PREFACE
The main reason for which I
prepared this document is to search for words or phrases within the Psalter. I hope that you also find it useful for this or
any other purpose. Anyone using this program
for searching for words or phrases must bear in mind a few things regarding word spelling:
a.
DIFFERENT SPELLINGS. In
some of the Psalter numbers, words are spelled as they would have been spelled many years
ago. For example, the word "Savior"
is spelled "Savior" in some songs, and "Saviour" in others. This could also be true of the word
"honor" ("honour"), as well as of other words. I have generally left the spellings the way that
they appear in The Psalter, so the words may appear throughout the document with
both spellings.
b.
ABBREVIATIONS. Many
words in The Psalter have been abbreviated. If
the abbreviation consisted of the omission of a single vowel, I usually spelled the word
in full. For example, "giv'n" I
typed as "given," "heav'n" as "heaven," etc. Perhaps the most commonly abbreviated word in The
Psalter appears as "tho'," which I consistently rendered as
"though." However, with other words
I felt that I should not type them in their unabbreviated form, because the meter of the
poetry would be clearly destroyed. The most
commonly abbreviated word, which I left abbreviated, is "o'er," along with any
combination of this with other words. Here is
a nearly exhaustive list of words which are abbreviated in this document, as they would
appear in abbreviated form: o'er (as well as
o'erthrown, o'erflow, o'ercome, o'erwhelmed, o'ershadow), e'er (as well as whate'er, fore'er, where'er,
whene'er), ne'er, 'tis, 'mid,
e'en, 'bove,
'neath, and hid'. Other
contractions are I'll, He'll, We'll,
and I've.
Of course these words are not always abbreviated or contracted.
So if you are
searching for an entire line, and the program does not find it, it is possible that one or
more of the words should be spelled differently, abbreviated, or contracted.
The Psalms, being the spiritual
biography of the child of God, speak to every situation in which the Christian might find
himself or herself. Such is also true, then,
of the words of The Psalter found below. Much
profit can be gained simply by reading and contemplating these lines. They instruct and teach us, warn and exhort us,
and comfort and cheer us. They contain our
confessions of dependence upon God, and our prayers to Him that He bless us. They are of great value and benefit, for they
bring God to us, and us to God. With these
thoughts in mind I have undertaken this project, and with its completion I thank God for
the heritage of Psalm singing, and for His saving revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ,
through the means of His inspired and written Word.
SOLI DEO GLORIA.
Doug Kuiper
January, 1994
THE
PSALTER
1. The Blessedness of the Godly. Psalm 1. C.M.
That man is blest
who, fearing God,
From sin
restrains his feet,
Who will not
stand with wicked men,
Who shuns the
scorners' seat.
Yea, blest is he
who makes God's law
His portion and
delight,
And meditates
upon that law
With gladness day
and night.
That man is
nourished like a tree
Set by the
river's side;
Its leaf is
green, its fruit is sure,
And thus his
works abide.
The wicked like
the driven chaff
Are swept from
off the land;
They shall not
gather with the just,
Nor in the
judgment stand.
The Lord will
guard the righteous well,
Their way to Him
is known;
The way of
sinners, far from God,
Shall surely be
o'er-thrown.
2. The Righteous and Unrighteous. Psalm 1. 8s
and 7s.
Blest is he who
loves God's precepts,
Who from sin
restrains His feet,
He who will not
stand with sinners,
He who shuns the
scorners' seat.
Blest is he who
makes the statutes
Of the Lord his
chief delight,
In God's law,
divinely perfect,
Meditating day
and night.
He is like a tree
well planted
By the flowing
river's side,
Ever green of
leaf and fruitful:
Thus shall all
his works abide.
Like the driven
chaff the wicked
Shall be swept
from off the land;
With the just
they shall not gather,
Nor shall in the
judgment stand.
Well the Lord
will guard the righteous,
For their way to
Him is known;
But the way of
evildoers
Shall by Him be
overthrown.
3. The Kingship
of Jesus Christ. Psalm 2. 7s.
Wherefore do the
nations rage
And the people
vainly dream
That in triumph
they can wage
War against the
King supreme?
Christ His Son a
scoff they make,
And the rulers
plotting say:
Their dominion
let us break,
Let us cast their
yoke away.
But the Lord will
scorn them all,
Calm He sits
enthroned on high;
Soon His wrath
will on them fall,
Sore displeased
He will reply:
Yet according to
my will
I have set my
King to reign,
And on Zion's
holy hill
My Anointed I
maintain.
This His word
shall be made known,
This Jehovah's
firm decree:
Thou art my
beloved Son,
Yea, I have
begotten Thee.
All the earth at
thy request
I will give Thee
for Thy own;
Then Thy might
shall be confessed
And Thy foes be
overthrown.
Therefore, kings,
be wise, give ear;
Hearken, judges
of the earth;
Learn to serve
the Lord with fear,
Mingle trembling
with your mirth.
Kiss the Son,
lest o'er your way
His consuming
wrath should break;
But supremely
blest are they
Who in Christ
their refuge take.
4. Christ's Inheritance. Psalm 2. L.M.
O wherefore do
the nations rage,
And kings and
rulers strive in vain,
Against the Lord
of earth and heaven
To overthrow
Messiah's reign?
Their strength is
weakness in the sight
Of Him who sits
enthroned above;
He speaks, and
judgments fall on them
Who tempt His
wrath and scorn His love.
By God's decree
His Son receives
The nations for
His heritage;
The conquering
Christ supreme shall reign
As King of kings,
from age to age.
Be wise, ye
rulers of the earth,
And serve the
Lord with godly fear;
With reverent joy
confess the Son
While yet in
mercy He is near.
Delay not, lest
His anger rise,
And ye should
perish in your way;
Lo, all that put
their trust in Him
Are blest indeed,
and blest for aye.
5. God Our Guardian.
Psalm 3. C.M.
O Lord, how are
my foes increased!
Against me many
rise;
How many say, In
vain for help
He on his God
relies!
Thou art my
shield and glory, Lord,
My Savior, O Most
High.
The Lord from out
His holy hill
Gives answer when
I cry.
I laid me down
and slept, I waked,
Because the Lord
sustains;
Though many
thousands compass me,
Unmoved my soul
remains.
Arise, O Lord;
save me, my God;
For Thou hast
owned my cause,
And oft hast
beaten down my foes
Who scorn Thy
righteous laws.
Salvation to the
Lord belongs,
In Him His saints
are blest;
O let Thy
blessing evermore
Upon Thy people
rest.
6. A Trustful
Appeal to God. Psalm 4. L.M.
My righteous God,
Who oft of old
Hast saved from
troubles manifold,
Give answer when
I call to Thee,
Be gracious now
and hear my plea.
How long, O men,
will ye defame,
How long my glory
turn to shame,
How long will ye
vain follies prize,
How long pursue
deceit and lies?
But know, the
Lord has set apart
The man of godly
life and heart
To be His favored
ones for aye;
Jehovah hears me
when I pray.
In reverence
wait, from sin depart,
In meditation
calm your heart;
Hold fast the
right, be true and just,
And in Jehovah
put your trust.
O who will show
us any good,
Exclaims the
faithless multitude;
But lift on us, O
Lord, we pray,
The brightness of
Thy face this day.
More joy from
Thee has filled my heart
Than great
abundance could impart;
I lay me down to
peaceful sleep,
For Thou, O Lord,
dost safely keep.
7. Quieting Thoughts.
Psalm 4. 6s and 5s.
On the good and
faithful
God has set His
love;
When they call He
sends them
Blessings from
above.
Stand in awe, and
sin not,
Bid your heart be
still;
Through the
silent watches
Think upon His
will.
Lay upon God's
altar
Good and loving
deeds,
And in all things
trust Him
To supply your
needs.
Anxious and
despairing
Many walk in
night;
But to those that
fear Him
God will send His
light.
In God's love
abiding,
I have joy and
peace
More than all the
wicked,
Though their
wealth increase.
In His care
confiding,
I will sweetly
sleep,
For the Lord, my
Saviour,
Will in safety
keep.
8. Faith and
Peace. Psalm 4. 6s and 5s.
On the good and
faithful
God has set His
love;
When they call He
sends them
Blessings from
above.
Stand in awe, and
sin not,
Bid your heart be
still;
Through the
silent watches
Think upon His
will.
Anxious and
despairing,
Many walk in
night;
But to those that
fear Him
God will send His
light.
In His care
confiding,
I will sweetly
sleep,
For the Lord, my
Saviour,
Will in safety
keep.
9. An Entreaty for Guidance. Psalm 5. 7s.
O Jehovah, hear
my words,
To my thoughts
attentive be;
Hear my cry, my
King, my God,
I will make my
prayer to Thee.
With the morning
light, O Lord,
Thou shalt hear
my voice arise,
And expectant I
will bring
Prayer as morning
sacrifice.
Thou, Jehovah,
art a God
Who delightest
not in sin;
Evil shall not
dwell with Thee,
Nor the proud Thy
favor win.
Evildoers Thou
dost hate,
Lying tongues
Thou wilt defeat;
God abhors the
man who loves
Violence and base
deceit.
In the fullness
of Thy grace
To Thy house I
will repair,
Bowing toward Thy
holy place,
In Thy fear will
worship there.
Lead me in Thy
righteousness,
Let my foes
assail in vain;
Lest my feet be
turned aside,
Make Thy way
before me plain.
10. Confident Access to God. Psalm 5. 7s.
In the fullness
of Thy grace
To Thy house I
will repair,
Bowing toward Thy
holy place,
In Thy fear will
worship there.
Lead me in Thy
righteousness,
Let my foes
assail in vain;
Lest my feet be
turned aside,
Make Thy way
before me plain.
False and
faithless are my foes,
In their mouth no
truth is found;
Deadly are the
words they speak,
All their
thoughts with sin abound.
Bring, O God,
their plans to nought,
Hold them guilty
in Thy sight,
For against Thee
and Thy law
They have set
themselves to fight.
O let all that
trust Thy care
Ever glad and
joyful be;
Let them joy who
love Thy Name,
Safely guarded,
Lord, by Thee.
For a blessing
from Thy store
To the righteous
Thou wilt yield;
Thou wilt compass
him about
With Thy favor as
a shield.
11. Prayer and Protection. Psalm 5. 7s.
O Jehovah, hear
my words,
To my thoughts
attentive be;
Hear my cry, my
King, my God,
I will make my
prayer to Thee.
With the morning
light, O Lord,
Thou shalt hear
my voice arise,
And expectant I
will bring
Prayer as morning
sacrifice.
O let all that
trust Thy care
Ever glad and
joyful be;
Let them joy who
love Thy Name,
Safely guarded,
Lord, by Thee.
For a blessing
from Thy store
To the righteous
Thou wilt yield;
Thou wilt compass
him about
With Thy favor as
a shield.
12. Divine Chastisement. Psalm 6. 8s and 7s.
Lord, rebuke me
not in anger;
Chastened sore I
waste away;
Pity my distress
and hear me;
Lord, how long
wilt Thou delay?
Come, O Lord, my
soul deliver,
In Thy
lovingkindness save.
Shall the dead
Thy Name remember?
Who shall praise
Thee in the grave?
Pity, Lord, my
sad condition;
I am weary and
distressed;
Many adversaries
vex me,
Weeping, I can
find no rest.
Now the foes that
seek to harm me,
Quickly put to
shame, shall flee,
For the Lord hath
heard my weeping,
And He will
regard my plea.
13. Confidence in Divine Justice. Psalm 7. 11s.
Jehovah, my God,
on Thy help I depend;
From all that
pursue me O save and defend;
Lest they like a
lion should rend me at will,
While no one is
near me their raging to still.
When wronged
without cause I have kindness returned;
But if I my
neighbor maltreated and spurned,
My soul let the
enemy seize for his prey,
My life and my
honor in dust let him lay.
O Lord, in Thy
wrath stay the rage of my foes;
Awake, and Thy
judgment ordained interpose.
Let peoples
surround Thee and wait at Thy feet,
While o'er them
for judgment Thou takest Thy seat.
All nations of
men shall be judged by the Lord;
To me, O Jehovah,
just judgment accord,
As faithful and
righteous in life I have been,
And ever
integrity cherished within.
Establish the
righteous, let evil depart,
For God Who is
just tries the thoughts of the heart.
In God for
defense I have placed all my trust;
The upright He
saves and He judges the just.
The Lord with the
wicked is wroth every day,
And if they
repent not is ready to slay;
By manifold ruin
for others prepared
They surely at
last shall themselves be ensnared.
Because He is
righteous His praise I will sing,
Thanksgiving and
honor to Him I will bring,
Will sing to the
Lord on Whose grace I rely,
Extolling the
Name of Jehovah Most High.
14. The Name of the Lord. Psalm 8. C.M.
O Lord, our Lord,
in all the earth
How excellent Thy
Name!
Thy glory Thou
hast spread afar
In all the starry
frame.
From lips of
children, Thou, O Lord,
Hast mighty
strength ordained,
That adversaries
should be stilled
And vengeful foes
restrained.
When I regard the
wondrous heavens,
Thy handiwork on
high,
The moon and
stars ordained by Thee,
O what is man, I
cry.
O what is man, in
Thy regard
To hold so large
a place,
And what the son
of man, that Thou
Dost visit him in
grace.
On man Thy wisdom
hath bestowed
A power well nigh
divine;
With honor Thou
hast crowned his head
With glory like
to Thine.
Thou hast
subjected all to him,
And lord of all
is he,
Of flocks and
herds, and beasts and birds,
And all within
the sea.
Thy mighty works
and wondrous grace
Thy glory, Lord,
proclaim.
O Lord, our Lord,
in all the earth
How excellent Thy
Name.
15. God's Glory
in His Works. Psalm 8. 7s.
Lord, our Lord,
Thy glorious Name
All Thy wondrous
works proclaim;
In the heavens
with radiant signs
Evermore Thy
glory shines.
Infant lips Thou
dost ordain
Wrath and
vengeance to restrain,
Weakest means
fulfill Thy will,
Mighty enemies to
still.
Moon and stars in
shining height
Nightly tell
their Maker's might;
When Thy wondrous
heavens I scan,
Then I know how
weak is man.
What is man that
he should be
Loved and visited
by Thee,
Raised to an
exalted height,
Crowned with
honor in Thy sight?
With dominion
crowned he stands
O'er the
creatures of Thy hands;
All to him
subjection yield
In the sea and
air and field.
Lord, our Lord,
Thy glorious Name
All thy wondrous
works proclaim,
Thine the Name of
matchless worth,
Excellent in all
the earth.
16. The Lord the Righteous Judge. Psalm 9. 11s.
Wholehearted
thanksgiving to Thee will I bring,
In praise of Thy
marvelous deeds I will sing,
In Thee I will
joy and exultingly cry,
Thy Name I will
praise, O Jehovah Most High.
My enemies turn
and are scattered in fear,
They stumble and
perish because Thou art near;
For Thou hast
defended my right and my cause,
Thou sittest in
judgment, upholding Thy laws.
Rebuked are the
nations, the wicked destroyed,
Their memory
perished, their dwellingplace void;
Enthroned and
eternal, Jehovah shall reign,
The peoples to
judge and the right to maintain.
Thou, Lord, art a
refuge for all the oppressed;
All trust Thee
who know Thee, and trusting are blest;
For never, O
Lord, did Thy mercy forsake
The soul that has
sought of Thy grace to partake.
Give praise to
Jehovah, the mighty deeds tell
Of Him Who has
chosen in Zion to dwell,
Of Him to Whom
justice and vengeance belong,
Who visits the
lowly and overthrows wrong.
Behold my
affliction, Thy mercy accord,
And back from
death's portals restore me, O Lord,
That I in the
gates of Thy Zion may raise
My song of
salvation and show forth Thy praise.
The sins of the
nations their ruin have wrought,
Their own
evildoing destruction has brought;
In this the
Lord's justice eternally stands,
That sinners are
snared in the work of their hands.
The wicked shall
perish, the nations shall fall,
Forgetting their
God, Who is God over all;
But God will
remember the prayer of the weak,
Most surely
fulfilling the hope of the meek.
Arise in Thy
justice, O Lord, and Thy might,
No longer let
sinners prevail in Thy sight;
Great Judge of
the nations, in judgment appear
To humble the
proud and to teach them Thy fear.
17. Whole-Hearted Praise. Psalm 9. L.M.
O Lord Most High,
with all my heart
Thy wondrous
works I will proclaim;
I will be glad
and give Thee thanks
And sing the
praises of Thy Name.
The Lord, the
everlasting King,
Is seated on His
judgment throne;
The righteous
judge of all the world
Will make His
perfect justice known.
Jehovah will a
refuge prove,
A refuge strong
for all oppressed,
A safe retreat,
where weary souls
In troublous
times may surely rest.
All they, O Lord,
that know Thy Name
Their confidence
in Thee will place,
For Thou hast
never forsaken them
Who earnestly
have sought Thy face.
Sing praises to
the Lord Most High,
To Him Who doth
in Zion dwell,
Declare His
mighty deeds abroad,
His deed among
the nations tell.
18. Complaint
Against the Wicked. Psalm 10. L.M.
Why standest Thou
afar, O Lord,
Why art Thou hid
in trouble's hour?
The wicked
persecute the poor
In haughty pride
and reckless power.
Let their devices
work their fall,
For in their
shame is all their pride;
And while they
seek unrighteous gain
The Lord of
justice is defied.
The wicked
thinks, in foolish pride,
There is no God
Who will repay;
He has no fear of
God or man
Because God's
judgments long delay.
Unmoved by fear
of coming doom,
On fraud and
wickedness intent,
With craft he
lurks and waits to catch
The helpless and
the innocent.
A lion crouching
for his prey,
He waits the poor
to overthrow;
He thinks that
God remembers not,
Or hides His face
and will not know.
Arise, O Lord,
lift up Thy hand,
O God, protect
the poor and meek;
Why should the
proud Thy justice doubt,
And words of bold
defiance speak?
O Lord, Thou wilt
indeed requite,
The sin and
sorrow Thou dost see;
The helpless and
the fatherless
Commit
themselves, O Lord, to Thee.
Break Thou the
power of wicked men
And let their
works no longer stand;
The Lord is King
for evermore,
Who drove the
nations from His land.
Lord, Thou hast
heard the lowly prayer,
The fainting
heart Thou wilt restore,
The helpless
cause Thou wilt maintain,
That mortal man
may boast no more.
19. Prayer for the Oppressed. Psalm 10. S.M.
Why dost Thou
stand afar,
O Lord, in our
distress?
And why dost Thou
conceal Thyself
When