Scripture Verse

In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Thy righteousness. Psalm 31:1

Introduction

illustration
Nahum Tate
1652–1715

Words: From A New Ver­sion of the Psalms of Da­vid, by Na­hum Tate & Ni­cho­las Bra­dy, 1696.

Music: Free­port (Ro­bert­son), ar­ranged by Ro­bert B. Ro­bert­son, in Bi­ble Songs (Pitts­burgh, Penn­syl­van­ia: Unit­ed Pres­by­te­ri­an Board of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1879), num­ber 35 (🔊 pdf nwc)

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Ro­bert­son (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Defend me, Lord, from shame,
For still I trust in Thee:
As just and right­eous is Thy name,
From dan­ger set me free.

Bow down Thy gra­cious ear,
And speedy suc­cor send:
Do Thou my stead­fast rock ap­pear,
To shel­ter and de­fend.

Since Thou, when foes op­press,
My rock and fort­ress art,
To guide me forth from this dis­tress,
Thy wont­ed help im­part.

Release me from the snare
Which they have close­ly laid;
Since I, O God my strength re­pair
To Thee alone for aid.

To Thee, the God of truth,
My life, and all that’s mine
(For Thou pre­serv’dst me from my youth,)
I will­ing­ly resign.

All vain de­signs I hate,
Of those that trust in lies:
And still my soul, in ev­ery state,
To God for suc­cor flies.

Those mer­cies Thou hast shown,
I’ll cheer­ful­ly ex­press;
For Thou hast seen my straits, and know
My soul in deep dis­tress.

When Kei­lah’s trea­cher­ous race
Did all my strength en­close,
Thou gav’st my feet a larg­er space,
To shun my watch­ful foes.

Thy mer­cy, Lord, dis­play,
And hear my just com­plaint;
For both my soul and flesh de­cay,
With grief and hun­ger faint.

Sad thoughts my life op­press;
My years are spent in groans;
My sins have made my strength de­crease,
And e’en con­sumed my bones.

My foes my suf­fer­ings mocked,
My neigh­bors did up­braid;
My friends, at sight of me, were shocked,
And fled, as men dis­mayed.

Forsook by all am I,
As dead, and out of mind;
And like a shat­tered ves­sel lie,
Whose parts can ne’er be joined.

Yet slan­der­ous words they speak,
And seem my pow­er to dread;
Whilst they to­gether coun­sel take
My guilt­less blood to shed.

But still my stead­fast trust,
I on Thy help re­pose:
That Thou, my God, art good and just,
My soul with com­fort knows.

Whate’er events be­tide,
Thy wis­dom times them all:
Then, Lord, Thy ser­vant safe­ly hide
From those that seek his fall.

The bright­ness of Thy face,
To me, O Lord, dis­close;
And, as Thy mer­cies still in­crease,
Preserve me from my foes.

Me from dis­hon­or save,
Who still have called on Thee;
Let that, and si­lence in the grave,
The sin­ner’s por­tion be.

Do Thou their tongues re­strain;
Whose breath in lies is spent;
Who false re­ports, with proud dis­dain,
Against the right­eous vent.

How great Thy mer­cies are
To such as fear Thy name;
Which Thou, for those that trust Thy care,
Dost to the world pro­claim!

Thou keep’st them in Thy sight,
From proud op­press­ors free:
From tongues that do in strife de­light,
They are pre­served by Thee.

With glo­ry and renown
God’s name be ev­er blessed;
Whose love as Kei­lah’s well-fenced town
Was won­drous­ly ex­pressed!

I said, in has­ty flight,
I’m ban­ished from Thine eyes;
Yet still Thou keptst me in Thy sight,
And heardst my ear­nest cries.

O! all ye saints, the Lord
With ea­ger love pur­sue;
Who to the just will help af­ford,
And give the proud their due.

Ye that on God rely,
Courageously pro­ceed;
For He will still your hearts sup­ply
With strength, in time of need.