Let God, The God Of Battle, Rise

Verse 1

Let God, the God of battle, rise, And scatter his presumptuous foes; Let shameful route their host surprise, Who spitefully his pow'r oppose.

Verse 2

As smoke in tempests rage is lost, Or wax into the furnace cast; So let their sacrilegious host Before his wrathful presence waste.

Verse 3

But let the servants of his will His favours gentle beams enjoy; Their upright hearts let gladness fill, And cheerful songs their tongues employ.

Verse 4

To him your voice in anthems raise; JEHOVAH's awful name he bears: In him rejoice, extol his praise, Who rides upon high-rolling spheres.

Verse 5

Him, from his empire of the skies, To this low world compassion draws, The orphan's claim to patronize, And judge the injur'd widow's cause.

Verse 6

'Tis God who from a foreign soil Restores poor exiles to their home: Makes captives free; and fruitless toil, Their proud oppressors righteous doom.

Verse 7

'Twas so of old, when thou didst lead In person, Lord, our armies forth: Strange terrors through the desart spread, Convulsions shook th' astonish'd earth.

Verse 8

The breaking clouds did rain distil, And heav'n's high arches shook with fear, How then should Sinai's humble hill Of Isr'el's God the presence bear?

Verse 9

Thy hand, at famish'd earths complaint, Reliev'd her from celestialsStores; And when thy heritage was faint, Asswag'd the drought with plenteous show'rs.

Verse 10

Where savages had rang'd before, At ease thou mad'st our tribes reside; And, in the desert, for the poor, Thy gen'rous bounty did provide.

Verse 11

When God his gracious word sent forth, To make his chosen glad, Numbers from east, south, west, and north The joyful tidings spread.

Verse 12

Great kings of armies fled apace, And met a fatal soil; While those that staid at home, with ease And pleasure shar'd the spoil.

Verse 13

Though ye among the pots have lain, Like doves shall ye appear, With silver sings and gold divine, From dross and mixture clear.

Verse 14

When God the potent kings expell'd From Canaan at his will, The whiteness of his robes excell'd The snow of Salmon's hill.

Verse 15

The hill of God, his chosen seat, On Zion's mount is found: Not Bashan's hill can boast such state, Nor all the hills around.

Verse 16

Ye lofty hills, why leap ye so? This is the hill of God: Here he hath chose to dwell, and lo! Here is his fix'd abode.

Verse 17

His chariots numberless; his pow'rs Are heav'nly hosts, that wait his will: His presence now fills Sion's tow'rs, As once it honour'd Sinai's hill.

Verse 18

Ascending high, in triumph thou Captivity hast captive led; And on thy people didst bestow The spoil of armies, once their dread.

Verse 19

Ev'n rebels shall partake thy grace, And humble proselytes repair To worship at thy dwelling place, And all the world pay homage there.

Verse 20

We bless the Lord, the just, the good, Who fills our hearts with heav'nly food; Who pours his blessings from the skies, And loads our days with rich supplies.

Verse 21

He sends his sun his circuit round, To cheer the fruits, to warm the ground; He bids the clouds with plenteous rain Refresh the thirsty earth again.

Verse 22

'Tis to his care we owe our breath, And all our near escapes from death: Safety and health to God belong; He heals the weak, and guards the strong,

Verse 23

He makes the saint and sinner prove The common blessings of his love; But the wide diff'rence that remains, Is endless joy, or endless pains.

Verse 24

The Lord that bruis'd the serpent's head, On all the serpent's seed shall tread, The stubborn sinner's hope confound, And smite him with a lasting wound.

Verse 25

But his right hand his saints shall raise From the deep earth or deeper seas, And bring them to his courts above; There shall they taste his special love.

Verse 26

For Benefits each day bestow'd, Be daily his great name ador'd; Who is our Saviour and our God, Of life and death the sov'reign Lord.

Verse 27

Who, mounted on the loftiest sphere Of ancient heav'n, sublimely rides; From whence his dreadful voice we hear, Like that of warring winds and tides.

Verse 28

Ascribe ye pow'r to God most high Of humble Isr'el he takes care; Whose strength, from out the dusky sky, Darts shining terrors through the air.

Verse 29

How dreadful are the sacred courts, Where God has fix'd his earthly throne! His strength his feeble saints supports, To God give praise, and him alone.