University of Virginia Library

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IV. THE FIFTY-FIRST CHAPTER OF ISAIAH.

PART I.

Hearken to Me, who seek the Lamb,
Who follow after righteousness;
Look to the rock, from whence ye came,
The father of the faithful race:

Behold, and in his footsteps tread:
I call'd him by My grace alone,
And bless'd, and multiplied his seed,
Believers in the promised Son.

Children of faithful Abraham these,
Who dare expect salvation here,
The Lord shall give them gospel peace,
And all His hopeless mourners cheer:

Shall soon His fallen Sion raise,
Her waste and desolate places build,
Pour out the Spirit of His grace,
And make her wilds a fruitful field.

The barren souls shall be restored,
The desert all renew'd shall rise,
Bloom as the garden of the Lord,
A fair terrestrial paradise.

Gladness and joy shall there be found,
Thanksgiving and the voice of praise,
The voice of melody shall sound,
And every heart be fill'd with grace.

Hearken to Me, My chosen race,
My own peculiar people, hear,
Whoe'er the gospel word embrace,
Look to be pure and perfect here.

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A law shall soon from Me proceed,
A living life-infusing word,
The truth that makes you free indeed,
The' eternal Spirit of your Lord.

My mercy will I cause to rest,
Where all may see their sins forgiven,
May rise no more by guilt opprest,
And bless the light that leads to heaven.

My righteousness shall soon appear;
Already is the grace gone forth,
The grace that brings salvation near,
And offers all My pardoning worth.

Mine arms shall judge the world below,
The isles on Me shall humbly wait,
And long, through Me restored, to know
The glories of their first estate.

Not on an arm of flesh, but Mine,
Their steady confidence shall be;
Pardon, and peace, and power Divine,
All, all they shall expect from Me.

Lift up your eyes, the heavens survey,
And look upon the earth below;
The heavens like smoke shall pass away,
The earth its final period know.

Vanishes hence whate'er is seen,
The breath of life shall all expire,
The earth, and all that dwell therein
Shall perish in that fatal fire.

My righteousness shall stand alone,
My saving grace shall never move,
The basis cannot be o'erthrown,
The truth of My eternal love.

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Hearken to Me, ye souls who know
The righteousness which faith imparts,
And lovingly obedient show
The law engraven on your hearts.

Fear not the taunts of short-lived man,
His feeble calumnies despise,
Impotent all his rage, and vain,
The threatener, while he threatens, dies.

Perishing as the garb they wear,
Your enemies shall fade away,
Their breath shall vanish into air,
The worm shall on their carcase prey.

God only is unchangeable,
My righteousness remaineth sure,
My great salvation cannot fail,
But shall from age to age endure.

PART II.

Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!
Thine own immortal strength put on,
With terror clothed the nations shake,
And cast Thy foes in fury down.

As in the ancient days appear,
The sacred annals speak Thy fame,
Be now omnipotently near,
Through endless ages still the same.

Thy tenfold vengeance knew to quell,
And humble haughty Rahab's pride,
Groan'd her pale sons Thy stroke to feel,
The first-born victims groan'd, and died.

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The wounded dragon raged in vain,
While bold Thine utmost plague to brave,
Madly he dared the parted main,
And sunk beneath the' o'erwhelming wave.

He sunk; while Israel's chosen race
Triumphant urge their wondrous way;
Divinely led, the favourites pass
The' unwatery deep, and emptied sea.

At distance heap'd on either hand,
Yielding a strange unbeaten road,
In crystal walls the waters stand,
And own the arm of Israel's God.

That arm which is not shorten'd now,
Which wants not now the power to save;
Still present with Thy people Thou
Bear'st them through life's disparted wave.

By earth and hell pursued in vain,
To Thee the ransom'd seed shall come;
Shouting, their heavenly Sion gain,
And pass through death triumphant home.

The pain of life shall there be o'er,
The anguish, and distracting care,
There sighing grief shall weep no more,
And sin shall never enter there.

Where pure essential joy is found,
The Lord's redeem'd their heads shall raise,
With everlasting gladness crown'd,
And fill'd with love, and lost in praise.

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PART III.

I, even I, am He that cheer
My people in distress and pain;
How weak thy heart, O man, to fear
Thy feeble fellow-reptile man!

Withering as grass he fades, and dies:
Yet hast thou been of man afraid,
Thoughtless of God, who earth and skies
Hath built, and keeps the worlds He made.

The' oppressor's rage thou every day
Hast fear'd, and trembled at his power,
As man like God thy soul could slay,
As hell were ready to devour.

But where is all his furious boast,
His idle wrath, and threatening vain?
Spite of the world and Satan's host,
Thou dost, Thou ever shalt remain.

The captive exile pines for ease,
And trembles lest his bread should fail,
Groans in the pit for his release,
Lest death consign his soul to hell.

But I the Lord thy Saviour am,
Divider of the roaring sea,
The Lord of Hosts is still My name;
Mine arm is now stretch'd out for thee.

My Son I have for sinners given:
Help upon thee, My Son, I place;
Go, plant the new-made earth and heaven,
And bring Me back the ransom'd race.

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Thee have I shadow'd with My hand,
In Thee Divine and human join'd,
My Messenger of peace ordain'd,
My Gift of Life to all mankind.

Thee more peculiarly I give,
To souls who for redemption groan,
Say to the dying sinner, Live,
To Sion say, Thou art Mine own!

PART IV.

Awake, Jerusalem, awake,
Thou that hast drunk the trembling cup,
The slumber from thy spirit shake,
Beneath thy mighty woes stand up.

Thou that hast drunk the deadly wine
Of pain, astonishment, and fear,
The last sad dregs of wrath Divine;
Awake, and see thy Saviour near.

Of all her sons whom she brought forth,
Of all her sons whom Sion bred,
Not one can help her by his worth,
Not one can his weak mother lead.

Not one attempts with pious care
To guide her in the paths of peace:
Ah! who shall Sion's burden bear?
Ah! who shall bid thy sufferings cease?

Famine, and sword, have laid thee waste;
Sin, the destroying angel's sword
Throughout thy desolate land hath past,
Join'd with a famine of the word.

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By whom shall I thy sorrows cheer?
As a wild bull thy sons lie bound,
And struggling in the hunter's snare,
And bellowing through their spirit's wound.

Fainting in all the streets they lie,
O'erwhelm'd beneath their guilty load,
Rebuked by Him they dared defy,
Full of the fury of thy God.

Wherefore to thee the Lord hath said,
(Opprest and drunk with wrath Divine,)
The Lord thy God, who deigns to plead
His people's desperate cause, and thine;

Lo! I thy soul have freely loved,
I have display'd My mercy's power,
The cup out of thy hands removed,
And thou shalt never taste it more.

Mine indignation's dreadful cup
The portion of thy foes shall be,
They, they shall all the dregs drink up:
The cup of blessing is for thee.

Thee, Sion, thee: so long compell'd
To stoop at the oppressor's frown,
Enslaved by man, and forced to yield,
When sin, or Satan, cried, Bow down.

Poor vassal! to rebel afraid,
Thy baseness bow'd to every lust,
As clay thou hast thy body laid,
And mix'd thy spirit with the dust.

But I, the righteous Lord, on all
That tread thee down will vengeance take,
My fury on thy sin shall fall,
Mine arm an end of sin shall make.

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Its being with its power destroy,
The inward stumbling-block remove,
And fill thee with unfading joy,
And crown thee with eternal love.