Scripture Verse

The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Revelation 6:15–17

Introduction

Words: Jo­seph Hart, Hymns Com­posed on Va­ri­ous Sub­jects 1822, num­ber 157.

Music: Song 20 (Gib­bons) Or­lan­do Gib­bons (1583–1625) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Hart (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Orlando Gibbons
(1583–1625)

Lyrics

Behold! with aw­ful pomp,
The Judge pre­pares to come,
Th’arch­an­gel sounds the dread­ful trump,
And wakes the ge­ne­ral doom.

Nature, in wild am­aze,
Her dis­so­lu­tion mourns;
Blushes of blood the moon de­face,
The sun to dark­ness turns.

The liv­ing look with dread;
The fright­ed dead arise—
Start from the mon­ument­al bed,
And lift their ghast­ly eyes.

Horrors all hearts ap­pall;
They quake, they shriek, they cry;
Bid rocks and mount­ains on them fall,
But rocks and mount­ains fly.

Ye will­ful wan­ton fools,
Let dan­ger make you wise,
Carnal pro­fess­ors, care­less souls,
Unclose your la­zy eyes.

’Tis time we all awake,
The dread­ful day draws near;
Sinners, your pro­found pre­sump­tion check,
And stop your wild ca­reer.

Now is th’ac­cept­ed time;
To Christ for mer­cy fly;
O turn, re­pent, and trust in Him,
And you shall ne­ver die.

Great God, in whom we live,
Prepare us for that day;
Help us in Je­sus to be­lieve,
To watch, and wait, and pray.