Page:Olney Hymns - 1840.djvu/249

BOOK II. 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 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.