Psalm 141 N.
Words: Sternhold and Hopkins, The Whole Book of Psalms Collected into English Metre
1 O Lord, upon thee do I call,
then haste thee unto me,
And hearken thou unto my voice
when I do cry to thee:
2 As incense let my pray'rs still be
directed in thy eyes,
And the uplifting of my hands
an evening sacrifice.
3 For guiding of my mouth, O Lord,
set thou a watch before;
And also of my moving lips,
O Lord, keep thou the door.
4 That I should wicked works commit
incline thou not my heart;
With ill men of their delicates,
Lord, let me eat no part.
5 But let the righteous smite me, Lord,
for that is good for me;
Let him reprove me, and the same
a precious oil shall be.
6 Such smiting shall not break my head,
the time shall shortly fall,
When I shall in their misery
make prayers for them all.
7 And when in stony places down
their judges shall be cast,
Then shall they hear my words, because
they have a pleasant taste.
8 Our bones about the pit's mouth are
all scatter�d, and found,
As when one breaketh and doth hew
the wood upon the ground.
9 But, O, my Lord and God, my eyes
do look up unto thee;
In thee is all my trust, let not
my soul forsaken be:
10 Keep and preserve me from the snare
which they for me have laid,
And from the gins** of wicked men,
whereof I am afraid.
11 The wicked into their own nets
together let them fall,
While I do by thy help escape
the danger of them all.
** gins: traps, snares, nets.
