MY KING

ERE time began, ere age to age had thrilled,

I waited in His storehouse, as He willed.

He gave me being; but, my years fulfilled,

I shall be summoned back before the King.

Thou gavest me a light my path to guide,

To prove my heart’s recesses still untried;

And as I went, Thy voice in warning cried:

‘Child! fear thou Him who is thy God and King!’

Erring, I wandered in the wilderness,

In passion’s grave nigh sinking, powerless;

Now deeply I repent, in sore distress,

That I kept not the statutes of the King!

Thine is the love, O God, and Thine the grace

That folds the sinner in its mild embrace;

Thine the forgiveness bridging o’er the space

’Twixt man’s works and the task set by the King.

Unheeding all my sins, I cling to Thee!

I know that mercy will Thy footstool be;

Before I call, oh! do Thou answer me,

For nothing dare I claim of Thee, my King.

MOSES BEN NACHMAN, 1300.
(Trans. Alice Lucas.)

THY people in passionate worship cry

One to another the Lord is King.

In awe of the marvels beneath the sky

Each explains that the Lord was King.

One sound from Thy pastures ascends on high:

The chant that the Lord shall be King for ever.

The Lord is King, the Lord was King,
the Lord shall be King for ever and ever.

The universe throbs with Thy pauseless praise,

Chorus eternal, the Lord is King.

Thy glory is cried from the dawn of days,

Worshippers calling the Lord was King.

And ever the Saints who shall witness Thy ways

Shall cry that the Lord shall be King for ever.

The Lord is King, the Lord was King,
the Lord shall be King for ever and ever.

ELEAZAR KALIR, 8th cent.
(Trans. I. Zangwill.)