1 There is a period known to God
When all his sheep, redeemed by blood,
Shall leave the hateful ways of sin,
Turn to the fold, and enter in.
2 At peace with hell, with God at war,
In sin’s dark maze they wander far,
Indulge their lust, and still go on
As far from God as sheep can run.
3 But see how heaven’s indulgent care
Attends their wanderings here and there;
Still hard at heel, where’er they stray,
With pricking thorns to hedge their way.
4 [When wisdom calls, they stop their ear,
And headlong urge the mad career;
Judgments nor mercies e’er can sway
Their roving feet to wisdom’s way.]
5 Glory to God, they ne’er shall rove
Beyond the limits of his love;
Fenced with Jehovah’s shalls and wills,
Firm as the everlasting hills.
6 The appointed time rolls on apace,
Not to propose but call by grace;
To change the heart, renew the will,
And turn the feet to Zion’s hill.
Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #76
Kent, John, was born at Bideford, Devonshire, Dec. 1766, and died Nov. 15, 1843. As a working shipwright his opportunities for acquiring the education and polish necessary for the production of refined verse were naturally limited. His hymns are strongly worded, very earnest and simple, and intensely Calvinistic. A few were published in Samuel Reece's Collection, 1799. The first edition of his Collection of Original Gospel Hymns, was published in 1803, and the 10th edition, with "The Author's Experience," in verse, 264 hymns, 15 longer pieces, and a Life by his Son in 1861. The Calvinistic teaching so prominent in his hymns has restricted their use to a limited number of collections. The greatest use made of them in modern hymnbooks has bee… Go to person page >
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