Classic Poem

1.

On Thee, great Ruler of the Skies,
On Thee our stedfast hope relies:
When hostile pow'rs against us join,
What Aid so present, Lord, as thine?

2.

By Thee secur'd, no fears we own,
Though Earth, convuls'd, beneath us groan,
Though tempests o'er her surface sweep,
And whirl her hills into the Deep:

3.

Though, arm'd with rage, before our eyes
That Deep in all its horrors rise,
While, as the tumult spreads around,
The mountains tremble at the sound.

4.

Behold fair Sion 's blest retreat,
Where God has fix'd his awful Seat;
Whose walls to heav'n's Almighty Lord
His chosen residence afford:

5.

No Tempests there licentious stray,
But soft along their level way
The sacred Streams their course maintain,
And crown with health her happy plain.

6.

God, ever watchful, ever nigh,
Bids storms around her harmless fly;
His early care each for withstands,
And backward turns the yielding Bands.

7.

See, rous'd by Discord's fierce alarms,
The headlong Nations rush to arms;
But God aloud asserts his sway,
And Earth's whole fabrick melts away.

8.

On Heav'n's high Lord our trust we build;
The God of Jacob is our Shield;
His arm, exerted in our right,
Shall turn each adverse pow'r to flight.

9.

O come, behold a scene of dread,
Behold a World with slaughter spread;
And know, 'tis God who bids each Land
Thus feel the terrors of his hand.

10.

'Tis His, again the Earth to chear,
To break the bow, to snap the spear,
To wrap in flames the glitt'ring car,
And hush the tumult of the war.

11.

Be still, ye Sons of Pride, and own
That I am God, and I alone:
Exalted o'er each heathen Land,
Exalted o'er the Earth I stand;

12.

On Heav'n's high Lord our trust we build;
The God of Jacob is our Shield,
His arm, exerted in our right,
Shall turn each adverse pow'r to flight.