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* Index of the First Line of Each Stanza, the Fifth Line of Eight Line Stanzas, and the First Line of the Chorus

Shew pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive,

PSALM LI. First Part.
A penitent pleading for pardon.

Poet: Isaac Watts, 1719
Meter: Long Meter (8,8,8,8)
Location in The Sacred Harp
Stanza Denson Cooper
1
Shew pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive,
Let a repenting rebel live;
Are not thy mercies large and free?
May not a sinner trust in thee?
Cusseta 73t, Stanza 1
Show Pity, Lord (Cusseta) 73t, Stanza 1
2
My crimes are great, but not surpass
The power and glory of thy grace:
Great God, thy nature hath no bound,
So let thy pard’ning love be found,
Cusseta 73t, Stanza 2
Show Pity, Lord (Cusseta) 73t, Stanza 2
3
O wash my soul from every sin,
And make my guilty conscience clean:
Here on my heart the burden lyes,
And past offences pain my eyes.

4
My lips with shame my sins confess
Against thy law, against thy grace;
Lord, should thy judgment grow severe,
I am condemn’d but thou art clear.

5
Should sudden veng’ance seize my breath,
I must pronounce thee just in death:
And if my soul were sent to hell,
Thy righteous law approves it well.

6
Yet save a trembling sinner Lord,
Whose hope still hov’ring round thy word,
Would light on some sweet promise there,
Some sure support against despair.
Cusseta 73t, Stanza 3
Show Pity, Lord (Cusseta) 73t, Stanza 3
Watts, Isaac. The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian State and Worship. 22nd ed. London: T. Longman et. al., 1769.