Scripture Verse

The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. Psalm 97:5

Introduction

Words: Mat­thew Bridg­es, The Pas­sion of Je­sus (Lon­don: Ri­chard­son & Son, 1852), pag­es 152–54, alt.

Music: Sieh, hier bin ich Geist­reich­es Ge­sang­buch (Darm­stadt, Ger­ma­ny: 1698) (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Rise, O Lord! in all Thy glo­ry
On the last and dread­ful day;
Lo! the lof­ty hills are hoa­ry,
Trembling ere they melt away!
Come to judg­ment! Come to judg­ment,
Let Thy wheels no long­er stay.

Crash on crash of dist­ant thun­der
Peals aloud from pole to pole;
As in wrath they burst asun­der,
And the skies to­ge­ther roll!
Clothed in sack­cloth! Clothed in sack­cloth!
Withering like a parc­hment scroll!

Now the uni­verse in mo­tion
Sinks up­on her fu­ne­ral pyre,
Earth dis­solv­ing, and the ocean
Vanishing in fin­al fire:
Hark, the trum­pet! Hark, the trumpet
Loud—the hour of ire!

Graves have yawned in count­less num­bers,
From the dust the dead arise—
Legions, out of silent slum­bers
Wake in ov­er­whelmed sur­prise—
Where all na­ture! Where all na­ture
Wrecked and torn in ru­in lies!

Lo! that last long se­pa­ra­tion
As the cleav­ing crowds di­vide—
And one dread adju­di­ca­tion
Sends each soul to ei­ther side:
Lord of mer­cy! Lord of mer­cy!
How shall I that day abide?

Sign of safe­ty! see it light­en­ing,
Once the cross of crim­son shame!
And with heavn’ly lus­ter bright­en­ing
Those who suf­fered in its name!
Mighty mill­ions! Migh­ty mill­ions!
Radiant with their wings of flame!

Rise, O Lord! in all Thy glo­ry
On Thine ama­ran­thine throne!
Thousand thou­sand worlds adore Thee,
Bow their knee to Thee alone.
Hail, Em­ma­nu­el! Hail, Em­ma­nu­el!
Let our hearts be all Thine own!