Psalm 10       T.S.

Words: Sternhold and Hopkins, The Whole Book of Psalms Collected into English Metre

Common Metre Tunes

  1  What is the cause that thou, O Lord, 
        so far off now dost stand
     Why hidest thou thy face in time
        when trouble is at hand
  2  The poor do perish by the proud
        and wicked men's desire;
     Let them be taken in the craft
        which they themselves conspire.
  3  For in the lust of his own heart
        th' ungodly doth delight;
     So doth the wicked praise himself,
        and doth the Lord despite.
  4  He is so proud, that right and wrong
        he setteth all apart;
     Nay, nay, there is no God, saith he,
        for thus he thinks in heart.
  5  Because his ways do prosper still,
        he doth thy laws neglect;
     And with a blast doth puff against
        such as would him correct.
  6  Tush, tush, saith he, I have no dread,
        lest my estate should change;
     And why? for all adversity
        to him is very strange.
  7  His mouth is full of cursedness,
        of fraud, deceit, and guile;
     Under his tongue there nothing is
        but what is base and vile.
  8  He lieth hid in ways and holes
        to slay the innocent;
     Against the poor that pass by him
        his cruel eyes are bent.
  9  And, like a lion, privily
        lies lurking in his den,
     That he may snare them in his net,
        and spoil poor harmless men.
 10  With cunning craft and subtlety
        he croucheth down alway;
     So are great heaps of poor men made
        by his strong pow'r a prey.
The Second Part.
  11  Tush, God forgetteth this, saith he,
         therefore I may be bold;
      His countenance is cast aside,
         he doth it not behold.
  12  Arise, O Lord our God, in whom
         the poor man's hope doth rest;
      Lift up thy hand, do not forget
         the poor that be oppressed.
  13  Why should the proud and wicked man 
         blaspheme God's holy Name
      Whilst in his heart he crieth, tush,
         God cares not for the same.
  14  But thou seest all their wickedness,
         and well dost understand,
      That friendless and poor fatherless
         are left into thy hand.
  15  Of wicked and malicious men
         then break the pow'r alway;
      That they with their iniquity
         may perish and decay.
  16  The Lord doth reign for evermore
         as King and God alone;
      And he will chase out of the land
         the heathen folk each one.
  17  Thou hearest, Lord, the poor's complaint, 
         their pray'r and their request;
      Their hearts thou wilt confirm, until
         thine ears to hear be pressed.
  18  To judge the poor and fatherless,
         and help them to their right,
      That they may be no more oppressed
         by men of worldly might.


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