Justice and Peace It Does Not Bode

1 Justice and peace it does not bode
Some poor must always be
Our Lord who said it was our mode,
Came down to set them free.

2 You'll find Him where in dust and grime
Path finders build the roads
Who break the stones in sweat and brine
Sing hymns that lighten loads.

3 There where the toiling masses pray
In fields of waving grain
He walks in sultry streets the way
Of those whose wants make pain.

4 He's there with toilers in their round
In mines and at the forge,
Where ditchmen ope the desert ground
Plowmen life's foliage.

5 Where infants are but poorly fed
And crippled life endured
Where there's no bare hospital bed
And life's hope not assured.

6 And thereto where the tyrants have
Usurped the natives' land
And left its breadless tribes to starve
And sleep on hardened ground.

7 The spirit leads him everywhere
He brings the poor his word
Freedom and health, peace without fear,
He gives without the sword.

8 The Lord lifts his commanding hands
And bids the millions move
Oppressors loose your mighty bands
For prayer has freed the slave.

9 Christ Jesus too is not dismayed
To drop his robe of white
To tattered be and stained in blood
To share the people's plight.

10 He takes not incense for our deeds
Nor ceremonies art
Nor anthems loaded with our creeds
But seeks a sinner's heart.

11 Now hear the cry beneath life's cliff
Of victims of the fate
Heartless pomp that will not life
A finger's tip of weight.

12 A listening God still leads us on
And he will keep us till,
With Jesus help we'll win the crown
And stand on freedom's hill.

13 Then let salvation's anthems ring
Spirit of God come in
Christ Jesus is our lawful king
And brotherhood will win.


Source: The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal: official hymnal of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church #655