Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.
Psalm 143:2
Words: John Marckant, Old Version 1562.
Music: St. Mary arranged from Prys’ Welsh Psalter, 1621 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tune:
If you know where to get a good picture of Marckant (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
O Lord, turn not Thy face from me,
Who lie in woeful state,
Lamenting all my sinful life
Before Thy mercy-gate.
A gate which opens wide to those
That do lament their sin;
Shut not that gate against me, Lord,
But let me enter in.
And call me not to strict account
How I have sojourned here;
For then my guilty conscience knows
How vile I shall appear.
So come I to Thy mercy gate,
Where mercy doth abound,
Requiring mercy for my sin
To heal my deadly wound.
Mercy, good Lord, mercy I ask;
This is my humble prayer;
For mercy, Lord is all my suit,
O let Thy mercy spare.