1 HOW blest is he who ne'er consents
By ill advice to walk;
Nor stands in sinners' ways, nor sits
Where men profanely talk.
2 But makes the perfect law of God
His study and delight;
Devoutly reads therein by day,
And meditates by night.
3 Like some fair tree which, fed by streams,
With timely fruit doth bend,
He still shall flourish, and success
All his designs attend.
4 Ungodly men and their attempts
No lasting root shall find,
Untimely withered, and dispersed
Like chaff before the wind.
5 Their guilt shall strike the wicked dumb
Before their Judge's face;
No formal hypocrite shall then
Among the saints have place.
6 For God approves the just man's ways,
To happiness they tend;
But sinners and the paths they tread
Shall both in ruin end.