Scripture Verse

Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face. Psalm 89:14

Introduction

Words: Au­gus­tus L. Hill­house, cir­ca 1816. Pub­lished in the Chris­tian Spec­ta­tor (New Ha­ven, Con­nec­ti­cut: April 1822).

Music: Sam­son, ar­ranged from George F. Han­del, 1741 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
George F. Handel (1685–1759)

Lyrics

Trembling before Thine aw­ful throne,
O Lord, in dust my sins I own;
Justice and mer­cy for my life
Contend; O smile, and heal the strife.

The Sav­ior smiles; up­on my soul
New tides of hope tu­mul­tu­ous roll;
His voice proc­laims my par­don found,
Seraphic trans­port wings the sound.

Earth has a joy un­known to Hea­ven,
The new­born peace of sins for­giv­en;
Tears of such pure and deep de­light,
Ye an­gels, ne­ver dimmed your sight.

Ye saw, of old, on cha­os rise
The beau­te­ous pil­lars of the skies;
Ye know where morn ex­ult­ing springs,
And ev­en­ing folds her droop­ing wings.

Bright her­alds of the eter­nal will,
Abroad His er­rands ye ful­fill;
Or, throned in floods of beamy day,
Symphonious in His pre­sence play.

Loud is the song, the hea­ven­ly plain
Is shak­en with the cho­ral strain;
And dy­ing ech­oes, float­ing far,
Draw mu­sic from each chim­ing star.

But I amid your choirs shall shine,
And all your know­ledge shall be mine:
Ye on your harps must lean to hear
A sec­ret chord that mine will bear.