Psalms
Chapter 31
- 1
Blessed are they who have their faults forgiven, their transgressions buried deep;
- 2
blessed is the man who is not guilty in the Lord’s reckoning, the heart that hides no treason.
- 3
While I kept my own secret, evermore I went sighing, so wasted my frame away,
- 4
bowed down day and night by thy chastisement; still my strength ebbed, faint as in mid-summer heat.
- 5
At last I made my transgression known to thee, and hid my sin no longer; Fault of mine, said I, I here confess to the Lord; and with that, thou didst remit the guilt of my sin.
- 6
Let every devout soul, then, turn to thee in prayer when hard times befall; rise the floods never so high, they shall have no power to reach it.
- 7
Thou art my hiding-place, when I am sore bestead; songs of triumph are all about me, and thou my deliverer.
- 8
Friend, let me counsel thee, trace for thee the path thy feet should tread; let my prudence watch over thee.
- 9
Do not be like the horse and the mule, senseless creatures which will not come near thee unless their spirit is tamed by bit and bridle.
- 10
Again and again the sinner must feel the lash; he who trusts in the Lord finds nothing but mercy all around him.
- 11
Just souls, be glad, and rejoice in the Lord; true hearts, make your boast in him.