PSALM 97. v. 1–5. First Part. (L. M.) Christ reigning in Heaven, and coming to Judgment.
I
He reigns; the Lord, the Saviour reigns;
Praise him in evangelic strains;
Let the whole earth in songs rejoice,
And distant islands join their voice.
II
Deep are his counsels and unknown;
But grace and truth support his throne:
Tho' gloomy clouds his ways surround,
Justice is their eternal ground.
III
In robes of judgment, lo! he comes,
Shakes the wide earth, and cleaves the tombs;
Before him burns devouring fire,
The mountains melt, the seas retire.
IV
His enemies, with sore dismay,
Fly from the sight, and shun the day;
Then lift your heads, ye saints, on high,
And sing, for your redemption's nigh.
Though the kingdom of Christ, in the two first stanzas, be matter
of joy to all nations, yet his coming to judgment in the two last, is
joy only to the saints. As this psalm introduces Zion and Judah
rejoicing, verse 8. so Christ bids his apostles lift up their heads, &c.
Luke xxi. 28.
