O God, be mer­ci­ful,
Be mer­ci­ful to me,
For man with con­stant hate,
Would fain my ru­in see.
My ma­ny ene­mies
Against me proud­ly fight;
To ov­er­whelm my soul
They watch from morn to night.

What time I am afraid
I put my trust in Thee;
In God I rest, and praise
His Word, so rich and free;
In God I put my trust,
I nei­ther doubt nor fear,
For man can ne­ver harm
With God my help­er near.

All day they wrest my words,
Their thoughts are full of hate;
They meet, they lurk, they watch,
As for my soul they wait;
Shall they by wick­ed­ness
Escape Thy judg­ment right?
O God of right­eous­ness
Destroy them in Thy might.

Thou know­est all my woes,
O trea­sure Thou my tears;
Are they not in Thy book,
Where all my life ap­pears?
My foes shall back­ward turn
When I ap­peal to Thee,
For this I sure­ly know,
That God is still for me.

In God, the Lord, I rest,
His word of grace I praise,
His pro­mise stands se­cure,
Nor fear nor foe dis­mays;
In God I put my trust,
I nei­ther doubt nor fear,
For man can ne­ver harm
With God my help­er near.

Upon me are Thy vows,
O God, in whom I live;
The sac­ri­fice of praise
To Thee I now will give;
For Thou hast saved from death,
From fall­ing kept me free,
That in the light of life
My walk may be with Thee.