Scripture Verse

The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Psalm 20:1

Introduction

Words: From The Psal­ter (Pitts­burgh, Penn­syl­van­ia: Unit­ed Pres­by­ter­ian Board of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1912), num­ber 43.

Music: Tal­lis’ Ca­non Tho­mas Tal­lis, in The Whole Psal­ter Trans­lat­ed in­to Eng­lish Metre, by Mat­thew Par­ker, 1560 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Thomas Tallis (1505–1585)

Lyrics

Jehovah hear thee in thy grief,
Our fa­thers’ God de­fend thee still,
Send from His ho­ly place re­lief,
And strength­en thee from Zi­on’s hill.

Thy sac­ri­fice may He re­gard,
And all thine of­fer­ings bear in mind;
Thy heart’s de­sire to thee ac­cord,
Fulfilling all thou has de­signed.

In Thy sal­va­tion we re­joice,
And in God’s name our ban­ners raise;
Jehovah heark­en to thy voice,
Fulfill thy pray­ers through all thy days.

Salvation will the Lord com­mand,
And His anoint­ed will de­fend;
Yea, with the strength of His right hand
From Heav’n He will an an­swer send.

In cha­ri­ots some have con­fi­dence,
On hors­es oth­ers will re­ly,
But we ack­now­ledge our de­fense
Is God, Je­ho­vah, Lord most high.

Now we arise and up­right stand
While they, sub­dued, and help­less, fall;
Jehovah, save us by Thy hand;
The King give an­swer when we call.