English text
Jeremy Belknap's Compilation (1795)
1. Behold the rising dawn appear,
Which calls our willing feet
To tread Thy courts, O God, and here
Our solemn vows repeat.
2. Fair Zion's gates are our delight,
Within her walls we stand;
And all her happy sons unite
In friendship's sacred bands.
3. We love the place where Zion's Lord
Is pleased to show His face;
Here He proclaims His holy word,
And here accepts our praise.
4. With reverend awe and godly fear,
We bow before Thy throne;
For Thou the fervent prayer wilt hear,
Through Thy beloved Son.
3. Peace be within this hallowed place,
And joy a constant guest;
With holy gifts and heavenly grace,
Be her attendants blest.
4. Our soul shall pray for Zion still,
While life or breath remains;
For here our friends and brethren dwell,
And here our Savior reigns.
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Isaac Watts' Paraphrase of Psalm 122 (1719)
How did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say,
"In Zion let us all appear,
And keep the solemn day!"
I love her gates, I love the road;
The church, adorned with grace,
Stands like a palace built for God,
To show his milder face.
Up to her courts with joys unknown
The holy tribes repair;
The Son of David holds his throne,
And sits in judgment there.
He hears our praises and complaints;
And while his awful voice
Divides the sinners from the saints,
We tremble and rejoice.
Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest!
With holy gifts and heavenly grace
Be her attendants blest!
My soul shall pray for Zion still,
While life or breath remains;
There my best friends, my kindred dwell,
There God my Savior reigns.
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James Merrick's Version of Psalm 122 (1765)
1. The festal morn, my God, is come,
That calls me to thy honored dome,
Thy preſence to adore:
My feet the summons shall attend,
With willing step thy courts ascend,
And tread the hallowed floor.
2. Even now to our transported eyes
Fair Zion's towers in prospect rise;
Within her gates we stand,
And, lost in wonder and delight,
Behold her happy Sons unite
In friendship's firmest band.
3. Hither from Judah's utmost end
The heaven-protected tribes ascend;
Their offerings hither bring;
Here, eager to attest their joy,
In hymns of praise their tongues employ,
And hail the immortal King.
4. By His command impelled, to her
contending crowds their cause refer;
While princes from her throne
With equal doom th'unerring law
Dispense, who boast their birth to draw
From Jesse's favored son.
5. Be Peace by each implored on thee,
O Salem, while with bended knee
To Jacob's God we pray:
How blest, who calls himself thy friend!
Success his labor shall attend,
And safety guard his way.
6. O may'st thou, free from hostile fear,
Nor the loud voice of tumult hear,
Nor war's wild wastes deplore:
May plenty nigh thee take her stand,
And in thy courts with lavish hand
Distribute all her store.
7. Seat of my friends and brethren, hail!
How can my tongue, O Salem, fail
To bless thy loved abode?
How cease the zeal that in me glows
Thy good to seek, whose walls enclose
The mansion of my God?
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