The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

The lords to whom thou bow'dst thy neck
Shall bow their neck beneath thy chain,
Thy conquerors thou shalt captive take,
And o'er thy dire oppressors reign.

Surely the gospel day shall come,
The Lord thy spirit shall release,
Satan shall have his final doom,
And thou from sin for ever cease.

From all thy grief, and pain, and fear;
Thy grief to be by sin subdued,
Thy pain the galling yoke to bear,
Thy fear to perish in thy blood.

146

Then, when the Lord hath given thee rest,
And breathed the Spirit of His power,
His princely Spirit, into thy breast,
And made thee more than conqueror;

Thou, the poor slave of Satan, thou
Shalt spurn thy old imperious king,
Vanquish'd, for ever vanquish'd now,
And thus the song triumphal sing:—

How hath the proud oppressor ceased!
Fallen the height of Babel's towers,
Fallen the king who long oppress'd
The earth with all its struggling powers.

The world's fierce ruler, and their god
Who bow'd the nations to his yoke,
And bruised them with an iron rod,
And smote with a continual stroke.

How hath the Lord destroy'd his power,
O'erturn'd his kingdom from within,
Ended the dark, oppressive hour,
And broke his staff of inbred sin!

That Man of Sin is now cast down,
Who held the captive world in chains,
And none the cause of Satan own,
And none contend for sin's remains.

All the new earth is now at rest,
From every thought of sin they cease,
Calm holy joy expands their breast,
Their mouth is fill'd with songs of peace.

147

The trees of righteousness rejoice;
Since thou art down, the cedars cry,
We hear no more the axe's noise,
Nor tremble at the feller nigh.

Tophet is for the king prepared,
The sorest doom thy crimes require,
Hell from beneath, for thy reward,
Stirs up its everlasting fire.

O Lucifer, bright morning star,
Brighter than all with thee who fell,
How art thou fallen from glory far,
From glory to profoundest hell!

Reserved, in dark, substantial chains,
To the tremendous judgment day,
Our God shall then fill up thy pains,
Thy bruiser shall for ever slay.

He now thy nature hath expell'd,
And forced thy malice to submit;
Our sin is gone, our soul is heal'd,
And thou art bruised beneath our feet.

How art thou humbled to the ground,
The feeble world's tyrannic lord!
In us no more thy place is found,
Slain by the Spirit's two-edged sword.

Faded and thunderstruck thy brow,
From all thy hopes of empire driven,
Where is thy glorious vaunting now?
“I, even I will mount to heaven.

148

“Above the stars of God once more
I will exalt my sovereign throne,
And force His sons to own my power,
And cast the earth-born potsherds down.

“I will compel them to submit,
A thorn in all His people's side;
I in His mount will fix my seat,
The' unconquerable strength of pride.

“I in their hearts will still remain,
Will have my party still within,
My throne immovable maintain,
My kingdom of inbeing sin.

“The soul of man shall be my shrine,
And entertain my deity,
That temple built by hands Divine
My everlasting home shall be.

“Above the clouds I will aspire,
I will aspire, and scale the sky,
Higher than men, than angels higher,
And bold to rival the Most High.”

Yet shalt thou be brought down to hell;
O Antichrist, thy day shall come,
In us thou shalt not always dwell,
The Judge shall quickly seal thy doom.

Is this the man of hellish birth
(Thy former vassals then shall say)
Who shook the kingdoms of the earth,
And made the trembling world obey?

149

Who made the world a wilderness,
Laid waste the souls of all mankind,
Nor ever would his slaves release,
To sin's eternal bonds consign'd?

PART II.

Prepare, the slaughtering sword prepare,
For Babylon's devoted sons;
The children from their mother tear,
Dash all your sins against the stones.

No more let Satan's offspring rise,
Or build the heaven-invading tower;
Your sins no more shall threat the skies,
But lose their being with their power.

For I (the Lord of Hosts hath said)
Will against Babylon rise up,
Throughout their towers destruction spread,
And quite cut off their latest hope.

Against them will I set My face,
The serpent's seed, the' accursed kin,
Being, remains, and name erase,
And cut off the whole brood of sin.

Satan his kingdom's fall shall see,
Its final period sin shall feel,
Destruction shall the besom be,
And sweep its last remains to hell.

The Lord of Hosts, the mighty Lord,
Hath sworn His promise to fulfil;
Surely I will perform My word,
The counsel of My sovereign will.

150

It shall be so: My word shall stand,
I will confirm the sure decree,
And break the' Assyrian in My land,
And set My captive people free.

My mountains shall lift up their head,
O'erlook the world and sin below;
My people shall on scorpions tread,
On sin—no more their bosom foe.

This is the purpose of My grace,
My grace which every soul may have;
This is the hand o'er Adam's race
Stretch'd out, and ready all to save.

The Lord of Hosts hath so decreed,
To save the faithful from all sin,
To make them saints and free indeed,
Entirely whole, and throughly clean.

The fix'd, unchangeable decree
What power can break or disannul?
It stood from all eternity
Confirm'd to every faithful soul.

Who can the will Divine withstand?
The will Divine its course shall have.
Who can turn back that outstretch'd hand,
Or teach his God how far to save?

Factors for hell, ye strive in vain
To limit His omnipotence;
Sin shall not in our flesh remain,
His perfect love shall drive it thence.

151

The poor shall on His promise feed,
The needy shall in peace lie down,
And wait to be for ever freed
From sin, and wear the conqueror's crown.

The Saviour's hand is stretch'd out still,
And still to sin we hear Him say,—
With famine I thy root will kill,
I will, I will thy remnant slay.

Howl, ye base advocates for sin,
Your giant chief hath lost his head:
Fallen is the mighty Philistine;
Goliath with his host is dead.

The dear remains of sin are gone,
And all dissolved its system is;
Not one of all the race, not one
Survives to break our perfect peace.

We now their faithful saying feel,
Who preach'd the all-redeeming Lord,
And saved from sin set to our seal,
And answer to the gospel word.

The Lord hath founded on a rock
His church, which never shall remove;
The gates of hell can never shock
His saints, when perfected in love.

This is the state which all may know,
To which His poor shall all attain,
Be as their sinless Lord below,
And glorious then for ever reign.

University of Virginia Library

THE FOURTEENTH CHAPTER OF ISAIAH.

PART I.

PART II.