See, when a black o’er­spread­ing cloud
[Originally, When a black ov­er­spread­ing cloud]
Has dark­ened all the air;
And peals of thun­der roar­ing loud
Proclaim the tem­pest near.

Then guilt and fear, the fruits of sin,
The sin­ner oft pur­sue;
A loud­er storm is heard with­in,
And con­science thun­ders too.

The law a fie­ry lang­uage speaks,
His dan­ger he per­ceives;
Like Sa­tan, who his ru­in seeks,
He trem­bles and be­lieves.

But when the sky se­rene ap­pears,
And thun­ders roll no more;
He soon for­gets his vows and fears,
Just as he did be­fore.

But whi­ther shall the sin­ner flee,
When na­ture’s migh­ty frame,
The pon­der­ous earth, and air, and sea,
Shall all dis­solve in flame?

Amazing day! it comes apace!
The Judge is hast­ing down!
Will sin­ners bear to see His face,
Or stand be­fore His frown?

Lord, let Thy mer­cy find a way
To touch each stub­born heart
That they may ne­ver hear Thee say,
Ye curs­èd ones, de­part.

Believers, you may well re­joice!
The thun­der’s loud­est strains
Should be to you a wel­come voice,
That tells you, JE­SUS REIGNS!