How sweet the song, that we shall sing, When Christ His ransomed ones shall bring From beds of dust, and silent clay,
To realms of everlasting day.
Soon shall the trumpet sound, and we
Shall rise to immortality.
Caught up to meet Him in the sky,
No more to suffer, or to die;
Oh! come thou resurrection morn,
Awake! thou church of the first-born
Hark! hark! the trumpet sounds, and we
Rise, clothed with immortality.
HAIL to the Lord's anointed!
Great David's greater son;
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free ;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
He comes, with succour speedy,
To those, who suffer wrong;
To help the poor, and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned, and dying,
Were precious in His sight.
By such shall He be feared,
While sun, and moon endure,
Beloved, obey'd, revered;
For He shall judge the poor, Through changing generations, With justice, mercy, truth, While stars maintain their stations, Or moons renew their youth.
He shall come down, like showers,
Upon the fruitful earth;
And love,-joy-hope-like flowers,
Spring in His path to birth;
Before Him, on the mountains,
Shall peace, the herald go;
And righteousness in fountains
From hill to valley flow.
Arabia's desert-ranger
To Him shall bow the knee;
The Ethiopian stranger,
His glory come to see;
With offerings of devotion,
Ships from the isles shall meet,
the wealth of ocean
In tribute, at His feet.
Kings shall fall down before Him,
And gold, and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing;
For, He shall have dominion
O'er river, sea, and shore,
Far as the eagle's pinion,
Or dove's light wing can soar.
For Him shall prayer unceasing,
And daily vows, ascend;
His kingdom still increasing,
A kingdom without end;
The mountain-dews shall nourish
A seed, in weakness sown;
Whose fruit shall spread and flourish,
And shake like Lebanon.
O'er every foe victorious,
He on His throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious,
All-blessing, and all-blest;
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove,
His name shall stand for ever,
That name to us is Love.
IN time of tribulation,
Hear, Lord, my feeble cries,
With humble supplication,
To Thee my spirit flies;
My heart with grief is breaking,
Scarce can my voice complain;
Mine eyes, with tears kept waking,
Still watch, and weep in vain.
The days of old, in vision,
Bring vanish'd bliss to view;
The years of lost fruition,
Their joys, in pangs renew ;
Remember'd songs of gladness,
Through night's lone silence brought,
Strike notes of deeper sadness,
And stir desponding thought.
Hath God cast off for ever?
Can time his truth impair?
His tender mercy, never
Shall I presume to share?
Hath He, His loving kindness
Shut up in endless wrath?
No! this is mine own blindness,
That cannot see His path.
I call to recollection
The years of His right hand; And, strong in His protection, Again through faith I stand; Thy deeds, O Lord, are wonder; Holy are all Thy ways;
The secret place of thunder
Shall utter forth Thy praise.
Thee, with the tribes assembled,
O God, the billows saw;
They saw Thee, and they trembled,
Turn'd, and stood still, with awe;
The clouds shot hail-they lighten'd,
The earth reel'd to and fro;
Thy fiery pillar brightened
The gulf of gloom below.
Thy way is in great waters,
Thy footsteps are not known;
Let Adam's sons, and daughters
Confide in Thee alone;
Through the wild sea Thou leddest
Thy chosen flock of yore;
Still on the waves Thou treadest,
And Thy redeem'd pass o'er.
WALKING on the winged wind,
Fear before Him, death behind,
When the Lord came down in wrath,
Clouds, and darkness girt His path.
Thence abroad His arrows flew,
Thick, and fast, they smote and slew,
We in dust, and ashes lay,
None could help, but all could pray.
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