Scripture Verse

O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance. Psalm 79:1

Introduction

Words: From The Psal­ter (Pitts­burgh, Penn­syl­van­ia: Unit­ed Pres­by­ter­ian Board of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1912), num­ber 216.

Music: Hy­fry­dol Row­land H. Pri­chard, 1844 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
Rowland H. Prichard
(1811–1887)

Lyrics

In Thy he­rit­age the hea­then
Now, O God, tri­um­phant stand;
They de­file Thy ho­ly tem­ple,
They de­stroy Thy chos­en land;
Ruthless, they have slain Thy ser­vants,
They have caused Thy saints to mourn;
In the sight of all about us
We en­dure re­proach and scorn.

O how long against Thy peo­ple
Shall Thine an­ger burn, O Lord?
On Thine en­emies, the hea­then,
Be Thine in­dig­na­tion poured;
Smite the king­doms that de­fy Thee,
Calling not up­on Thy name;
They have long de­voured Thy peo­ple
And have swept Thy land with flame.

O re­mem­ber not against us
Evil by our fa­thers wrought;
Haste to help us in Thy mer­cy
Near to ru­in we are brought;
Help us, God of our sal­va­tion,
For the glo­ry of Thy name;
For Thy name’s sake come and save us,
Take away our sin and shame.

Let Thy foes no long­er scorn Thee,
Now av­enge Thy ser­vants slain;
Loose the pri­son­er, save the dy­ing,
All Thine ene­mies re­strain;
Then Thy flock, Thy chos­en peo­ple,
Unto Thee their thanks shall raise,
And to ev­ery ge­ne­ra­tion
We will sing Thy glo­ri­ous praise.

illustration
Solomon’s Wall, Jerusalem
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)