Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility You have created all humanity! Who can live and not see death, or who can escape the power of the grave?
Psalm 89:47–48
Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David 1719. A funeral psalm.
Music: Rockingham (Miller) Karl P. E. Bach (1714–1788). Arranged by Edward Miller, 1790 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Remember, Lord, our mortal state,
How frail our life! how short the date!
Where is the man that draws his breath
Safe from disease, secure from death?
Lord, while we see whole nations die,
Our flesh and sense repine and cry,
“Must death for ever rage and reign?
Or hast Thou made mankind in vain?
Where is Thy promise to the just?
Are not Thy servants turned to dust?
But faith forbids these mournful sighs,
And sees the sleeping dust arise.
That glorious hour, that dreadful day,
Wipes the reproach of saints away,
And clears the honor of Thy Word:
Awake, our souls, and bless the Lord.