2 See the commission d angel frown!
That vial in his hand,
Fill d with fierce wrath, is pouring down
Upon our guilty land !
3 Ye saints, unite in wrestling pray r,
If yet there may be hope ;
Who knows but mercy yet may spare,
And bid the angel stop ?
4 Already is the plague begun,
And, fired with hostile rage,
Brethren, by blood and interest one,
With brethren now engage.
5 Peace spreads her wings, prepared for flight;
And war, with flaming sword
And hasty strides, draws nigh, to fight
The battles of the Lord.
6 The first alarm, alas, how few,
While distant, seem to hear !
But they will hear, and tremble too,
When God shall send it near.
7 So thunder o er the distant hills
Gives but a murm ring sound ;
But as the tempest spreads, it falls
And shakes the welkin[1] round.
8 May we, at least, with one consent,
Fall low before the throne :
With tears the nation s sins lament,
The church s, and our own.
9 The humble souls who mourn and pray
The Lord approves and knows ;
His mark secures them in the day
When vengeance strikes his foes.
- ↑ Firmament, or atmosphere.
