Scripture Verse

O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast scattered us, Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again. Psalm 60:1

Introduction

portrait
Joel Barlow (1754–1812)

Words: Jo­el Bar­low, Psalms Car­eful­ly Suit­ed to the Chris­tian Wor­ship in the Unit­ed States of Am­eri­ca, Be­ing Dr. Watts’ Imi­ta­tion of the Psalms of Da­vid, as Im­proved by Mr. Bar­low (Hart­ford, Con­nec­ti­cut: Na­than­iel Pat­ten, print­er, 1785), pag­es 104–05, alt. Look­ing to God in the Dis­tress of War.

Music: Old Mar­tyrs Psalms (Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land: 1615) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

Lyrics

Lord Thou hast scourged our guil­ty land,
Behold Thy peo­ple mourn;
Shall ven­geance ev­er guide Thy hand?
And mer­cy ne’er re­turn?

Beneath the ter­rors of Thine eye,
Earth’s haugh­ty tow­ers de­cay;
Thy frown­ing man­tle spreads the sky,
And mor­tals melt away.

Our Zi­on trem­bles at Thy stroke,
And dreads Thy lift­ed hand!
Oh, heal the people Thou hast broke,
And save the sink­ing land.

Exalt Thy ban­ner in the field,
For those that fear Thy name;
From bar­bar­ous hosts our na­tion shield,
And put our foes to shame.

Attend our ar­mies to the fight,
And be their guard­ian God;
In vain shall nu­mer­ous pow­ers unite,
Against Thy lift­ed rod.

Our troops be­neath Thy guid­ing hand,
Shall gain a glad re­nown:
’Tis God who makes the fee­ble stand,
And treads the migh­ty down.