1 The deluge, at th’ almighty’s call,
In what impetuous streams it fell!
Swallow'd the mountains in its rage,
And swept a guilty world to hell.
2 In vain the tallest sons of pride
Fled from the close-pursuing wave,
Nor could their mightiest towers defend,
Nor swiftness ’scape, nor courage save.
3 How dire the wreck? how loud the roar:
How shrill the universal cry
Of millions in the last despair,
Re-echo from the lowering sky!
4 Yet Noah, humble happy saint,
Surrounded with the chosen few,
Sat in his ark, secure from fear,
And sang the grace that steer'd him ’thro.
5 So may I sing, in Jesus safe,
When storms of vengeance round me fall,
Conscious how high my hopes are fix'd,
Beyond what shakes this earthly ball.
6 Enter thine ark, while patience waits,
Nor ever quit that sure retreat;
Then the wide flood, which buries earth,
Shall waft thee to a fairer seat.
7 Nor wreck nor ruin there is seen;
There not a wave of trouble rolls;
But the bright rainbow round the throne
Seals endless life to all their souls.
Source: A Selection of Hymns: from the best authors, intended to be an appendix to Dr. Watt's psalms and hymns. (1st Am. ed.) #CIV
First Line: | The deluge, at the Almighty's call |
Title: | Noah Preserved in the Ark, and the Believer in Christ |
Author: | Philip Doddridge |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
The deluge, at the Almighty's call. P. Doddridge. [Safety in Christ.] Published in Job Orton's posthumous edition of Doddridge's Hymns, &c, 1755, No. 336, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and again in J. D. Humphreys's edition of the same, 1839, No. 362, and in each case with the heading, "Noah preserved in the Ark, and the Believer in Christ.” In H. W. Beecher's Plymouth Collection, 1855, st. ii., iii. are omitted, whilst in the Presbyterian Psalms & Hymns for the Worship of God, 1867, st. vi., vii. are given as "Enter the ark, while patience waits."
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)