1 When God, provoked with daring crimes,
Scourges the madness of the times,
He turns their fields to barren sand,
And dries the rivers from the land.

2 His word can raise the springs again,
And make the withered mountains green;
Send showery blessings from the skies,
And harvests in the desert rise.

3 Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey,
Or men as fierce and wild as they,
He bids th’oppressed and poor repair,
And builds them towns and cities there.

4 They sow the fields, and trees they plant,
Whose yearly fruit supplies their want;
Their race grows up from fruitful stocks,
Their wealth increases with their flocks.

5 Thus they are blest; but if they sin,
He lets the heathen nations in,
A savage crew invades their lands,
Their princes die by barbarous hands.

6 Their captive sons, exposed to scorn,
Wander unpitied and forlorn:
The country lies unfenced, untilled,
And desolation spreads the field.

7 Yet if the humbled nation mourns,
Again His dreadful hand He turns;
Again He makes their cities thrive,
And bids the dying churches live.

8 The righteous with a joyful sense,
Admire the works of Providence;
And tongues of atheists shall no more
Blaspheme the God that saints adore.

9 How few with pious care record
These wondrous dealings of the Lord!
But wise observers still shall find
The Lord is holy, just and kind.