Second Versions 124

PSALM 124

¹Now Israel

may say, and that truly,

If that the Lord had not our cause maintain'd;

²If that the Lord

had not our right sustain'd,

When cruel men

against us furiously

Rose up in wrath,

to make of us their prey;

³Then certainly

they had devour'd us all,

And swallow'd quick,

for ought that we could deem;

Such was their rage,

as we might well esteem.

⁴And as fierce floods

before them all things drown,

So had they brought

our soul to death quite down.

⁵The raging streams,

with their proud swelling waves,

Had then our soul

o'erwhelmed in the deep.

⁶But bless'd be God,

who doth us safely keep,

And hath not giv'n

us for a living prey

Unto their teeth,

and bloody cruelty.

⁷Ev'n as a bird

out of the fowler's snare

Escapes away,

so is our soul set free;

Broke are their nets,

and thus escaped we.

⁸Therefore our help

is in the Lord's great name,

Who heav'n and earth

by his great pow'r did frame.