Scripture Verse

[Christ]…shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break…free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14–15

Introduction

portrait
Isaac B. Woodbury (1819–1858)

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: Bu­rton & Briggs, 1818), num­ber 780. Death of a sin­ner.

Music: Lake Enon Is­aac B. Wood­bu­ry, 1856 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

Lyrics

Death! ’tis an aw­ful word,
And fills the mind with fear;
But joy­ful is a dy­ing bed,
If Thou, oh God, art near.

Let but my nu­mer­ous sins
Behind Thy back be cast.
The poi­son­ous sting of death is gone,
The bit­ter­ness is past.

To un­be­liev­ing man,
Wrath quick­ly fol­lows death;
The dread­ed por­tion he re­ceives,
When he re­signs his breath.

To mor­tals all around,
He looks for help in vain;
Nor means, nor mi­nis­ters, nor friends
Can mi­ti­gate his pain.

But let suf­fi­cient grace
In my last hours be giv’n,
Twill spread a lus­ter ov­er death,
And be the dawn of Heav’n.