Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psalm 1:1
Words: James Montgomery, Songs of Zion (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1822).
Music: Park Street Frederick M. A. Venua, circa 1810 (🔊 pdf nwc). Repeats the last line of each verse.
If you know where to get a good picture of Venua (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Thrice happy he, who shuns the way
That leads ungodly men astray;
Who fears to stand where sinners meet.
Nor with the scorner takes his seat.
The law of God is his delight;
That cloud by day, that fire by night.
Shall be his comfort in distress,
And guide him through the wilderness.
His works shall prosper—he shall be
A fruitful, fair, unwithering tree,
That, planted where the river flows,
Nor drought, nor frost, nor mildew knows.
Not so the wicked—they are cast
Like chaff upon the eddying blast;
In judgment they shall quake for dread,
Nor with the righteous lift their head.
For God hath spied their secret path.
And they shall perish in His wrath;
He too hath marked His people’s road,
And brings them to His own abode.