The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Arise, ye men of war,
Prevent the morning ray,
Prepare, your Captain cries, prepare,
Your Captain leads the way:
He calls you forth to fight,
Where yonder ramparts rise,
Ramparts of a stupendous height,
Ramparts that touch the skies.

Who dares approach those towers?
Who can those walls o'erturn?
The city braves all human powers,
And laughs a siege to scorn.
Who shall the city take,
The Jericho within?
Not all the powers of earth can shake
The strength of inbred sin.

Impregnable it stands,
Strong, and wall'd up to heaven;
But God into our Joshua's hands
The citadel hath given;

The fortress and its king,
And all his valiant men,
Our Captain to the ground shall bring,
And on their ruins reign.

All power He hath to quell,
And conquer and o'erthrow,
All power in heaven, and earth, and hell,
To root out every foe;
Through Him divinely bold
Let all His soldiers fight,
Now of your Captain's strength take hold,
And conquer in His might.

Ye people all pass on;
Ye men of war surround
The city by your Captain won;
Attend the trumpet's sound:
The priests whom He hath chose
Pass on before the Lord,
And each a ram's-horn trumpet blows,
The trumpet of the word.

The holy ark they bear,
The covenant of His grace,
And tidings of great joy declare
To all the fallen race:
They make His mercies known,
His promises they show:
Go in the track your guides have shown,
To certain conquest go.

In sight of God proceed,
Follow the ark Divine,
In all the ways and statutes tread,
Which He hath pleased to' enjoin:

Pray always, fast, and pray,
And watch to do His will;
All His commands with joy obey,
All righteousness fulfil.

With patience persevere,
Still in His ways be found,
Still to the city walls draw near,
And day by day surround;
Continue in His word,
On all His means attend,
Bearing the burden of the Lord,
And hoping to the end.

Arise, your strength renew,
Your glorious toil repeat,
Follow the ark, your Lord pursue,
And for His promise wait;
In deepest silence go;
Your Joshua cries, Be still,
Assured His truth and power to know,
And prove His perfect will.

Tried to the uttermost
His faithful word shall be,
Who in the strength of Jesus trust
Shall gain the victory:
But wait for your reward,
And give your clamours o'er,
Tarry the leisure of your Lord,
Nor ever murmur more.

The solemn day draws nigh,
When sin shall have its doom,
Faith sees it with an eagle's eye,
And cries, The day is come;

The seventh morn I see,
And hasten to be blest,
Enjoy an instant victory,
An antedated rest.

The walls are compass'd round,
This circuit is the last:
The ark stands still: the trumpets sound
A long continued blast:
The people turn their eyes
On the devoted walls;
And shout, the mighty Joshua cries,
And lo! the city falls!

Its proud aspiring brow
Lies level with the ground;
It lies, and not one stone is now
Upon another found.
The walls are flat, the deep
Foundations are o'erthrown;
The lofty fortress is an heap,
And sin is trodden down.

The strength of sin is lost,
And Babylon the great
Is fallen, fallen to the dust,
Has found its final fate.
Partakers of our hope,
We seize what God hath given,
And trampling down all sin go up,
And straight ascend to heaven.

But shall not sin remain,
And in its ruins live?
No, Lord; we trust, and not in vain,
Thy fulness to receive:

Thy strength and saving grace
Thou shalt for us employ,
The being of all sin erase,
And utterly destroy.

Actual and inbred sin
Shall feel Thy two-edged sword:
The city is, with all therein,
Devoted to the Lord:
Thy word cannot be broke,
Thou wilt Thine arm display,
Thou wilt with one continual stroke
Our sin for ever slay.

Woman, and man, and beast,
And ox, and ass, and sheep,
All, all at once shall be oppress'd
By death's eternal sleep;
Never to rise again,
Both young and old shall fall;
Not one shall 'scape, not one remain,
But die, and perish all.

The human beast and fiend
Thou, Lord, shalt take away,
And make the old transgression end,
And all its relics slay;
The proud and carnal will,
The selfish vain desire,
Thou all our sins at once shalt kill,
And burn them all with fire.

University of Virginia Library

CXLI. THE SAME. THE TAKING OF JERICHO.

Hymn 29. [Joshua vi.]