Give the King Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the King’s Son.
Psalm 72:1
Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David 1719. The kingdom of Christ.
Music: Mount Zion (Mason) Lowell Mason, Carmina Sacra (Boston, Massachusetts: John H. Wilkins & Richard B. Carter, 1841), page 1 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Great God, whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to Thy Son,
Extend His power, exalt His throne.
Thy scepter well becomes His hands,
All Heav’n submits to His commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.
With power He vindicates the just,
And treads th’oppressor in the dust;
His worship and His fear shall last,
Till hours and years and time be past.
As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send His influence down:
His grace on fainting souls distils,
Like heav’nly dew on thirsty hills.
The heathen lands that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death
Revive at His first dawning light,
And deserts blossom at the sight.
The saints shall flourish in His days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river from His throne,
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.