Saul (Handel and Jennens)

Dramatis Personae

 * Saul (bass)
 * Merab (soprano)
 * Michal (soprano)
 * Jonathan (tenor)
 * David (alto)
 * Samuel (bass)
 * High Priest (tenor)
 * Witch of Endor (tenor)
 * Abner (tenor)
 * Amalekite (tenor)
 * Doeg (bass)
 * Chorus of Israelites
 * Chorus

Scene 1
An Epinicion or Song of Triumph, for the victory over Goliath and the Philistines.

2a. Chorus of Israelites

 * How excellent Thy name, O Lord,
 * In all the world is known!
 * Above all Heav'ns, O King ador'd,
 * How hast Thou set Thy glorious throne!

3. Air (soprano)

 * An infant rais'd by Thy command,
 * To quell Thy rebel foes,
 * Could fierce Goliath's dreadful hand
 * Superior in the fight oppose.

4. Trio

 * Along the monster atheist strode,
 * With more than human pride,
 * And armies of the living God
 * Exulting in his strength defied.

5. Chorus of Israelites

 * The youth inspir'd by Thee, O Lord,
 * With ease the boaster slew:
 * Our fainting courage soon restor'd,
 * And headlong drove that impious crew.

2b. Chorus of Israelites

 * How excellent Thy name, O Lord,
 * In all the world is known!
 * Above all Heavn's, O King ador'd,
 * How hast thou set Thy glorious throne!
 * Hallelujah!

Scene 2
Saul, Jonathan, Merab, Michal and Abner, introducing David and the High Priest.

6. Recitative
Michal:
 * He comes, he comes!

7. Air
Michal:
 * O godlike youth, by all confess'd
 * Of human race the pride!
 * O virgin among women blest,
 * Whom Heav'n ordains thy bride!
 * But ah, how strong a bar I see
 * Betwixt my happiness and me!
 * O godlike youth. . . da capo

8. Recitative
Abner:
 * Behold, O king, the brave, victorious youth,
 * And in his hand the haughty giant's head.

Saul:
 * Young man, whose son art thou?

David:
 * The son of Jesse,
 * Thy faithful servant, and a Bethlemite.

Saul:
 * Return no more to Jesse; stay with me;
 * And as an earnest of my future favour,
 * Thou shalt espouse my daughter: small reward
 * Of such desert, since to thy arm alone
 * We owe our safety, peace and liberty.

9. Air
David:
 * O king, your favours with delight
 * I take, but must refuse your praise:
 * For every pious Israelite
 * To God that tribute pays.
 * Through Him we put to flight our foes,
 * And in His name,
 * We trod them under that against us rose.
 * O king. . . da capo

10. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * Oh,early piety! Oh, modest merit!
 * In this embrace my heart bestows itself;
 * Henceforth, thou noble youth, accept my frienship,
 * And Jonathan and David are but one.

11. Air
Merab:
 * What abject thoughts a prince can have!
 * In rank a prince, in mind a slave.

12. Recitative
Merab (aside, to Jonathan):
 * Yet think on whom this honour you bestow;
 * How poor in fortune, and in birth how low!

13. Air
Jonathan:
 * Birth and fortune I despise!
 * From virtue let my friendship rise.

(To David)


 * No titles proud thy stem adorn,
 * Yet born of God is nobly born,
 * And of His gifts so rich thy store,
 * That Ophir to thy wealth is poor.
 * Birth and fortune. . . da capo

14. Recitative
High Priest:
 * Go on, illustrious pair! Your great example
 * Shall teach your youth to scorn the sordid world
 * And set their hearts on things of real worth.

15. Air
High Priest:
 * While yet thy tide of blood runs high,
 * To God thy future life devote;
 * Thy early vigour all apply,
 * His glorious service to promote.
 * So shall thy great Creator bless,
 * And bid thy days serenely flow:
 * So shall thy youthful happiness
 * In age no diminution know.
 * With sweet reflections thou shalt taste,
 * Declining gently to thy tomb,
 * The pleasure of good actions past,
 * And hope with rapture joys to come.

16. Recitative
Saul:
 * Thou, Merab, first in birth, be first in honour:
 * Thine be the valiant youth, whose arm has sav'd
 * Thy country from her foes.

Merab (aside):
 * Oh, mean alliance!

17. Air
Merab:
 * My soul rejects the thought with scorn,
 * That such a boy, till now unknown,
 * Of poor plebeian parents born,
 * Should mix with royal blood his own!
 * Though Saul's command I can't decline,
 * I must prevent his low design,
 * And save the honour of his line.

18. Air
Michal:
 * See, with what a scornful air
 * She the precious gift receives!
 * Though e'er so noble, or so fair,
 * She cannot merit what he gives.

19. Air
Michal:
 * Ah, lovely youth, wast thou design'd
 * With that proud beauty to be joined?

21. Recitative
Michal:
 * Already see the daughters of the land,
 * In joyful dance, with instruments of music,
 * Come to congratulate your victory.

Scene 3
Saul, Michal, Chorus.

22. Chorus of Israelites

 * Welcome, welcome, mighty king!
 * Welcome all who conquest bring!
 * Welcome David, warlike boy,
 * Author of our present joy!
 * Saul, who hast thy thousands slain,
 * Welcome to thy friends again!
 * David his ten thousands slew,
 * Ten thousand praises are his due!

23. Accompagnato
Saul:
 * What do I hear? Am I then sunk so low,
 * To have this upstart boy preferr'd before me?

24. Chorus of Israelites

 * David his ten thousands slew,
 * Ten thousand praises are his due!

25. Accompagnato
Saul:
 * To him ten thousands, and to me but thousands!
 * What can they give him more, except the kingdom?

26. Air
Saul:
 * With rage I shall burst his praises to hear!
 * Oh, how I both hate the stripling, and fear!
 * What mortal a rival in glory can bear?

Exit.

27. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * Imprudent women! Your ill-timed comparisons,
 * I fear, have injured him you meant to honour.
 * Saul's furious look, as he departed hence,
 * Too plainly shew'd the tempest of his soul.

Michal (to David):
 * 'Tis but his old disease, which thou canst cure:
 * Oh, take thy harp, and as thou oft hast done,
 * From the king's breast expel the raging fiend,
 * And sooth his tortur'd soul with sounds divine.

28. Air
Michal:
 * Fell rage and black despair possess'd
 * With horrid sway the monarch's breast;
 * When David with celestial fire
 * Struck the sweet persuasive lyre:
 * Soft gliding down his ravish'd ears,
 * The healing sounds dispel his cares;
 * Despair and rage at once are gone,
 * And peace and hope resume the throne.

29. Recitative
High Priest:
 * This but the smallest part of harmony,
 * Great attribute of attributes divine,
 * And centre of the rest, where all agree:
 * Whose wondrous force what great effects proclaim!

30. Accompagnato
High Priest:
 * By Thee this universal frame
 * From its Almighty Maker's hand
 * In primitive perfection came,
 * By Thee produc'd, in thee contain'd:
 * No sooner did th'eternal word dispense
 * Thy vast mysterious influence,
 * Than chaos his old discord ceas'd.
 * Nature began, of labour eas'd,
 * Her latent beauties to disclose,
 * A fair harmonious world arose;
 * And though, by diabolic guile,
 * Disorder lord it for a while,
 * The time will come,
 * When nature shall her pristine form regain,
 * And harmony for ever reign.

Scene 5
Saul, David, Jonathan, Merab, Michal, Abner, High Priest.

31. Recitative
Abner:
 * Racked with infernal pains, ev'n now the king
 * Comes forth, and mutters horrid words, which hell,
 * No human tongue, has taught him.

32. Air
David:
 * O Lord, whose mercies numberless
 * O'er all thy works prevail:
 * Though daily man Thy law transgress,
 * Thy patience cannot fail.
 * If yet his sin be not too great,
 * The busy fiend control;
 * Yet longer for repentance wait,
 * And heal his wounded soul.

34. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * 'Tis all in vain; his fury still continues:
 * With wild distraction on my friend he stares,
 * Stamps on the ground, and seems intent on mischief.

35. Air
Saul:
 * A serpent, in my bosom warm'd,
 * Would sting me to the heart:
 * But of his venom soon disarm'd,
 * Himself shall feel the smart.
 * Ambitious boy! Now learn what danger
 * It is to rouse a monarch's anger!

''He throws his javelin. Exit David.''

36. Recitative
Saul:
 * Has he escap'd my rage?
 * I charge thee, Jonathan, upon thy duty,
 * And all, on your allegiance, to destroy
 * This bold, aspiring youth; for while he lives,
 * I am not safe. Reply not, but obey.

37. Air
Merab:
 * Capricious man, in humour lost,
 * By ev'ry wind of passion toss'd!
 * Now sets his vassal on the throne,
 * Then low as earth he casts him down!
 * His temper knows no middle state,
 * Extreme alike in love or hate.

38. Accompagnato
Jonathan:
 * O filial piety! O sacred friendship!
 * How shall I reconcile you? Cruel father!
 * Your just commands I always have obeyed:
 * But to destroy my friend, the brave, the virtuous,
 * The godlike David, Israel's defender,
 * And terror of her foes! To disobey you —
 * What shall I call it? 'Tis an act of duty
 * To God, to David — nay, indeed, to you.

39. Air
Jonathan:
 * No, cruel father, no!
 * Your hard commands I can't obey.
 * Shall I with sacrilegious blow
 * Take pious David's life away?
 * No, cruel father, no!
 * No, with my life I must defend
 * Against the world my best, my dearest friend.

40. Air
High Priest:
 * O Lord, whose providence
 * Ever wakes for their defence
 * Who the ways of virtue choose:
 * Let not thy faithful servant fall
 * A victim to the rage of Saul
 * Who hates without a cause,
 * And, in defiance of thy laws,
 * His precious life pursues.

41. Chorus:
 * Preserve him for the glory of Thy name,
 * Thy people's safety, and the heathen's shame.

Scene 1
42. Chorus:
 * Envy, eldest born of hell,
 * Cease in human breasts to dwell,
 * Ever at all good repining,
 * Still the happy undermining!
 * God and man by thee infested,
 * Thou by God and man detested,
 * Most thyself thou dost torment,
 * At once the crime and punishment!
 * Hide thee in the blackest night:
 * Virtue sickens at thy sight!

Scene 2
Jonathan and David.

43. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * Ah, dearest friend, undone by too much virtue!
 * Think you, an evil spirit was the cause
 * Of all my father's rage? It was, indeed,
 * A spirit of envy, and of mortal hate.
 * He has resolv'd your death; and sternly charg'd
 * His whole retinue, me especially,
 * To execute his vengeance.

44. Air
Jonathan:
 * But sooner Jordan's stream, I swear,
 * Back to his spring shall swiftly roll,
 * Than I consent to hurt a hair
 * Of thee, thou darling of my soul.

45. Recitative
David:
 * Oh, strange vicissitude! But yesterday
 * He thought me worthy of his daughter's love;
 * Today he seeks my life.

Jonathan:
 * My sister Merab, by his own gift thy right,
 * He hath bestow'd on Adriel.

David:
 * Oh, my prince, would that were all!
 * It would not grieve me much: the scornful maid
 * (Didst thou observe?) with such disdainful pride
 * Receiv'd the king's command! But lovely Michal,
 * As mild as she is fair, outstrips all praise.

46. Air
David:
 * Such haughty beauties rather move
 * Aversion, than engage our love.
 * They can only our cares beguile,
 * Who gently speak, and sweetly smile.
 * If virtue in that dress appear,
 * Who, that sees, can love forbear?
 * Such beauties. . . da capo.

47. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * My father comes: retire, my friend, while I
 * With peaceful accents try to calm his rage.

Exit David.

Scene 3
Saul and Jonathan.

48. Recitative
Saul:
 * Hast thou obey'd my orders, and destoy'd
 * My mortal enemy, the son of Jesse?

Jonathan:
 * Alas, my father! He your enemy?
 * Say, rather, he has done important service
 * To you, and to the nation; hazarded
 * His life for both, and slain our giant foe,
 * Whose presence made the boldest of us tremble.

49. Air
Jonathan:
 * Sin not, O king, against the youth,
 * Who ne'er offended you:
 * Think, to his loyalty and truth,
 * What great rewards are due!
 * Think with what joy this godlike man
 * You saw, that glorious day!
 * Think, and with ruin, if you can,
 * Such services repay.

50. Air
Saul:
 * As great Jehovah lives, I swear,
 * The youth shall not be slain:
 * Bid him return, and void of fear
 * Adorn our court again.

51. Air
Jonathan:
 * From cities stormed, and battles won,
 * What glory can accrue?
 * By this the hero best is known,
 * He can himself subdue.
 * Wisest and greatest of his kind,
 * Who can in reason's fetters bind
 * The madness of his angry mind!

52. Recitative
Jonathan:
 * Appear, my friend.

Enter David.

Saul:
 * No more imagine danger:
 * Be first in our esteem; with wonted valour
 * Repel the insults of the Philistines:
 * And as a proof of my sincerity,
 * (Oh, hardness to dissemble!) instantly
 * Espouse my daughter Michal.

53. Air
David:
 * Your words, O king, my loyal heart
 * With double ardour fire:
 * If God his usual aid impart,
 * Your foes shall feel what you inspire.
 * In all the dangers of the field,
 * The great Jehovah is my shield.

Exeunt David and Jonathan.

54. Recitative
Saul:
 * Yes, he shall wed my daughter! But how long
 * Shall he enjoy her? He shall lead my armies!
 * But have the Philistines no darts, no swords,
 * To pierce the heart of David? Yes, this once
 * To them I leave him; they shall do me right!

Scene 5
David and Michal.

55. Recitative
Michal:
 * A father's will has authorized my love:
 * No longer, Michal, then attempt to hide
 * The secret of my soul. I love thee, David,
 * And long have loved. Thy virtue was the cause;
 * And that be my defence.

56. Duet
Michal:
 * O fairest of ten thousand fair,
 * Yet for thy virtue more admir'd!
 * Thy words and actions all declare
 * The wisdom by thy God inspir'd.

David:
 * O lovely maid! Thy form beheld,
 * Above all beauty charms our eyes:
 * Yet still within thy form conceal'd,
 * Thy mind, a greater beauty, lies.

Both:
 * How well in thee does Heav'n at last
 * Compensate all my sorrows past.

Exeunt.

57. Chorus

 * Is there a man, who all his ways,
 * Directs, his God alone to please?
 * In vain his foes against him move:
 * Superior pow'r their hate disarms;
 * He makes them yield to virtue's charms,
 * And melts their fury down to love.

Scene 6
David and Michal.

59. Recitative
David:
 * Thy father is as cruel, and as false,
 * As thou art kind and true. When I approach'd him,
 * New from the slaughter of his enemies,
 * His eyes with fury flam'd, his arms he rais'd,
 * With rage grown stronger; by my guiltless head
 * The javelin whizzing flew, and in the wall
 * Mock'd once again his impotence of malice.

60. Duet
David:
 * At persecution I can laugh;
 * No fear my soul can move,
 * In God's protection safe,
 * And blest in Michal's love.

Michal:
 * Ah, dearest youth, for thee I fear!
 * Fly, begone, for death is near!

David:
 * Fear not, lovely fair, for me:
 * Death, where thou art, cannot be;
 * Smile, and danger is no more.

Michal:
 * Fly, or death is at the door!
 * See, the murd'rous band comes on!
 * Stay no longer, fly, begone!

Scene 7
Michal and Doeg.

61. Recitative
Michal:
 * Whom dost thou seek? And who hast sent thee hither?

Doeg:
 * I seek for David, and am sent by Saul.

Michal:
 * Thy errand?

Doeg:
 * 'Tis a summons to the Court.

Michal:
 * Say he is sick.

Doeg:
 * In sickness or in health,
 * Alive or dead, he must be brought to Saul;
 * Show me his chamber.

David's bed discovered with an image in it.


 * Do you mock the king?
 * This disappointment will enrage him more:
 * Then tremble for th'event.

Exit.

62. Air
Michal:
 * No, no, let the guilty tremble
 * At ev'ry thought of danger near.
 * Though numbers, armed with death, assemble,
 * My innocence disdains to fear.
 * Though great their power as their spite,
 * Undaunted still, my soul, remain:
 * For greater is Jehovah's might,
 * And will their lawless force restrain.

63. Recitative
Merab:
 * Mean as he was, he is my brother now,
 * My sister's husband; and to speak the truth,
 * Has qualities which justice bids me love,
 * And pity his distress. My father's cruelty
 * Strikes me with horror! At th'approaching feast
 * I fear some dire event, unless my brother,
 * His friend, the faithful Jonathan, avert
 * Th'impending ruin. I know he'll do his best.

64. Air
Merab:
 * Author of peace, who canst control
 * Every passion of the soul;
 * To whose good spirit alone we owe
 * Words that sweet as honey flow:
 * With thy dear influence his tongue be fill'd,
 * And cruel wrath to soft persuasion yield.

Scene 9
Saul at the Feast of the New Moon.

66. Accompagnato
Saul:
 * The time at length is come when I shall take
 * My full revenge on Jesses's son.
 * No longer shall the stripling make
 * His sov'reign totter on the throne.
 * He dies — this blaster of my fame,
 * Bane of my peace, and author of my shame!

Scene 10
Saul and Jonathan.

67. Recitative
Saul:
 * Where is the son of Jesse? Comes he not
 * To grace our feast?

Jonathan:
 * He earnestly ask'd leave
 * To go to Bethlem, where his father's house,
 * At solemn rites of annual sacrifice,
 * Requir'd his presence.

Saul:
 * O perverse, rebellious!
 * Thinkst thou I do not know that thou hast chose
 * The son of Jesse to thy own confusion?
 * The world will say thou art no son of mine,
 * Who thus canst love the man I hate; the man
 * Who, if he lives, will rob thee of thy crown:
 * Send, fetch him thither; for the wretch must die.

Jonathan:
 * What has he done? And wherefore must he die?

Saul:
 * Darest thou oppose my will? Die then thyself!

''He throws the javelin. Exit Jonathan, then Saul.''

68. Chorus

 * Oh, fatal consequence
 * Of rage, by reason uncontroll'd!
 * With every law he can dispense;
 * No ties the furious monster hold:
 * From crime to crime he blindly goes,
 * Nor end, but with his own destruction knows.

Scene 1
Saul disguised, at Endor.

69. Accompagnato
Saul:
 * Wretch that I am, of my own ruin author!
 * Where are my old supports? The valiant youth,
 * Whose very name was terror to my foes,
 * My rage has drove away. Of God forsaken,
 * In vain I ask his counsel. He vouchsafes
 * No answer to the sons of disobedience!
 * Even my own courage fails me! Can it be?
 * Is Saul become a coward? I'll not believe it!
 * If Heav'n denies thee aid, seek it from hell!

70. Accompagnato
Saul:
 * 'Tis said, here lives a woman, close familiar
 * With th'enemy of mankind: her I'll consult,
 * And know the worst. Her art is death by law;
 * And while I minded law, sure death attended
 * Such horrid practises. Yet, oh hard fate,
 * Myself am now reduc'd to ask the counsel
 * Of those I once abhorr'd!

Scene 2
Saul and the Witch of Endor.

71. Recitative
Witch:
 * With me what would'st thou?

Saul:
 * I would, that by thy art thou bring me up
 * The man whom I shall name.

Witch:
 * Alas! Thou know'st
 * How Saul has cut off those who use this art.
 * Would'st thou ensnare me?

Saul:
 * As Jehovah lives,
 * On this account no mischief shall befall thee.

Witch:
 * Whom shall I bring up to thee?

Saul:
 * Bring up Samuel.

72. Air
Witch:
 * Infernal spirits, by whose pow'r
 * Departed ghosts in living forms appear,
 * Add horror to the midnight hour,
 * And chill the boldest hearts with fear:
 * To this stranger's wond'ring eyes
 * Let the prophet Samuel rise!

Scene 3
Apparition of Samuel.

73. Accompagnato
Samuel:
 * Why hast thou forc'd me from the realms of peace
 * Back to this world of woe?

Saul:
 * O holy prophet!
 * Refuse me not thy aid in this distress.
 * The num'rous foe stands ready for the battle:
 * God has forsaken me: no more he answers
 * By prophets or by dreams: no hope remains,
 * Unless I learn from thee from course to take.

Samuel:
 * Hath God forsaken thee? And dost thou ask
 * My counsel? Did I not foretell thy fate,
 * When, madly disobedient, thou didst spare
 * The curst Amalekite, and on the spoil
 * Didst fly rapacious? Therefore God this day
 * Hath verified my words in thy destruction,
 * Hath rent the kingdom from thee, and bestow'd it
 * On David, whom thou hatest for his virtue.
 * Thou and thy sons shall be with me tomorrow,
 * And Israel by Philistine arms shall fall.
 * The Lord hath said it: He will make it good.

Scene 4
David and an Amalekite.

75. Recitative
David:
 * Whence comest thou?

Amalekite:
 * Out of the camp of Israel.

David:
 * Thou canst inform me then. How went the battle?

Amalekite:
 * The people, put to flight, in numbers fell,
 * And Saul, and Jonathan his son, are dead.

David:
 * Alas, my brother! But how knowest thou
 * That they are dead?

Amalekite:
 * Upon mount Gilboa
 * I met with Saul, just fall'n upon his spear;
 * Swiftly the foe pursu'd; he cried to me,
 * Begg'd me to finish his imperfect work,
 * And end a life of pain and ignominy.
 * I knew he could not live, therefore slew him;
 * Took from his head the crown, and from his arms
 * The bracelets, and have brought them to my lord.

David:
 * Whence art thou?

Amalekite:
 * Of the race of Amalek.

76. Air
David:
 * Impious wretch, of race accurst!
 * And of all that race the worst!
 * How hast thou dar'd to lift thy sword
 * Again th'anointed of the Lord?
 * (To one of his attendants, who kills the Amalekite.)
 * Fall on him, smite him, let him die!
 * On thy own head thy blood will lie;
 * Since thy own mouth has testified,
 * By thee the Lord's anointed died.

Scene 5
Elegy on the death of Saul and Jonathan.

78. Chorus

 * Mourn, Israel, mourn thy beauty lost,
 * Thy choicest youth on Gilboa slain!
 * How have thy fairest hopes been cross'd!
 * What heaps of mighty warriors strew the plain!

79. Air
High Priest:
 * Oh, let it not in Gath be heard,
 * The news in Askelon let none proclaim;
 * Lest we, whom once so much they fear'd,
 * Be by their women now despis'd,
 * And lest the daughters of th'uncircumcis'd
 * Rejoice and triumph in our shame.

80. Air
Merab:
 * From this unhappy day
 * No more, ye Gilboan hills, on you
 * Descend refreshing rains or kindly dew,
 * Which erst your heads with plenty crown'd;
 * Since there the shield of Saul, in arms renown'd,
 * Was vilely cast away.

81. Air
David:
 * Brave Jonathan his bow never drew,
 * But wing'd with death his arrow flew,
 * And drank the blood of slaughter'd foes.
 * Nor drew great Saul his sword in vain;
 * It reek'd, where'er he dealt his blows,
 * With entrails of the mighty slain.

82. Chorus of Israelites

 * Eagles were not so swift as they,
 * Nor lions with so strong a grasp
 * Held fast and tore the prey.

83. Air
Michal:
 * In sweetest harmony they lived,
 * Nor death their union could divide.
 * The pious son ne'er left the father's side,
 * But him defending bravely died:
 * A loss too great to be survived!
 * For Saul, ye maids of Israel, moan,
 * To whose indulgent care
 * You owe the scarlet and the gold you wear,
 * And all the pomp in which your beauty long has shone.

84. Solo and Chorus
Israelites:
 * O fatal day! How low the mighty lie!

David and Israelites:
 * O Jonathan! How nobly didst thou die,
 * For thy king and people slain.

David:
 * For thee, my brother Jonathan,
 * How great is my distress!
 * What language can my grief express?
 * Great was the pleasure I enjoy'd in thee,
 * And more than woman's love thy wondrous love to me!

David and Israelites:
 * O fatal day! How low the mighty lie!
 * Where, Israel, is thy glory fled?
 * Spoil'd of thy arms, and sunk in infamy,
 * How canst thou raise again thy drooping head!

85. Recitative
High Priest:
 * Ye men of Judah, weep no more!
 * Let gladness reign in all our host;
 * For pious David will restore
 * What Saul by disobedience lost.
 * The Lord of hosts is David's friend,
 * And conquest will his arms attend.

86. Chorus of Israelites

 * Gird on thy sword, thou man of might,
 * Pursue thy wonted fame:
 * Go on, be prosperous in fight,
 * Retrieve the Hebrew name!
 * Thy strong right hand, with terror armed,
 * Shall thy obdurate foes dismay;
 * While others, by thy virtue charm'd,
 * Shall crowd to own thy righteous sway.