1 Merciful God, to Thee we cry,
O think upon us, or we die
The ever-living death!
Lo! by a mighty tempest tossed,
Our ship without Thine aid is lost,
Lost in the gulf beneath.
2 The mariners are struck with fear,
And shudder at destruction near,
So high the billows swell;
Ready to o’erwhelm our shattered state,
Thy judgments fall with all their weight,
To crush us into hell.
3 Ah! wherefore is this evil come?
Show us, omniscient God, for whom
Thy plagues our Church befall:
Give, while we ask, a righteous lot,
And let the guilty soul be caught,
Who brings Thy curse on all.
4 With trembling awe we humbly pray,
Now, now the secret cause display
Of our calamity,
Whose sins have brought Thy judgments down!
Alas, my God, the cause I own,
The lot is fallen on me!
5 I am the man, the Jonas I,
For me the working waves run high,
For me the curse takes place;
I have increased the nation’s load,
I have called down the wrath of God
On all our helpless race.
6 With guilty unbelieving dread
Long have I from His presence fled,
And shunned the sight of Heaven;
In vain the pardoning God pursued,
I would not be by grace subdued,
I would not be forgiven.
7 I know the tempest roars for me,
Till I am cast into the sea,
Its rage can never cease:
Here then I to my doom submit,
Do with me as Thy will sees fit,
But give Thy people peace.
8 Save, Jesu, save the sinking ship,
And lo! I plunge into the deep
Of all Thy judgments here;
I fall beneath Thy threatenings, Lord,
But let my soul, at last restored,
Before Thy face appear.
9 Beneath Thine anger’s present weight
I sink, and only deprecate
Thy sorer wrath to come:
Give me at last in Thee a part,
And now, in mercy, now avert
The guilty nation’s doom.
10 O bid the angry waves subside,
Into a calm the tempest chide
By Thy supreme command:
Thou in our broken ship remain,
Till every soul the harbor gain,
And reach the heavenly land.
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