Be, O my God, my guard and my support

Alleluia PS 16  Be, O my God, my guard and my support    

                    Théodore de Bèze       Geneva 1551

1. Be, O Great God, my guard and my support

For in you alone have I placed my hope.

And you, my soul, tell him at every hour;

I submit myself, Lord, to your power;

And yet, whatever I am involved in,

No advantage comes to you from me.

2. I love the saints, I help the virtuous,

Whom one sees pleased to sing your praises;

But evil upon evil are reserved for those,

Whom one sees running after strange gods.

My hand never touches their victims;

Never does my mouth utter their name.

3. God was always the fund that supports me;

And from this source my recompense is assured;

Never, Lord, could the share that is mine

Been given me in a more beauteous place .

By your bounty, the best part of your rich heritage 

is in my share.

4. Blessed be God, who has so wisely given me

the holy competence of his counsels.

Even in the night I reflect on them carefully

And his Spirit guides me and strengthens me.

Thus I always look to him alone,

His hand always supports me and protects me.

5. In this peace, which you allow me to enjoy,

My joy bursts forth; people will see me 

singing, and rejoicing, and filled with confidence,

My flesh, O God, rests in certainty;  

I do not fear at all that in the grave

Your saint will ever smell any rot.

6. You will make known to me the path,

Which leads from death to a happy life;

For, O Lord, no pleasure is entire,

If one does not see your glorious face.

It is in your hands that, without end,

Are found true pleasures, and true joy.

                                    translator: Edward J. Gallagher

                                         Professor of French Studies, Emeritus

                                         Wheaton College,  Norton, MA, USA