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FOUNTAIN OF POWER AND DIGNITY

Scripture Verse

Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. He is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Romans 13:3–4

Introduction

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns of In­ter­ces­sion for All Man­kind (Bris­tol, Eng­land: E. Far­ley, 1758), num­ber 16, alt.

Music: Er­les­dene J. H. Martin, in The Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Hym­nal with Ac­com­pa­ny­ing Tunes, ed­it­ed by George Booth (Lon­don: Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Pub­lish­ing House, 1912), num­ber 334 (🔊 ).

If you know Mar­tin’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), would you send us an e-mail?

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Fountain of pow­er and dig­ni­ty,
Thy ma­gis­trates pre­serve and bless,
Ordained, not by the crowd, but Thee,
To curb the floods of wick­ed­ness,
Commissioned min­is­ters of Thine,
Clothed with au­thor­ity di­vine.

Strengthen them in the gap to stand,
To bear the sword, and not in vain,
To spread Thy ter­ror thro’ the land,
And truth and right­eous­ness main­tain,
And an­cient pi­ety re­store
In all its pur­ity and pow­er.

The guard­ians of re­li­gion true,
Its wit­ness­es vouch­safe to make:
And when Thee in the clouds we view,
And when Thou dost the king­dom take,
The good they did Thy Church re­ward
As done un­to her heav’n­ly Lord.