cxxi

The LORD Thy Keeper

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:
From whence shall my help come?

My help cometh from the LORD,
Which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved :
He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is thy keeper:

The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

The LORD shall keep thee from all evil;

He shall keep thy soul.

The LORD shall keep thy going out and thy coming in, From this time forth and for evermore.

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cxxii

Salutation to Jerusalem

I was glad when they said unto me,
Let us go unto the house of the LORD.

Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem;
Jerusalem, that art builded as a city that is compact
together:

Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD, For a testimony unto Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

For there are set thrones for judgement,

The thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
They shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls,

And prosperity within thy palaces.

For my brethren and companions' sakes,

I will now say, Peace be within thee.

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God

I will seek thy good.

cxxiii

A Prayer of the Despised

Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the heavens.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their

master,

As the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes look unto the LORD our God until he have mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us :
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease,

And with the contempt of the proud.

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
(Let Israel now say)

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up alive,

When their wrath was kindled against us :

Then the waters had overwhelmed us,

The stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be the LORD,

Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

CXXV

Mount Zion: A Pilgrim Song

They that trust in the LORD are as mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved,

But abideth for ever.

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So the LORD is round about his people,
From this time forth and for evermore.

For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous ;

That the righteous put not forth their hands unto

iniquity.

Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good,

And to them that are upright in their hearts.

But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, The LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Esrael.

cxxvi

Seedtime and Harvest: A Song of Deliverance

When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

And our tongue with singing:

Then said they among the nations,

The LORD hath done great things for them.
The LORD hath done great things for us;
Whereof we are glad.

Turn again our captivity, O LORD,

As the streams in the south.

They that sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

Though he goeth on his way weeping,

Bearing forth the seed;

He shall come again with joy,
Bringing his sheaves with him.