Hymns Supplied Through the Gracious Generosity
of the Cyber Hymnal Website
Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749; original title: "Glory and Thanks to God We Give."
Music: "Maryton," Henry Percy Smith, 1874 |
The Methodist Hymn Book Notes, by Stevenson, 1883, give the origin of this hymn. It came about as a result of Wesley's visit to a Methodist society meeting in Leeds, England, March 14, 1744:
…in a cold upper room, which was densely packed, and crowds could not gain admission. He removed nearer the door that those without might hear, and drew the people towards him. Instantly the rafters broke off short, close to the main beam, the floor sank, and more than one hundred people fell, amidst dust and ruins, into the room below. Several were severely injured, but none were killed. Charles Wesley himself escaped with slight injuries. "I lifted up my head," he said, "and saw the people under me, heaps upon heaps. I cried out, 'Fear not, the Lord is with us; our lives are all safe,' and then gave out, 'Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.'"
This hymn, in 12 stanzas, appeared five years later in Hymns and Sacred Poems, headed, "After deliverance from death by the fall of an house." In 1780, stanzas 6-9, 11 & 12 were given in the Wesleyan Hymn Book as one of the hymns "Describing Judgment."
The great archangel's trump shall sound,
While twice ten thousand thunders roar
Tear up the graves, and cleave the ground,
And make the greedy sea restore.
The greedy sea shall yield her dead,
The earth no more her slain conceal;
Sinners shall lift their guilty head,
And shrink to see a yawning hell.
But we, who now our Lord confess,
And faithful to the end endure,
Shall stand in Jesus' righteousness,
Stand, as the Rock of ages, sure.
We, while the stars from heaven shall fall,
And mountains are on mountains hurled,
Shall stand unmoved amidst them all,
And smile to see a burning world.
The earth, and all the works therein,
Dissolve, by raging flames destroyed,
While we survey the awful scene,
And mount above the fiery void.
By faith we now transcend the skies,
And on that ruined world look down;
By love above all height we rise,
And share the everlasting throne.
The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.
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