looked down from heaven.
The Lord will offer us grace and goodness,
And the earth will flourish and bear fruit.
Justice shall always walk before him, 30
Laying down his steps along the way.
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Incline your ear to me, holy Lord,
For I am poor and powerless. Hear me, Lord,
For I am anxious and in great need.
Protect my spirit, preserve my soul,
For I am holy. Save your servant, 5
For I trust in you. Have mercy on me, Lord,
For I have cried out fervently to you
Throughout the day with great longing.
Make the soul of your servant glad,
For I have often lifted it up to you. 10
You are kind and caring, my sovereign Lord,
Your mercy overflows to those who call on you.
Lend your ear, eternal Lord,
To my inmost prayer. Attend to my pleas,
As I call out to you again and again. 15
When torment and suffering darken my days,
And anxiety overwhelms me, I cry out to you,
For you listen to me with a loving spirit.
None of the gods anywhere on earth
Are remotely like you, my eternal Lord— 20
They could never make your unmatched works.
You alone created the generations of man,
All those who will worship you, Lord of glory.
They earnestly call out your name in need,
For you are the one almighty God, 25
Who alone is able to work wonders.
Lead me, Lord, in your chosen way,
And I will follow, walking in your truth.
My heart rejoices in awe and fear
When I hear and revere your holy name. 30
From now on I will acknowledge, O Lord,
With the deep intent of my whole heart
That you are the glorious one called God.
May we worship your name now and forever.
Your mercy is a mighty gift to me. 35
You have saved my soul from the dark abyss,
The pit where all the hell-demons dwell.
The wicked unjustly rise up against me—
They often assail me, my beloved Lord.
Savage men have come seeking my soul— 40
They set no stock in the fear of God.
But you, my Lord, are a God of mercy,
Kind and compassionate in all your works,
Patient and forbearing, resolute and righteous.
Look down on me, Lord—grant me your grace. 45
Lend your strength to your young servant.
Save, O Lord, your handmaiden’s son.
Show me a sign of your favor, Lord—
Make it manifest so that all my enemies
Who have hated me will see my advantage 50
And be truly confounded, stunned with shame.
For you have always been my steadfast help,
My sure consolation, my almighty Lord.
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His foundations hold up the holy mountains,
For the Lord has always loved the gates of Zion
More than the great houses of Jacob.
Glorious things are said about you, O Jerusalem,
That you are the loveliest of the Lord’s cities. 5
I remember also the splendors of Egypt—
Sometimes called Rahab, the sea-monster—
And the towers of Babylon, the two together.
Behold how the foreigners of Tyre
And Ethiopia, the sun-dwellers’ land, 10
Came and took up residence there.
Mother Zion first spoke the word “man,”
And man became glorious within her,
And he established her as the most exalted one
Anywhere on earth. Our Lord and Judge 15
Declared this in the writings of those wise ones
Who were foretellers for all of the people
Who have lived in Zion throughout the ages.
So the happiness of all of us having a homeland
Abides forever in you alone, Lord. 20
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You are my beloved savior, Lord.
I have called out to you secretly by day
And cried out to you longingly at night.
Let my prayer rise up to your listening ears,
My petition come before your watchful eyes, 5
For my soul is filled with sin and suffering,
And my life draws near the doors of hell.
Some people think in their merciless hearts
That I am numbered among those nearing the pit,
Perched on the edge of the dark abyss, 10
Destined to fall with the wicked souls.
I am just like those notorious men,
The fallen ones who consort with the dead,
Free but forgotten, lost in oblivion,
Cast cruelly into an open pit, 15
Driven out by the hand of God.
They laid me down in the dark realm
Where desolation and death’s shadow reigned.
There you revealed your wrath to me,
Turning my pernicious pride against me. 20
You drove away all my closest friends.
They left me alone in a desperate place,
Trapped in a torment I cannot escape.
My eyes are weak, my sight grows dim
From my dire want. I cry out fervently 25
All day long to the God of glory,
Lifting up my hands to you, O Lord.
The dead work no miracles, it’s true.
No doctor can revive them, raise them up
To acknowledge you, to confess to you. 30
; No one understands your words or wonders
In the country of forgetfulness. In that lost land,
No one knows what secret sleeps
In the abandoned heart. Can your truth be seen
At the edge of oblivion, your glory in the grave? 35
Can they know your wonders in the shadow-land?
Can they discover justice in the realm of the dead?
I called out fervently to you, eternal Lord,
In my secret soul. May my sincere prayer
Enter into your presence every morning. 40
Why did you want to deny my prayer,
Faithful Lord, or turn away your face
From me in this life. I am poor and ragged.
I’ve been bound to labor since I was born.
I was cradled and crushed, lifted up and let down, 45
Celebrated and scorned, but never confounded.
Fear of your anger has often oppressed me.
My dread of you now harrows my heart.
It comes in strange surges like dark waters.
You have driven away my dearest friends 50
And harassed everyone I’ve ever known,
Tormenting those who are left alive.
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Mighty God, I will sing of your mercy forever
To the race of men from generation to generation,
Declare with my mouth your steadfast faith,
Your righteous truth. For you have said to us
In well-known words that your gentle mind 5
And generous heart were established in heaven
Forever and ever for the children of men.
Your truth endures in your promising words:
“I have made a clear covenant for my chosen ones,
Showing how I wanted my testimony taken, 10
My witness worked out. I have sworn an oath
To my dearly beloved servant David
That I would establish for him and his descendants
A pleasing homeland with an untroubled throne
To sit upon and rule for succeeding generations.” 15
The heavens profess your wonders, Lord,
Your splendid marvels that will always endure,
Just as the holy ones in the church acclaim
Your truth and righteousness, raising their voices,
Singing your praise-songs now and forever. 20
Lord of hosts, no one in the world
Under the dome of heaven can be compared to you,
And no one in the future among the children of God
Will ever be in the least like you.
You are the God of glory, the Lord of hosts, 25
Revered by all, feared by all,
In an assembly of the wise, a high meeting
Of the holy ones. You are held in awe,
Mighty and fearsome over the children of men,
All those who exist across this earth. 30
You are God of hosts, almighty Lord,
Unmatched by any earthly power or presence.
Your steadfast truth is always around us.
You rule the seas with their raging waves;
When the storm-winds blow, you still the waters. 35
You humble the proud with wounds and woe,
Subdue your enemies with a righteous zeal,
The force of your presence and the power of your arm.
You control the heavens and the wide world,
The curve of creation, the circuit of earth. 40
You created the northern land and the sea,
Making Tabor and Hermon in your name.
They also raise up your right arm in force.
Let the high powers of your holy right hand
Be exalted over people, all nations on earth. 45
Your throne is prepared with truth and judgment.
Mercy and righteousness precede your presence.
Blessed are those who can praise your name—
They shall walk and live in the light of your countenance.
They shall dwell each day in joy and justice. 50
For you, O Lord, are the glory in their greatness—
We are made worthy through your care and compassion.
The eternal Lord will receive and shelter us
Along with the holy one, Israel’s king.
Then you will say openly to all your children: 55
“I will set myself up as a mighty help
To my cherished people whom I have chosen.
I have found a servant, my beloved David,
Whom I have anointed with holy oil
Consecrated here with my own hand. 60
I will support my servant with my steadfast arm
And make him mighty with unmatched power.
No treacherous enemy will ever harm him,
No fiendish enemy will bring him down.
No son of iniquity will injure him. 65
I will cut off his foes from his watchful eyes,
Scatter his attackers and put them to flight.
My truth and mercy taken together
Will greatly sustain him, and in my name
His vibrant horn will be raised in victory. 70
He will be a ruler exalted in power.
I will set his right hand to rule the rivers
And the deep sea-streams in his appointed land,
And he will call out to me, his trusted father:
‘Be for me, O Lord, my shield and defender, 75
The pledge and promise of eternal salvation.’
I will make him a ruler as the first-born one
And set him over the kings of the earth,
Where he shall reign, the most exalted of all.
I intend to keep my compassion for him 80
Forever and to bestow great power on him,
To strengthen my faithful, deserving witness
As part of my promise, my gracious purpose.
I will build him a great seat, a worthy throne,
Distinguished forever like the days of heaven 85
On earth among men. But if my children
Will not obey my laws, keep my commandments,
And honor my judgments in all of their deeds—
If they shamefully profane my laws,
Disregard my demands, and revile my justice— 90
I will punish their iniquity with a rod of terror,
Scourge them for their sins with a whip of dread.
I will not justifiably remove my mercy
But bestow my truth, as I have sworn my oath
To keep my holy covenant with David 95
And not deceive him in my words or deeds,
So he and his descendants will dwell here forever.
His throne will be worthy and set in my sight
Like the sun and moon, eternal witnesses
Of truth and trust, emblazoning heaven.” 100
But Lord, you rejected your anointed one,
Spurned and abandoned him in righteous anger;
You delayed and suspended your servant’s covenant
And profaned his sanctuary here on earth.
You ruined his ramparts, wasted his walls, 105
Sacking his stronghold, turning his hall
Into unbridled terror. Those who passed by,
Wayfaring strangers, attacked and demolished him,
Leaving him stunned, his reputation in shreds.
Now he has become a disgrace to his neighbors 110
Who reproach and scorn him. He reigns in shame.
You have lifted up the arms of his enemies,
Bringing a gift of battle-bliss to his foes.
You have unstrung his bow, unsharpened his sword,
Undone his aid in the heat of conflict. 115
You have darkened his splendor, sullied his purity,
Cast down his throne miserably in the dirt.
You have darkened his days and shortened his nights,
How long, O Lord, will you manifest your anger, 120
Unleash your wrath in a flaming rage?
Remember, O Lord, my poor existence
In this transient world. Surely you have not made
The children of men for an idle purpose.
Where is the one who draws a breath 125
And is full of life who will not meet death?
And where is the one who can save his own soul
From the terrible shackles of hell’s hold?
Where is the ancient, powerful mercy
That you promised to David and all mankind, 130
The covenant you swore to keep in truth?
Remember the reproach that your servants suffer,
Their scorn and shame when foreign peoples
From alien lands fabricate lies about them.
All of your enemies, eternal Lord, 135
Will endlessly taunt and torment them
And carry their reproach to your anointed one.
May the eternal Lord be blessed forever.
So be it. So be it.
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You are our shelter and sanctuary, Lord,
Our secure refuge from generation to generation.
Before all the great mountains were made
Or the circuit of the earth set in place—
Before the beginning, you are, God of glory. 5
Do not turn away your graciousness from man
Or remove humility from our human hearts.
For you yourself once clearly said,
“I shall transform the hearts and minds
Of the children of men.” In your eternal eyes 10
A thousand years are like yesterday’s passing,
Like the guards’ brief night-watch hour.
These passing years are next to nothing.
The morning fades away from its fullness
Like a withered plant. The next day 15
It blooms again, a beauty until evening
When it falls, fades, and dries into dust.
We are afflicted by your anger, razed by your wrath.
You have set our iniquities before your eyes.
You are the watcher who sees our sins, 20
Who created our world in the brilliant light
Of your bright countenance. But our days disappear,
Our world grows weary—everyone is weakened
By your righteous wrath. We fade and fall.
Our years go by like a web-walker, 25
A spider weaving its wisps of doom,
Eager to draw flies into its web.
The days of our years drift away,
A hastening sorrow, even a hundred of them.
If a strong man is lucky and lives to eighty, 30
His extra years will prove an affliction.
In old age we are overcome by weakness,
A mildness beyond caring, but in that bliss
The Complete Old English Poems Page 87