Scripture Verse

Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Psalm 58:1

Introduction

Words: From The Psal­ter (Pitt­sburgh, Penn­syl­van­ia: Unit­ed Pres­by­ter­ian Board of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1912), num­ber 156.

Music: Swan­wick James Lu­cas (1820–?) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Do ye, O men, speak right­eous­ness
And up­right judg­ment mete?
Nay, in your hearts is wick­ed­ness,
And in your hands de­ceit,
And in your hands de­ceit.

The wick­ed, from their ear­li­est days,
In sin are gone as­tray,
With fro­ward heart, in fool­ish pride,
From wis­dom turned away,
From wis­dom turned away.

The God of ven­geance will de­stroy
The wick­ed from His sight;
The Lord will bring to naught their pow­er
And scat­ter all their might,
And scat­ter all their might.

The good shall tri­umph and re­joice,
And this shall be con­fessed:
On earth the God of jus­tice reigns,
And right­eous­ness is blest,
And right­eous­ness is blest.