Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church ‎#514

514. Great God, what do I see and hear!

1 Great God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear,
On clouds of glory seated.
The trumpet sounds; the graves restore
The dead which they contained before;
Prepare, my soul, to meet Him.

2 The dead in Christ shall first arise,
At the last trumpet’s sounding,
Caught up to meet Him in the skies,
With joy their Lord surrounding;
No gloomy fears their souls dismay;
His presence sheds eternal day
On those prepared to meet Him.

3 But sinners, filled with guilty fears,
Behold His wrath prevailing.
But they shall rise, and find their tears
And sighs are unavailing;
The day of grace is past and gone;
Trembling they stand before the throne,
All unprepared to meet Him.

4 Great God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear,
On clouds of glory seated.
Beneath Thy Cross I view the day
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
And thus prepare to meet Thee.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: Great God, what do I see and hear!
• Author (stanza 1): Anon. (1802)
• Author (stanzas 2 and 3): William Bengo Collyer (1812)
• Revised by: Thomas Cotterill (1820)
• Meter: 8 7, 8 7, 8 8 7
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1917
• Topic: The Life Everlasting: Judgment
• Notes: Public Domain.

Tune Information

• Name: ES IST GEWISSLICH AN DER ZEIT
• Meter: 8 7, 8 7, 8 8 7
• Key: G Major
• Source: Joseph Klug's Geistliche Lieder, Wittenberg, 1535
• Notes: Public Domain.