Scottish Psalter and Paraphrases

Psalms

Psalm 1

That man hath perfect blessedness,

who walketh not astray

In counsel of ungodly men,

nor stands in sinners’ way,

Nor sitteth in the scorner’s chair:

But placeth his delight

Upon God’s law, and meditates

on his law day and night.

He shall be like a tree that grows

near planted by a river,

Which in his season yields his fruit,

and his leaf fadeth never:

And all he doth shall prosper well.

The wicked are not so;

But like they are unto the chaff,

which wind drives to and fro.

In judgment therefore shall not stand

such as ungodly are;

Nor in th’ assembly of the just

shall wicked men appear.

For why? the way of godly men

unto the Lord is known:

Whereas the way of wicked men

shall quite be overthrown.

Psalm 2

Why rage the heathen? and vain things

why do the people mind?

Kings of the earth do set themselves,

and princes are combin’d,

To plot against the Lord, and his

Anointed, saying thus,

Let us asunder break their bands,

and cast their cords from us.

He that in heaven sits shall laugh;

the Lord shall scorn them all.

Then shall he speak to them in wrath,

in rage he vex them shall.

Yet, notwithstanding, I have him

to be my King appointed;

And over Sion, my holy hill,

I have him King anointed.

The sure decree I will declare:

The Lord hath said to me,

Thou art mine only Son; this day

I have begotten thee.

Ask of me, and for heritage

the heathen I’ll make thine;

And, for possession, I to thee

will give earth’s utmost line.

Thou shalt, as with a weighty rod

of iron, break them all;

And, as a potter’s sherd, thou shalt

them dash in pieces small.

Now therefore, kings, be wise; be taught,

ye judges of the earth:

Serve God in fear, and see that ye

join trembling with your mirth.

Kiss ye the Son, lest in his ire

ye perish from the way,

If once his wrath begin to burn:

bless’d all that on him stay.

Psalm 3

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

O Lord, how are my foes increas’d?

against me many rise.

Many say of my soul, For him

in God no succour lies.

Yet thou my shield and glory art,

th’ uplifter of mine head.

I cry’d, and, from his holy hill,

the Lord me answer made.

I laid me down and slept; I wak’d;

for God sustained me.

I will not fear though thousands ten

set round against me be.

Arise, O Lord; save me, my God;

for thou my foes hast stroke

All on the cheek-bone, and the teeth

of wicked men hast broke.

Salvation doth appertain

unto the Lord alone:

Thy blessing, Lord, for evermore

thy people is upon.

Psalm 4

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.

Give ear unto me when I call,

God of my righteousness:

Have mercy, hear my pray’r; thou hast

enlarg’d me in distress.

O ye the sons of men! how long

will ye love vanities?

How long my glory turn to shame,

and will ye follow lies?

But know, that for himself the Lord

the godly man doth chuse:

The Lord, when I on him do call,

to hear will not refuse.

Fear, and sin not; talk with your heart

on bed, and silent be.

Off rings present of righteousness,

and in the Lord trust ye.

O who will shew us any good?

is that which many say:

But of thy countenance the light,

Lord, lift on us alway.

Upon my heart, bestow’d by thee,

more gladness I have found

Than they, ev’n then, when corn and wine

did most with them abound.

I will both lay me down in peace,

and quiet sleep will take;

Because thou only me to dwell

in safety, Lord, dost make.

Psalm 5

To the chief Musician, upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David.

Give ear unto my words, O Lord,

my meditation weigh.

Hear my loud cry, my King, my God;

for I to thee will pray.

Lord, thou shalt early hear my voice:

I early will direct

My pray’r to thee; and, looking up,

an answer will expect.

For thou art not a God that doth

in wickedness delight;

Neither shall evil dwell with thee,

Nor fools stand in thy sight.

All that ill-doers are thou hat’st;

Cutt’st off that liars be:

The bloody and deceitful man

abhorred is by thee.

But I into thy house will come

in thine abundant grace;

And I will worship in thy fear

toward thy holy place.

Because of those mine enemies,

Lord, in thy righteousness

Do thou me lead; do thou thy way

make straight before my face.

For in their mouth there is no truth,

their inward part is ill;

Their throat’s an open sepulchre,

their tongue doth flatter still.

O God, destroy them; let them be

by their own counsel quell’d:

Them for their many sins cast out,

for they gainst thee rebell’d.

But let all joy that trust in thee,

and still make shouting noise;

For them thou sav’st; let all that love

thy name in thee rejoice.

For, Lord, unto the righteous man

thou wilt thy blessing yield:

With favour thou wilt compass him

about, as with a shield.

Psalm 6

To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not;

Nor in thy hot rage chasten me.

Lord, pity me, for I am weak:

Heal me, for my bones vexed be.

My soul is also vexed sore;

But, Lord, how long stay wilt thou make?

Return, O Lord, my soul set free;

O save me, for thy mercies’ sake.

Because those that deceased are

Of thee shall no remembrance have;

And who is he that will to thee

Give praises lying in the grave?

I with my groaning weary am,

I also all the night my bed

Have caused for to swim; and I

With tears my couch have watered.

Mine eye, consum’d with grief, grows old,

Because of all mine enemies.

Hence from me, wicked workers all;

For God hath heard my weeping cries.

God hath my supplication heard,

My pray’r received graciously

Sham’d and sore vex’d be all my foes,

Sham’d and back turned suddenly.

Psalm 6

Second Version (C.M.)

In thy great indignation,

O Lord, rebuke me not;

Nor on me lay thy chast ning hand,

in thy displeasure hot.

Lord, I am weak, therefore on me

have mercy, and me spare:

Heal me, O Lord, because thou know’st

my bones much vexed are.

My soul is vexed sore: but, Lord,

how long stay wilt thou make?

Return, Lord, free my soul; and save

me, for thy mercies’ sake.

Because of thee in death there shall

no more remembrance be:

Of those that in the grave do lie,

who shall give thanks to thee?

I with my groaning weary am,

and all the night my bed

I caused for to swim; with tears

my couch I watered.

By reason of my vexing grief,

mine eye consumed is;

It waxeth old, because of all

that be mine enemies.

But now, depart from me all ye

that work iniquity:

For why? the Lord hath heard my voice,

when I did mourn and cry.

Unto my supplication

the Lord did hearing give:

When I to him my prayer make,

the Lord will it receive.

Let all be sham’d and troubled sore,

That en’mies are to me;

Let them turn back, and suddenly

ashamed let them be.

Psalm 7

Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words

of Cush the Benjamite.

O Lord my God, in thee do I

my confidence repose:

Save and deliver me from all

my persecuting foes;

Lest that the enemy my soul

should, like a lion, tear,

In pieces rending it, while there

is no deliverer.

O Lord my God, if it be so

that I committed this;

If it be so that in my hands

iniquity there is:

If I rewarded ill to him

that was at peace with me;

(Yea, ev’n the man that without cause

my foe was I did free;)

Then let the foe pursue and take

my soul, and my life thrust

Down to the earth, and let him lay

mine honour in the dust.

Rise in thy wrath, Lord, raise thyself,

for my foes raging be;

And, to the judgment which thou hast

commanded, wake for me.

So shall th’ assembly of thy folk

about encompass thee:

Thou, therefore, for their sakes, return

unto thy place on high.

The Lord he shall the people judge:

my judge, Jehovah, be,

After my righteousness, and mine

integrity in me.

O let the wicked’s malice end;

but stablish stedfastly

The righteous: for the righteous God

the hearts and reins doth try.

In God, who saves th’ upright in heart,

is my defence and stay.

God just men judgeth, God is wroth

with ill men ev’ry day.

If he do not return again,

then he his sword will whet;

His bow he hath already bent,

and hath it ready set:

He also hath for him prepar’d

the instruments of death;

Against the persecutors he

his shafts ordained hath.

Behold, he with iniquity

doth travail, as in birth;

A mischief he conceived hath,

and falsehood shall bring forth.

He made a pit and digg’d it deep,

another there to take;

But he is fall’n into the ditch

which he himself did make.

Upon his own head his mischief

shall be returned home;

His vi’lent dealing also down

on his own pate shall come.

According to his righteousness

the Lord I’ll magnify;

And will sing praise unto the name

of God that is most high.

Psalm 8

To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.

How excellent in all the earth,

Lord, our Lord, is thy name!

Who hast thy glory far advanc’d

above the starry frame.

From infants’ and from sucklings’ mouth

thou didest strength ordain,

For thy foes’ cause, that so thou might’st

th’ avenging foe restrain.

When I look up unto the heav’ns,

which thine own fingers fram’d,

Unto the moon, and to the stars,

which were by thee ordain’d;

Then say I, What is man, that he

remember’d is by thee?

Or what the son of man, that thou

so kind to him should’st be?

For thou a little lower hast

him than the angels made;

With glory and with dignity

thou crowned hast his head.

Of thy hands’ works thou mad’st him lord,

all under’s feet didst lay;

All sheep and oxen, yea, and beasts

that in the field do stray;

Fowls of the air, fish of the sea,

all that pass through the same.

How excellent in all the earth,

Lord, our Lord, is thy name!

Psalm 9

To the chief Musician upon Muth-labben, A Psalm of David.

Lord, thee I’ll praise with all my heart,

thy wonders all proclaim.

In thee, most High, I’ll greatly joy,

and sing unto thy name.

When back my foes were turn’d, they fell,

and perish’d at thy sight:

For thou maintain’dst my right and cause;

on throne sat’st judging right.

The heathen thou rebuked hast,

the wicked overthrown;

Thou hast put out their names, that they

may never more be known.

O en’my! now destructions have

an end perpetual:

Thou cities raz’d; perish’d with them

is their memorial.

God shall endure for aye; he doth

for judgment set his throne;

In righteousness to judge the world,

justice to give each one.

God also will a refuge be

for those that are oppress’d;

A refuge will he be in times

of trouble to distress’d.

And they that know thy name, in thee

their confidence will place:

For thou hast not forsaken them

that truly seek thy face.

O sing ye praises to the Lord,

that dwells in Sion hill;

And all the nations among

his deeds record ye still.

When he enquireth after blood,

he then rememb’reth them:

The humble folk he not forgets

that call upon his name.

Lord, pity me; behold the grief

which I from foes sustain;

Ev’n thou, who from the gates of death

dost raise me up again;

That I, in Sion’s daughters’ gates,

may all thy praise advance;

And that I may rejoice always

in thy deliverance.

The heathen are sunk in the pit

which they themselves prepar’d;

And in the net which they have hid

their own feet fast are snar’d.

The Lord is by the judgment known

which he himself hath wrought:

The sinners’ hands do make the snares

wherewith themselves are caught.

They who are wicked into hell

each one shall turned be;

And all the nations that forget

to seek the Lord most high.

For they that needy are shall not

forgotten be alway;

The expectation of the poor

shall not be lost for aye.

Arise, Lord, let not man prevail;

judge heathen in thy sight:

That they may know themselves but men,

the nations, Lord, affright.

Psalm 10

Wherefore is it that thou, O Lord,

dost stand from us afar?

And wherefore hidest thou thyself,

when times so troublous are?

The wicked in his loftiness

doth persecute the poor:

In these devices they have fram’d

let them be taken sure.

The wicked of his heart’s desire

doth talk with boasting great;

He blesseth him that’s covetous,

whom yet the Lord doth hate.

The wicked, through his pride of face,

on God he doth not call;

And in the counsels of his heart

the Lord is not at all.

His ways they always grievous are;

thy judgments from his sight

Removed are: at all his foes

he puffeth with despight.

Within his heart he thus hath said,

I shall not moved be;

And no adversity at all

shall ever come to me.

His mouth with cursing, fraud, deceit,

is fill’d abundantly;

And underneath his tongue there is

mischief and vanity.

He closely sits in villages;

he slays the innocent:

Against the poor that pass him by

his cruel eyes are bent.

He, lion-like, lurks in his den;

he waits the poor to take;

And when he draws him in his net,

his prey he doth him make.

Himself he humbleth very low,

he croucheth down withal,

That so a multitude of poor

may by his strong ones fall.

He thus hath said within his heart,

The Lord hath quite forgot;

He hides his countenance, and he

for ever sees it not.

O Lord, do thou arise; O God,

lift up thine hand on high:

Put not the meek afflicted ones

out of thy memory.

Why is it that the wicked man

thus doth the Lord despise?

Because that God will it require

he in his heart denies.

Thou hast it seen; for their mischief

and spite thou wilt repay:

The poor commits himself to thee;

thou art the orphan’s stay.

The arm break of the wicked man,

and of the evil one;

Do thou seek out his wickedness,

until thou findest none.

The Lord is King through ages all,

ev’n to eternity;

The heathen people from his land

are perish’d utterly.

O Lord, of those that humble are

thou the desire didst hear;

Thou wilt prepare their heart, and thou

to hear wilt bend thine ear;

To judge the fatherless, and those

that are oppressed sore;

That man, that is but sprung of earth,

may them oppress no more.

Psalm 11

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

I in the Lord do put my trust:

how is it then that ye

Say to my soul, Flee, as a bird,

unto your mountain high?

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow,

their shafts on string they fit,

That those who upright are in heart

they privily may hit.

If the foundations be destroy’d,

what hath the righteous done?

God in his holy temple is,

in heaven is his throne:

His eyes do see, his eye-lids try

men’s sons. The just he proves:

But his soul hates the wicked man,

and him that vi’lence loves.

Snares, fire and brimstone, furious storms,

on sinners he shall rain:

This, as the portion of their cup,

doth unto them pertain.

Because the Lord most righteous doth

in righteousness delight;

And with a pleasant countenance

beholdeth the upright.

Psalm 12

To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

Help, Lord, because the godly man

doth daily fade away;

And from among the sons of men

the faithful do decay.

Unto his neighbour ev’ry one

doth utter vanity:

They with a double heart do speak,

and lips of flattery.

God shall cut off all flatt’ring lips,

tongues that speak proudly thus,

We’ll with our tongue prevail, our lips

are ours: who’s lord o’er us?

For poor oppress’d, and for the sighs

of needy, rise will I,

Saith God, and him in safety set

from such as him defy.

The words of God are words most pure;

they be like silver try’d

In earthen furnace, seven times

that hath been purify’d.

Lord, thou shalt them preserve and keep

for ever from this race.

On each side walk the wicked, when

vile men are high in place.

Psalm 13

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

How long wilt thou forget me, Lord?

shall it for ever be?

O how long shall it be that thou

wilt hide thy face from me?

How long take counsel in my soul,

still sad in heart, shall I?

How long exalted over me

shall be mine enemy?

O Lord my God, consider well,

and answer to me make:

Mine eyes enlighten, lest the sleep

of death me overtake:

Lest that mine enemy should say,

Against him I prevail’d;

And those that trouble me rejoice,

when I am mov’d and fail’d.

But I have all my confidence

thy mercy set upon;

My heart within me shall rejoice

in thy salvation.

I will unto the Lord my God

sing praises cheerfully,

Because he hath his bounty shown

to me abundantly.

Psalm 14

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

That there is not a God, the fool

doth in his heart conclude:

They are corrupt, their works are vile;

not one of them doth good.

Upon men’s sons the Lord from heav’n

did cast his eyes abroad,

To see if any understood,

and did seek after God.

They altogether filthy are,

they all aside are gone;

And there is none that doeth good,

yea, sure there is not one.

These workers of iniquity

do they not know at all,

That they my people eat as bread,

and on God do not call?

There fear’d they much; for God is with

the whole race of the just.

You shame the counsel of the poor,

because God is his trust.

Let Isr’el’s help from Sion come:

when back the Lord shall bring

His captives, Jacob shall rejoice,

and Israel shall sing.

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

Within thy tabernacle, Lord,

who shall abide with thee?

And in thy high and holy hill

who shall a dweller be?

The man that walketh uprightly,

and worketh righteousness,

And as he thinketh in his heart,

so doth he truth