Hymns, Selected and Original ‎#24

24. When in dark and dreadful gloom

1 When in dark and dreadful gloom,
Clouds on clouds portentous spread,
Black as if the day of doom
Hung o'er nature's shrinking head:
When the lightning breaks from high,
God is coming--God is nigh!

2 Then we hear his chariot wheels,
As the mighty thunder rolls;
Nature, startled nature reels,
From the centre of the poles:
Then the ocean, earth, and sky,
Tremble as he passes by!

3 Darkness, wild with horror, forms
His mysterious hiding-place:
Should he from his ark of storms,
Rend the veil and show his face,
At the judgment of his eye,
All the universe would die.

4 God of vengeance! from above,
While thine awful bolts are hurl'd,
O remember thou art love!
Spare!--O spare a guilty world!
Stay thy flaming wrath awhile,
Let the bow of promise smile!

Text Information

• First Line: When in dark and dreadful gloom
• Meter: P. M.
• Publication Date: 1828
• Topic: Being and Perfections of God

Tune Information

(No tune information)