Poor sinners! little do they think

BELSHAZZAR by John Newton


 * Poor sinners! little do they think
 * With whom they have to do!
 * But stand securely on the brink
 * Of everlasting woe.


 * Belshazzar thus, profanely bold,
 * The Lord of hosts defied;
 * But vengeance soon his boasts controlled,
 * And humbled all his pride.


 * He saw a hand upon the wall
 * (And trembled on his throne)
 * Which wrote his sudden dreadful fall
 * In characters unknown.


 * Why should he tremble at the view
 * Of what he could not read?
 * Foreboding conscience quickly knew
 * His ruin was decreed.


 * See him o'erwhelmed with deep distress!
 * His eyes with anguish roll;
 * His looks, and loosened joints, express
 * The terrors of his soul.


 * His pomp and music, guests and wine,
 * No more delight afford;
 * O sinner, ere this case be thine,
 * Begin to seek the LORD.


 * The law like this hand-writing stands,
 * And speaks the wrath of God;
 * But JESUS answers its demands,
 * And cancels it with blood.