 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
FOR THE FAST DAY, FEBRUARY 10TH, 1779.
Tremendous God, Thy work we see,
Thy strange destruction work below,
Chastised for our iniquity,
Compell'd the fatal cause to know:
We tremble as the storm comes on,
And turns the kingdoms upside down.
Thy strange destruction work below,
Chastised for our iniquity,
Compell'd the fatal cause to know:
We tremble as the storm comes on,
And turns the kingdoms upside down.
414
Abroad the sword our kin devours,
And thousands and ten thousands fall;
(Their doom, alas! involving ours;)
Yet still for sorer plagues they call;
And by the tyrant's heaviest chain,
With wasted realm, and heaps of slain,
And thousands and ten thousands fall;
(Their doom, alas! involving ours;)
Yet still for sorer plagues they call;
And by the tyrant's heaviest chain,
With wasted realm, and heaps of slain,
By famine, pestilence, and sword,
Thou hast our guilty brethren tried;
Yet, oh! Thou dread, avenging Lord,
Thy justice is not satisfied;
Thine anger is not turn'd away,
Thine arm is still stretch'd out to slay.
Thou hast our guilty brethren tried;
Yet, oh! Thou dread, avenging Lord,
Thy justice is not satisfied;
Thine anger is not turn'd away,
Thine arm is still stretch'd out to slay.
Britons at home with Britons fight,
And furious partisans engage;
With cruel hate, and full despite,
Intestine war they madly wage:
By discord dire the land o'erturn,
And Thee and Thy vicegerent scorn.
And furious partisans engage;
With cruel hate, and full despite,
Intestine war they madly wage:
By discord dire the land o'erturn,
And Thee and Thy vicegerent scorn.
Thy speaking rod they will not hear,
Thy lifted hand they will not see;
But cast off all religious fear,
And only by their crimes agree
Their sinful measure to fulfil,
Their own extreme perdition seal.
Thy lifted hand they will not see;
But cast off all religious fear,
And only by their crimes agree
Their sinful measure to fulfil,
Their own extreme perdition seal.
Yet oh! Thou gracious God and true,
Our death-devoted nation spare,
Attentive to the pious few,
Who wrestle on in ceaseless prayer,
Who will not let Thy wrath alone,
But cry for mercy—in Thy Son.
Our death-devoted nation spare,
Attentive to the pious few,
Who wrestle on in ceaseless prayer,
Who will not let Thy wrath alone,
But cry for mercy—in Thy Son.
415
Thy children, faithful in the fire,
Regard, and timely rescue send:
Mercy our hearts, with theirs, require,
Mercy our miseries to end;
For Jesu's sake our sins remove,
And save us through Thy pardoning love.
Regard, and timely rescue send:
Mercy our hearts, with theirs, require,
Mercy our miseries to end;
For Jesu's sake our sins remove,
And save us through Thy pardoning love.
All things are possible to God,
To them that on Thy Son believe;
In answer to His speaking blood,
Father, the murderers forgive,
And pristine piety restore,
And peace, till time shall be no more.
To them that on Thy Son believe;
In answer to His speaking blood,
Father, the murderers forgive,
And pristine piety restore,
And peace, till time shall be no more.
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |