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For why? That God the good adore,
Hath giv'n them peace and rest,
But hath decreed that wicked men
Shall ne'er be truly blest.

 

Divider from 'The Beauties of Burn's Poems' a chapbook printed in Falkirk in 1819

 

The First Six Verses

Of the Nintieth Psalm.

O Thou, the first, the greatest Friend,
Of all the human race!
Whose strong right-hand has ever been
Their stay and dwelling-place:

Before the mountains heav'd their heads
Beneath thy forming hand,
Before this pond'rous globe itself
Arose at Thy command.

That Pow'r which rais'd, and still upholds
This universal frame,
From countless unbeginning time,
Was ever still the same.

Those mighty periods of years,
Which seem to us so vast
Appear no more before thy sight
Than yesterday that's past.

Thou giv'st the word: Thy creature, man,
Is to existence brought:
Again, Thou say'st, 'Ye sons of men,
'Return ye into nought.'