The Cyber Hymnal ‎#9499

9499. When Sodom's Rich But Guilty Plains

1 When Sodom’s rich but guilty plains
To wrath divine were doomed,
Abr’am the patriarch interposed
And thus his plea assumed.

2 “Shall good and bad together fall
And undistinguished lie?
Far be this ever from the God
That rules above the sky.

3 "Shall not the judge of all the earth
Whom righteous acts delight;
Shall not the spring whence justice flows
Do ever what is right?"

4 Thus did the holy patriarch plead
When zeal, with pity warm;
And saw with joy just Lot preserved
From the sulfurous storm.

5 Let God in wrath destroy a land,
Or drown in floods a world;
Guilty they were and did deserve
In ruin to be hurled.

6 What tho’ the faint sometimes may smart
Beneath a heavier rod?
He that inflicts the blow is still
A just and righteous God.

7 The ways of Heaven, dark as they seem,
Are not without their light;
The last, that brightest day of truth
Will show that all is right.

Text Information

• First Line: When Sodom’s rich but guilty plains
• Title: When Sodom's Rich But Guilty Plains
• Author: John Needham
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Source: Hymns Devotional and Moral on Various Subjects (Bristol, England: S. Farley, 1768)
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: OLD MARTYRS
• Meter: CM
• Key: d minor
• Source: Psalms (Edinburgh, Scotland: 1615)