Scripture Verse

I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Exodus 33:22

Introduction

portrait
John S. Camp (1858–1946)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns Oc­ca­sioned by the Earth­quake, March 8, 1750, se­cond edi­tion, 1756.

Music: Abid­ing Grace John S. Camp, 1905 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

By faith we find the place ab­ove,
The Rock that rent in twain;
Beneath the shade of di­vine love,
And in the clefts re­main.

Jesus, to Thy dear wounds we flee,
We sink in­to Thy side;
Assured that all who trust in Thee
Shall ev­er­more ab­ide.

Then let the thun­der­ing trum­pet sound,
The lat­est light­ning glare,
The mount­ains melt, the so­lid ground
Dissolve as li­quid air.

The huge ce­les­ti­al bo­dies roll,
Amidst that ge­ne­ral fire,
And shri­vel as a parch­ment scroll,
And all in smoke ex­pire!

Yet still the Lord, the Sav­ior, reigns,
When na­ture is de­stroyed,
And no cre­ated thing re­mains
Throughout the flam­ing void.

Sublime upon His az­ure throne,
He speaks the al­migh­ty word;
His fi­at is ob­eyed! ’tis done;
And pa­ra­dise re­stored.

So be it! let this sys­tem end,
This ru­in­ous earth and skies,
The new Je­ru­sa­lem des­cend,
The new cre­ation rise!

Thy pow­er om­ni­po­tent as­sume,
Thy bright­est ma­jes­ty!
And when Thou dost in glo­ry come,
My Lord, re­mem­ber me!

These vers­es ab­ove are at the end of a larg­er hymn. Here are the vers­es from the be­gin­ning of the hymn:

Woe to the men on earth who dwell,
Nor dread the Al­migh­ty’s frown,
When God doth all His wrath re­veal,
And show­er his judg­ments down!

Sinners, ex­pect those hea­vi­est show­ers,
To meet your God pre­pare;
For, lo! the sev­enth an­gel pours
His phi­al in the air.

Lo! from their seats the mount­ains leap,
The mount­ains are not found;
Transported far in­to the deep,
And in the ocean drowned.

Who then shall live, and face the throne,
And face the Judge se­vere?
When hea­ven and earth are fled and gone,
O where shall I ap­pear?

Now, on­ly now, against that hour
We may a place pro­vide;
Beyond the grave, be­yond the power
Of hell, our Spir­its hide.

Firm in the all de­stroy­ing shock,
May view the fi­nal scene;
For, lo! the ev­er­last­ing Rock
Is cleft to take us in.