Scripture Verse

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. Haggai 2:6

Introduction

Words: Jo­shua F. Drake, 2006 (pub­lic do­main).

Music: Flan­dren­sis Jo­shua F. Drake, 2005 (re­leased to the pub­lic do­main) (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Joshua F. Drake
(1979–)

Origin of the Hymn

I wrote [this hymn] af­ter a ser­mon ser­ies on Hag­gai preached by my pas­tor, Scott Flem­ing at Roc­ky Springs [Pres­by­ter­ian Church] in Har­ris­ville [Penn­syl­van­ia]. Scott has a gift for mak­ing clear con­nect­ions be­tween the pro­phe­cy of the Old Tes­ta­ment and the ful­fill­ment of that pro­phe­cy in the New Tes­ta­ment—some­thing I hope is clear in the text of the hymn.

Joshua Drake

Lyrics

As in the days of Hag­gai when
The He­brews hewed from stone
Jehovah’s tem­ple, built again
To serve their God alone,
So too our hearts can be re­made,
From stone to flesh—the heav’n­ly blade
Carves out an earth­ly home.

The tem­ple of Ze­rub­ba­bel,
Like that of So­lo­mon
Sustained at­tack, gave way, and fell
To rise and fall again.
But when God’s tem­ple died and rose
He kept the pro­mise giv’n to those
Who built the tem­ple then.

God shook the earth and Gen­tiles then
Brought trea­sure to His store,
But Hea­ven and earth will shake again
When our King comes once more.
Then all that can be shak­en will
Be purged and dross re­moved un­til
He clears His thresh­ing floor.