Scripture Verse

O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee. Psalm 84:12

Introduction

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: Bu­rton & Briggs, 1818), num­ber 738t. In Time of Sick­ness.

Music: Mis­sion­ary Chant Hein­rich C. Zeu­ner, 1832 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Bed­dome or Zeu­ner (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Bless’d is the man whose con­fi­dence
Is fixed on God, his strong de­fense;
Midst dang­ers he shall dwell se­cure,
And view eter­nal bless­ings sure.

Though pes­ti­len­tial va­pors spread
Their bale­ful in­flu­ence o’er his head,
Though nox­ious fumes in­fect the air,
Fearless he breathes, and safe­ly there.

Though thick the ar­rows round him fly,
And thou­sands sick­en, thou­sands die;
Unawed he hears ex­pir­ing groans,
And God’s pre­serv­ing good­ness owns.

Or if co­mmis­sioned, the di­sease,
Among the rest, the Chris­tian seize;
E’en then his trem­bling lips re­joice,
And death but ele­vates his voice.