nd no for ony guid or ill
They've done before thee!

I bless and praise thy matchless might,
Whan thousands thou hast left in night,
That I am here before thy sight,
For gifts an' grace
A burning and a shining light,
To a' this place.

What was I, or my generation,
That I should get sic exaltation? [such]
I, wha deserv'd most just damnation,
For broken laws,
Sax thousand years ere my creation, [Six]
Thro' Adam's cause.

When from my mither's womb I fell,
Thou might have plung'd me deep in hell,
To gnash my gooms, and weep and wail, [gums]
In burning lakes,
Where damned devils roar and yell,
Chain'd to their stakes;

Yet I am here a chosen sample,
To show Thy grace is great and ample;
I'm here a pillar o' Thy temple,
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a buckler, an example
To a' Thy flock.

But yet, O Lord! confess I must
At times I'm fash'd wi' fleshly lust; [troubled]
An' sometimes too, in warldly trust,
Vile self gets in;
But Thou remembers we are dust,
Defil'd wi' sin.

O Lord! yestreen, Thou kens, wi' Meg--
Thy pardon I sincerely beg--
O! may't ne'er be a living plague
To my dishonour,
An' I'll ne'er lift a lawless leg
Again upon her.

Besides I farther maun avow-- [must]
Wi' Leezie's lass, three times, I trow--
But, Lord, that Friday I was fou, [drunk]
When I cam near her,
Or else, Thou kens, thy servant true
Wad never steer her. [meddle with]

May be Thou lets this fleshly thorn
Beset Thy servant e'en and morn
Lest he owre high and proud should turn, [too]
That he's sae gifted;
If sae, Thy hand maun e'en be borne,
Until thou lift it.

Lord, bless Thy chosen in this place,
For here thou hast a chosen race;
But God confound their stubborn face,
And blast their name,
Wha' bring Thy elders to disgrace
An' public shame.

Lord, mind Gau'n Hamilton's deserts,
He drinks, an' swe