In Judah God of old was known;
His name in Israel great;
In Salem stood His holy throne,
And Zion was His seat.

Among the praises of His saints
His dwelling there He chose;
There He received their just complaints
Against their haughty foes.

From Zion went His dreadful word,
And broke the threatening spear,
The bow, the arrows, and the sword,
And crushed th’Assyrian war.

What are the earth’s wide kingdoms else
But mighty hills of prey?
The hill on which Jehovah dwells
Is glorious more than they.

’Twas Zion’s king that stopped the breath
Of captains and their bands;
The men of might slept fast in death,
And never found their hands.

At Thy rebuke, O Jacob’s God,
Both horse and chariot fell:
Who knows the terrors of Thy rod?
Thy vengeance who can tell?

What power can stand before Thy sight,
When once Thy wrath appears?
When Heav’n shines round with dreadful light,
The earth lies still and fears.

When God in His own sovereign ways
Comes down to save th’oppressed,
The wrath of man shall work His praise,
And He’ll restrain the rest.

Vow to the Lord, and tribute bring,
Ye princes, fear His frown;
His terror shakes the proudest king,
And cuts an army down.

The thunder of His sharp rebuke
Our haughty foes shall feel;
For Jacob’s God hath not forsook
But dwells in Zion still.