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O God the great, the fearful God, To Thee we humbly sue for peace, Groaning beneath a nation’s load, And crushed by our own wickedness Our guilt we tremble to declare, And pour out our sad souls in prayer. Thee we revere, the faithful Lord, Keeping the covenant of Thy grace, True to Thine everlasting Word, Loving to all who seek Thy face, And keep Thy kind commands, and prove Their faith by their obedient love. But we have only evil wrought, Have done to our good God despite, Rebellious with our Maker fought, And sinned against the Gospel light, Departed from His righteous ways, And fallen, fallen from His grace. We have not hearkened to the Word Thy prophets and apostles spoke; In them we disobeyed their Lord: Our princes have cast off the yoke, Our kings Thy sovereign will withstood, Our fathers have denied their God. The rich, and poor, the high, and low, Have trampled on Thy mild command; The floods of wickedness o’erflow, And deluge all our guilty land, People and priest lie drowned in sin, And Tophet yawns to take us in. Righteousness, Lord, belongs to Thee, But guilt to us, and foul disgrace, Confusion, shame, and misery Is due to all our faithless race, Scattered by sin where’er we rove, Vile rebels ’gainst Thy pardoning love. Confusion, misery, and shame Our loudly-crying sins require, Our princes, kings, and fathers claim Their portion in eternal fire, For all the downward path have trod, For all have sinned against their God. But O, forgivenesses are Thine Far above all our hearts conceive, The glorious property divine Is still to pity and forgive, With Thee is full redemption found, And grace doth more than sin abound. All may in Thee our gracious Lord Forgivenesses and mercies find, Though we Thy warnings have abhorred, And cast Thy precepts all behind, The voice divine refused t’obey, And started from Thy plainest way. All Israel have transgressed Thy law, And therefore did the curse take place, Our sins did all Thy judgments draw In showers on our devoted race, Thou hast fulfilled Thy threatening Word, We bear the fury of the Lord. Justly we all Thine anger bear, Chastised for our iniquity, Yet made we not our humble prayer, Yet have we not returned to Thee, Renounced our sins, or longed to prove The truth of Thy forgiving love. Therefore the Lord, the jealous God Hath watched to bring the evil days, Bruised us with His avenging rod, Who would not His still voice obey, Righteous is God in all His ways: We forced Him to withdraw His grace. Yet now, O Lord our God, at last Our sins and wickedness we own; We call to mind Thy mercies past, The ancient days of Thy renown, The wonders Thou for us hast wrought, The arm that out of Egypt brought. O Lord, according to Thy love, Thy utmost power of love, we pray Thine anger and Thy plague remove; Turn from Jerusalem away The curse and punishment we feel, Thou know’st we are Thy people still. The holy mountain of our God, The city Thou hast built below, Thy people, though dispersed abroad, A proverb of reproach and woe, We have our fathers’ sins filled up, And drunk the bitter trembling cup. Now then acknowledge us for Thine, Regard Thine humbled servant’s prayer, And cause on us Thy face to shine, The ruins of Thy Church repair, O for the sake of Christ the Lord, Let all our souls be now restored. My God, incline Thine ear, and hear, Open Thine eyes our wastes to see, Thy fallen desolate Sion cheer, The city which is named by Thee; Not for our cry the grace be shown, But hear, in Jesus hear Thine own. All our desert, we own, is hell, But spare us for Thy mercy sake, We humbly to Thy grace appeal, And Jesus’ wounds our refuge make, O let us all Thy mercy prove, The riches of Thy pardoning love. O Lord, attend, O Lord forgive, O Lord, regard our prayer, and do, Hasten, my God, and bid us live, The fullness of Thy mercy show, Thy city, and Thy people own, And perfect all our souls in one.
Charles Wesley’s other poems:
- Saviour, The World’s and Mine
- Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?
- Ye Thirsty for God, To Jesus Give Ear
- O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
- Ye Simple Souls That Stray
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