Psalm 33
Words: Isaac Watts
Note: two versions are on this page. The first is Common Metre
The second is Long
Metre (888 888)
PART 1. Works of creation and providence.
1 Rejoice, ye righteous, in the Lord,
This work belongs to you;
Sing of his name, his ways, his word,
How holy, just, and true.
2 His mercy and his righteousness
Let heav'n and earth proclaim;
His works of nature and of grace
Reveal his wondrous name.
3 His wisdom and almighty word
The heav'nly arches spread,
And by the Spirit of the Lord
Their shining hosts were made.
4 He bid the liquid waters flow
To their appointed deep;
The flowing seas their limits know
And their own station keep.
5 Ye tenants of the spacious earth,
With fear before him stand;
He spake, and nature took its birth,
And rests on his command.
6 He scorns the angry nations' rage,
And breaks their vain designs;
His counsel stands through ev'ry age,
And in full glory shines.
PART 2
Creatures vain and God all-sufficient.
1 Blessed is the nation where the Lord
Hath fixed his gracious throne,
Where he reveals his heav'nly word,
And calls their tribes his own.
2 His eye with infinite survey
Does the whole world behold;
He formed us all of equal clay,
And knows our feeble mould.
3 Kings are not rescued by the force
Of armies from the grave;
Nor speed nor courage of a horse
Can the bold rider save.
4 Vain is the strength of beasts or men,
To hope for safety thence;
But holy souls from God obtain
A strong and sure defense.
5 God is their fear, and God their trust;
When plagues or famine spread,
His watchful eye secures the just
Among ten thousand dead.
6 Lord, let our hearts in thee rejoice,
And bless us from thy throne;
For we have made thy word our choice,
And trust thy grace alone.
(888, 888)PART 1 As the 113th Psalm.
Works of creation and providence.
1 Ye holy souls, in God rejoice,
Your Maker's praise becomes your voice;
Great is your theme, your songs be new:
Sing of his name, his word, his ways,
His works of nature and of grace,
How wise and holy, just and true!
2 Justice and truth he ever loves,
And the whole earth his goodness proves,
His word the heav'nly arches spread:
How wide they shine from north to south!
And by the spirit of his mouth
Were all the starry armies made.
3 He gathers the wide-flowing seas
(Those wat'ry treasures know their place)
In the vast storehouse of the deep:
He spake, and gave all nature birth;
And fires, and seas, and heav'n, and earth,
His everlasting orders keep.
4 Let mortals tremble and adore
A God of such resistless power,
Nor dare indulge their feeble rage:
Vain are your thoughts, and weak your hands;
But his eternal counsel stands,
And rules the world from age to age.
PART 2. As the 113th Psalm.
Creatures vain, and God all-sufficient.
1 O happy nation, where the Lord
Reveals the treasure of his word,
And builds his church, his earthly throne!
His eye the heathen world surveys,
He formed their hearts, he knows their ways;
But God their Maker is unknown.
2 Let kings rely upon their host,
And of his strength the champion boast;
In vain they boast, in vain rely;
In vain we trust the brutal force,
Or speed, or courage, of a horse,
To guard his rider or to fly.
3 The eye of thy compassion, Lord,
Doth more secure defense afford
When death or dangers threat'ning stand:
Thy watchful eye preserves the just,
Who make thy name their fear and trust,
When wars or famine waste the land.
4 In sickness, or the bloody field,
Thou our physician, thou our shield,
Send us salvation from thy throne:
We wait to see thy goodness shine;
Let us rejoice in help divine,
For all our hope is God alone.
