It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
Hebrews 9:27
Words: Benjamin Beddome (1717–1795). Published posthumously in Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (London: Burton & Briggs, 1818), number 777. Reflections on death.
Music: Pentecost (Boyd) William Boyd, 1864 (🔊 pdf nwc). First published in Thirty-Two Hymn Tunes Composed by Members of the University of Oxford, 1868.
Alternate Tunes:
If you know where to get a good picture of Beddome or Boyd (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Learn, oh my soul, what ’tis to die!
Th’event how solemn, and how nigh;
When every tongue shall silent be,
These eyes no pleasing object see.
The active limbs, the comely face,
Turned to a mass of rottenness;
The name forgot, the substance gone,
No more admired, no longer known.
But thou, my soul, must then remain,
In everlasting joy or pain;
The bliss of Heav’n with angels share,
Or else be plunged in black despair.
Then be these solemn thoughts impressed,
With power divine on every breast;
And ere another moment pass,
Oh let us seek renewing grace.
Quickly to Jesus may we fly,
And on His righteousness rely;
Lo, our eternal all’s at stake,
Awake, our slumbering souls, awake.