In time of tribulation

Verse 1

In time of tribulation, Hear, Lord, my feeble cries, With humble supplication To Thee my spirit flies: My heart with grief is breaking, Scarce can my voice complain; Mine eyes, with tears kept waking, Still watch and weep in vain.

Verse 2

The days of old, in vision, Bring vanish'd bliss to view; The years of lost fruition Their joys in pangs renew; Remember'd songs of gladness, Through night's lone silence brought, Strike notes of deeper sadness, And stir desponding thought.

Verse 3

Hath God cast off for ever? Can time His truth impair? His tender mercy, never Shall I presume to share? Hath He His loving-kindness Shut up in endless wrath? No;--this is my own blindness, That cannot see His path.

Verse 4

I call to recollection The years of His right hand, And, strong in His protection, Again through faith I stand: Thy deeds, O Lord! are wonder, Holy are all Thy ways, The secret place of thunder Shall utter forth Thy praise.

Verse 5

Thee, with the tribes assembled, O God! the billows saw; They saw Thee, and they trembled, Turn'd, and stood still with awe: The clouds shot hail--they lighten'd, The earth reel'd to and fro; The fiery pillar brighten'd The gulph of gloom below.

Verse 6

Thy way is in great waters, Thy footsteps are not known; Let Adam's sons and daughters Confide in Thee alone: Through the wild sea Thou leddest Thy chosen flock of yore; Still on the waves Thou treadest, And Thy redeem'd pass o'er.