The Forty-sixth Psalm by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; . . . " So reads Psalm 46:1-2 in the King James Bible. Here, from The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), edited by Laurance Wieder, is English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's version of Psalm 46.


THE FORTY-SIXTH PSALM

God is our strength and our refuge: therefore will we not tremble,
Though the earth be removed and though the perpetual mountains
Sink in the swell of the ocean! God is our strength and our refuge.
There is a river the flowing whereof shall gladden the city,
Hallelujah! the city of God! Jehovah shall help her.
The idolaters raged, the kingdoms were moving in fury;
But he uttered his voice: Earth melted away from beneath them.
Hallelujah! The eternal is with us, almighty Jehovah!
Fearful the works of the Lord, yea fearful his desolations;
But he maketh the battle to cease, he burneth the spear and the chariot.
Hallelujah! The eternal is with us, the God of our fathers!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

"The Sixty-seventh Psalm" by John Davies

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Here, for Thanksgiving Day, is a Biblical poem, Psalm 67 as rendered by poet John Davies (1569-1626). This Biblical poem is "A Psalm or Song" exhorting the nations to praise God.


THE SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM
by John Davies

Show us thy mercy, Lord, and grace divine;
Turn thy bright face, that it on us may shine,
That all the men on earth enlightened so,
Their own salvation, and thy ways may know.
O let thy people praise thy blessed name,
And let all tongues and nations do the same,
And let all mortal men rejoice in this,
That God their judge and just his judgment is.
O let thy people praise thy blessed name,
And let all tongues and nations do the same,
Then shall the earth bring forth a rich increase,
And God shall bless us with a fruitful peace;
Even God shall bless us and his holy fear
Possess the hearts of all men everywhere.


Source: The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), Compiled, Edited, and Introduced by Laurance Wieder

"The Hundred-thirty-first Psalm" by P. Hately Waddell

Read Psalm 131: "Childlike Repose in the Lord" in The Holy Bible: King James Version, and then read the poem below, a poem written in Scots by Peter Hately Waddell.


THE HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIRST PSALM
by P. Hately Waddell (1817-1891)

My heart, O Lord, was-na haughty; nor my een, they hae-na been heigh:
   Nor no, wi' sic ferlies afore me, but I gaen govan skeigh.
O gin I hae-na been quaiet! an gin I hae-na whush'd my thought;
   Like a wean, that's been spean'd fare his mother, my life on mylane it's been wrought.
Till Jehovah, lat Israel lippen; frae the now, till o' time that's nought.


Source: The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), edited by Laurance Wieder