Your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence.
Isaiah 1:7
Words: Reginald Heber (1783–1826). Published posthumously in Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (London: J. Murray, 1827), page 111.
Music: Isleworth Samuel Howard, 1765 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tune:
If you know where to get a good picture of Howard (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
From foes that would the land devour,
From guilty pride and lust of power;
From wild sedition’s lawless hour;
From yoke of slavery.
From blinded zeal by faction led;
From giddy change by fancy bred;
From poisonous error’s serpent head
Good Lord, preserve us free!
Defend, O God! with guardian hand,
The laws and ruler of our land,
And grant our Church Thy grace to stand
In faith and unity!
The Spirit’s help of Thee we crave,
That Thou, whose blood was shed to save,
May’st at Thy second coming, have
A flock to welcome Thee!