Scripture Verse

If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Peter 4:18

Introduction

portrait
Philip Doddridge (1702–1751)

Words: Phi­lip Dodd­ridge (1702–1751). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Found­ed on Va­ri­ous Texts in the Ho­ly Scrip­tures, by Job Or­ton (Shrop­shire, Eng­land: Jo­shua Ed­dowes & John Cot­ton, 1755), num­ber 337: The un­god­ly warned of their fi­nal ap­pear­ance.

Music: Llef Grif­fith H. Jones, in Ga­mau Mawl, by Da­vid Jen­kins, 1890 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Erhalt uns, Herr Geist­liche Lied­er (Wit­ten­berg, Ger­ma­ny, 1543) (🔊 pdf nwc)
portrait
Griffith H. Jones (1849–1919)

Lyrics

Behold God’s great in­car­nate Son
In ma­jes­ty comes fly­ing down:
Hark! for His trum­pet’s aw­ful sound
Awakes the dead, and cleav­es the ground.

So so­lemn shall the judg­ment be,
And so se­vere the scru­ti­ny,
That, by his me­rit tried alone,
The saint him­self would be un­done.

Where then, ye sons of Be­li­al, where
Will your as­ton­ished souls ap­pear?
How will ye shun His pierc­ing sight?
Or how re­sist His match­less might?

Up to the point­ed moun­tains fly,
And gain the con­fines of the sky;
There shall ye meet ce­les­ti­al fire,
While moun­tains melt be­fore His ire.

Call on the rend­ing earth to save,
And in its cen­ter search a grave;
The Judge shall well dis­cern thee there,
And drag thee trem­bling to His bar.

Deck thee around with fraud and lies,
And put on ev­ery fair dis­guise;
Soon shall thy paint­ed form be known
Amidst ten thou­sand of His own.

Gird thee in arms, His wrath t’op­pose,
And league with mill­ions of His foes;
Soon would the re­bel band ex­pire
Like crack­ling thorns amidst the fire.

One on­ly way may yet be found;
Submissive bow ye to the ground:
His cross a re­fuge will af­ford
From all the ter­rors of His sword.