Colonies planted; or, Nations blessed and punished. <br />A Psalm for New England. <br /> <br />When God, provoked with daring crimes, <br />Scourges the madness of the times, <br />He turns their fields to barren sand, <br />And dries the rivers from the land. <br /> <br />His word can raise the springs again, <br />And make the withered mountains green; <br />Send showery blessings from the skies, <br />And harvests in the desert rise. <br /> <br />[Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, <br />Or men as fierce and wild as they, <br />He bids th' oppressed and poor repair, <br />And builds them towns and cities there. <br /> <br />They sow the fields, and trees they plant, <br />Whose yearly fruit supplies their want; <br />Their race grows up from fruitful stocks, <br />Their wealth increases with their flocks. <br /> <br />Thus they are blessed; but if they sin, <br />He lets the heathen nations in; <br />A savage crew invades their lands, <br />Their princes die by barb'rous hands. <br /> <br />Their captive sons, exposed to scorn, <br />Wander unpitied and forlorn; <br />The country lies unfenced, untilled, <br />And desolation spreads the field. <br /> <br />Yet if the humbled nation mourns, <br />Again his dreadful hand he turns; <br />Again he makes their cities thrive, <br />And bids the dying churches live.] <br /> <br />The righteous, with a joyful sense, <br />Admire the works of Providence; <br />And tongues of atheists shall no more <br />Blaspheme the God that saints adore. <br /> <br />How few with pious care record <br />These wondrous dealings of the Lord! <br />But wise observers still shall find <br />The Lord is holy, just, and kind.<br /><br />Isaac Watts<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/psalm-107-last-part/
