Scripture Verse

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:10

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns Oc­ca­sioned by the Earth­quake, March 8, 1750, Part 2 (Lon­don: Stra­han, 1750), num­ber 2.

Music: Hil­ki­ah Lo­well Ma­son, The Mod­ern Psalm­ist (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1839), page 61 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Lyrics

Awake, ye guil­ty souls, awake,
Nor sleep, till To­phet takes you in!
The Lord of hosts is ris’n to shake
The earth pol­lut­ed with your sin.

Enter in­to the Rock, and hide
Your tremb­ling spi­rits in the dust;
Fly to the clefts, the riv­en side,
And in a dy­ing Sav­ior trust.

Before the Lord’s fierce an­ger come,
Before He bring the venge­ful day,
And fix th’ ir­re­vo­ca­ble doom,
And earth’s foun­da­tions melt away.

Before its mouth it op­ens wide,
And gasps to feel the fi­nal blow;
Firmer sup­port, ye worms, pro­vide,
Or sink in­to eter­nal woe.