Scripture Verse

I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:1–2

Introduction

illustration
Nahum Tate (1652–1715)

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

Music: He Lead­eth Me Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry, Gold­en Cen­ser (New York 1864) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
William B. Bradbury (1816–1868)

Lyrics

No change of time shall ev­er shock
My firm af­fec­tion, Lord, to Thee;
For Thou hast al­ways been a rock,
A fort­ress and de­fense to me.
Thou my de­liv­er­er art, my God;
My trust is in Thy migh­ty pow­er:
Thou art my shield from foes abroad;
At home, my safe­guard and my tow­er.

To Thee I will ad­dress my pray­er,
To whom all praise we just­ly owe;
So shall I, by Thy watch­ful care,
Be guard­ed safe from ev­ery foe.
Let the eter­nal Lord be praised,
The rock on whose defense I rest:
O’er highest heavens His name be raised,
Who me with His sal­va­tion blest.