Verse 1
Fret not thyself in vain
At Evil Men’s success,
Nor envy them the fatal Gain
Of prosperous, Wickedness;
For all their Pomp shall pass,
Their Glory, Wealth, and Power,
Cut down, and wither’d as the Grass,
And fleeting as the Flower.

Verse 2
Trust in the Lord, and still
Thy Faith by Works approve,
So shall He stablish Thee, and fill
With Blessings from above:
Delight thee in thy GOD,
And GOD Himself shall give,
Shed in thy Heart his Love abroad,
And there forever live.

Verse 3
Commit unto the Lord
Thyself and all thy Ways,
Trust Him to keep his faithful Word,
And bring the thing to pass;
He shall in all Men’s sight
Thy Righteousness display,
Thine Innocence as clear as Light,
And glaring as the Day.

Verse 4
Thou in the Lord be still,
With patient Hope attend,
And wait the Councel of his Will,
And calmly mark the End.
Ah, let not go thy Peace,
Nor at the Sinner grieve,
Who vainly boasting his Success
Doth for a Moment live.

Verse 5
Cast thy Concern away,
Thy rising Grief controul,
Least Anger into Sin betray,
And poison all thy Soul:
Cut off by Wrath Divine
The Wicked soon shall cease,
But who on GOD their Souls recline
They shall the Land possess.

Verse 6
Pass a few Days or Years,
The Sinners Boast is o’re,
His Pomp no more on Earth appears,
His Place is found no more;
But still the meek shall live
With every Blessing blest,
Fulness of Gospel-Peace receive,
And Everlasting rest.

Verse 7
The Wicked plots the Death
Of the detested Just,
And gnashes on Him with his Teeth
Who puts in GOD his trust:
But GOD shall Him deride;
He sees his Evil Day
Approach, to end the Tyrants Pride,
And sweep from Earth away.

Verse 8
Sinners have drawn the Sword,
And ready bent their Bow
To slay the Servants of the Lord,
The Needy to o’rethrow:
But GOD his Power shall shew,
And take his Servants part,
Their Bow shall break, their Sword go thro’
Their own malicious Heart.

Verse 9
The Little of the Just
’Tis better to possess,
Than all the Wealth of those that trust
In their own Wickedness:
Their Strength shall be broke down,
Their Insolence and Power;
But still the Lord upholds His own,
And keeps them evermore.

Verse 10
He knows their happy Days,
Their Lot shall still abide;
In Time of Dearth the righteous Race
Shall all be satisfied;
Kept in the evil Time,
While all the Wicked fail,
Haters of GOD, they bear their Crime,
And vanish into Hell.

Verse 11
The Wicked Borrower owes,
But never pays again,
Mercy the Righteous Lender shews
And gives his Gifts to Men,
Whom GOD hath curs’d shall cease
Uprooted by his Hand,
But whom He condescends to bless
They shall possess the Land.

Verse 12
In Paths of Righteousness
He leads his Servant right,
His Servant’s steady Walk He sees
With favour and Delight:
Tho’ into Trouble cast
He shall not fall away,
The Lord supports and holds him fast,
And shall for ever stay.

Verse 13
I never yet have seen
The Righteous or their Seed
Wandring among the Sons of Men,
And destitute of Bread.
Freely he gives, and lends:
And what to GOD is given
In Blessings on his Seed descends
Who lays up Wealth in Heaven.

Verse 14
Evil do Thou eschew,
Do good with all thy Power,
And perfect Holiness pursue,
And dwell for evermore:
Lover of Holiness
The Lord preserves His own,
When all the Sinners Offspring cease
Forever lost and gone.

Verse 15
Saints shall possess the Land,
And dwell forever there,
Confess the Faith by which they stand,
The Righteousness declare:
The Law is writ within
The pure and perfect Heart,
The Saint indeed shall never Sin,
Or from his GOD depart.

Verse 16
The Wicked Eyes the Good,
And watches to devour,
GOD, will not leave his Saint, pursu’d
By persecuting Power;
Tho’ Men arrest, arraign,
And judge him in their Day,
The Lord shall soon his Cause maintain,
His Innocence display.

Verse 17
Thou in the Saviour hope,
And in his Statutes live,
So shall He keep, and lift thee up,
The Promise to receive.
When the Ungodly fall,
Thou shalt their Ruin see,
And glorify the Judge of All
Who then appears for Thee.

Verse 18
I have the Wicked Seen,
In all his Pomp and Power,
Fair as the Lawrel-tree, and Green,
And flourishing his Hour:
I pass’d, and look’d again;
The Mighty Man was not:
I sought his Place, and sought in vain;
His Place was clean forgot.

Verse 19
Observe the Saint of GOD
Who walks in Uprightness,
The Man in perfect Love renew’d,
His End is glorious Peace.
While wicked Souls at last
Together all descend
Into a Flaming Tophet cast;
Damnation is their End.

Verse 20
But GOD rewards His own,
With Heavenly Happiness;
And saves them till their Course is run,
And keeps in their Distress:
From all their Foes the Just
A present Saviour have,
And, for in Him they put their Trust,
He shall for ever save.