O God, my Strength and Fortitude from Psalm 18 Thomas Sternhold

ST. MAGNUS (8.6.8.5.) Jeremiah Clarke (1670-1707)

O God, my Strength and For-ti-tude,
   Of force I must love Thee;
Thou art my Cas-tle and De-fence
   In my nec-es-sit-y.

My God, my Rock, in whom I trust,
   The work-er of my wealth,
My Ref-uge, Buck-ler, and my Shield,
   The horn of all my health.

I, when be-set with pain and grief,
   Did pray to God for grace;
And He forth-with did hear my 'plaint
   Out of His ho-ly place.

The Lord de-scend-ed from a-bove
   And bowed the heav-ens high,
And un-der-neath His feet He cast
   The dark-ness of the sky.

On cher-ub and n cher-u-bim
   Full roy-al-ly He rode,
And on the wings of all the winds
   Come fly-ing all a-broad.

Un-spot-ted are the ways of God,
   His word is pure-ly tried;
He is a sure de-fence to such
   As in His faith a-bide.