O Lord, That Art My Righteous Judge

O Lord

that art my right­eous judge

To my com­plaint give ear;

Thou still re­deem’st me from dis­tress;

Have mer­cy

Lord

and hear.

How long will ye

O sons of men

To blot my fame de­vise?

How long your vain de­signs pur­sue

And spread ma­li­cious lies?

Consider that the right­eous man

Is God’s pe­cu­liar choice;

And when to Him I make my pray­er

He al­ways hears my voice.

Then stand in awe of His com­mands

Flee ev­ery thing that’s ill;

Commune in pri­vate with your hearts

And bind them to His will.

The place of oth­er sac­ri­fice

Let right­eous­ness sup­ply;

And let your hope

se­cure­ly fixed

On God alone re­ly.

While world­ly minds im­pa­tient grow

More pros­per­ous times to see

Oh! let the glo­ries of Thy face

Shine bright­er

Lord

on me!

So shall my heart o’er­flow with joy

More last­ing and more true

Than theirs

pos­sessed of all that they

So ea­ger­ly pur­sue.

Then down in peace I’ll lay my head

And take my need­ful rest:

No oth­er guard

O Lord

I crave

Of Thy de­fense pos­sessed.

Lord of my life

my hopes

my joys

My nev­er fail­ing friend

Thou hast been all my help till now

Oh! help me to the end!