Scripture Verse

Go, and sin no more. John 8:11

Introduction

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns Oc­ca­sioned by the Earth­quake, March 8, 1750, sec­ond edi­tion (Lon­don: 1755), num­ber 2.

Music: Ormes­by George Mer­ritt, in The Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by George Booth (Lon­don: Pri­mi­tive Me­tho­dist Pub­lish­ing House, 1889), num­ber 46 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Mer­ritt (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

God of glo­ri­ous ma­jes­ty,
Whose judg­ments are abroad,
Pierce, and turn our hearts to Thee
With sac­red hor­ror awed;
All this drow­sy land awake,
And by the thun­der of Thy pow­er
Shake, our in­most spi­rits shake,
And let us sleep no more.

Rising in Thy dread­ful might
The wicked to re­buke,
Thou hast with un­wont­ed fright
Our sleep­ing bo­dies shook;
Earth did to her cen­ter quake,
Convulsive pangs her bow­els tore;
Shake, our in­most spi­rits shake,
And let us sleep no more.

Ere the threat­ened ru­in come,
A ge­ne­ral ter­ror dart,
Send the keen con­vict­ion home
To ev­ery thought­less heart;
Shake us out of Sa­tan’s hands,
Burst open ev­ery pri­son door,
Rouse, and loose us from our bands,
And bid us sin no more.

Jesus, Lord, to whom we cry,
The true re­pent­ance give,
Give us at Thy feet to lie,
And tremble, and be­lieve;
On the Rock of Age­s place
Our souls, till all the wrath is o’er,
Ground, and ’stab­lish us in grace,
And bid us sin no more.