The Cyber Hymnal ‎#9474

9474. Long Has Divine Compassion Strove

1 Long has divine compassion strove
With this rebellious land;
O justice, long has pleading love
Withheld thy dreadful hand.

2 At lengths, ye people, lift your eyes,
Your crimes no more pursue;
Behold the gathering tempest rise,
And tremble at the view!

3 See, fraught with vengeance, how it spreads!
To mercy instant fly;
E’er yet it burst upon your heads,
Repent, repent—or die.

4 Late raging storm, ’twas mercy stayed,
Her voice destruction heard,
Th’impetuous winds her voice obeyed,
And awful justice spared.

5 Shall every warning be in vain
Your ruin to prevent?
Indulgent mercy calls again,
Return, repent! repent!

6 The voice, ye people, hear with awe,
O hear, and turn to God;
Lest mercy, long abused, withdraw,
And leave you to the rod.

7 Almighty God, Thy powerful grace
Can change us, and forgive;
Can save a guilty rebel race,
And say, Repent, and live.

8 O let Thy powerful grace appear,
And justice sheath her sword;
Then shall a rescued nation fear
And love and praise the Lord.

Text Information

• First Line: Long has divine compassion strove
• Title: Long Has Divine Compassion Strove
• Author: Anne Steele
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1760, alt.
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: BANGOR
• Composer: William Tans'ur (1734)
• Meter: CM
• Key: c minor
• Copyright: Public Domain