4 How long, by folly blindly led,
Will ye oppress the needy,
And eat my people up like bread?
So fierce are ye and greedy!
In God they put no trust at all,
Nor will on Him in trouble call,
But be their own providers.
5 Therefore their heart is never still,
A falling leaf dismays them;
God is with him who doth His will,
Who trusts Him and obeys Him;
But ye the poor man's hope despise,
And mock him when he humbly cries
That God is his sure comfort.
6 Who shall to Israel's outcast race
From Zion bring salvation?
God will Himself at length show grace,
And loose the captive nation;
That will He do by Christ their King;
Let Jacob then be glad and sing,
And Israel be joyful.
GOD! look down from heaven and see
A sight that well may move Thee!
Thy saints, how few! How wretchedly
Forsaken we who love Thee!
Thy Word no more shall have its right:
And faith itself is vanished quite
From all this generation.
2 Fictions they teach with cunning art, And lies of man's invention;
Not 'stablished in God's Word, their heart
Is full of strange dissension;
One chooses this, another that,
And while divisions they create,
They cant of love and union.
3 May God root out all heresy
And of false teachers rid us,
Who proudly say: “And who is he
That shall our speech forbid us?
We have the might and right alone,
And what we say must stand; we own
None as our lord and master."
4 Wherefore, saith God, I will arise!
My poor they are oppressing;
I hear their crying and their sighs,
Their wrongs shall have redressing;
My Word, endued with saving might,
Shall suddenly the wicked smite,
And be my poor ones' comfort.
5 As silver sev'n times furnace-tried,
Is found for it the purer,
So doth the Word, whate'er betide,
But prove itself the surer;
The cross reveals its worth aright,
'Tis then we see its strength and light
Shine far in earth's dark places.
6 O God, keep Thou it pure and free
From this vile generation,
And let us too be kept by Thee
From their abomination;
The wicked walk about at ease,
When loose, ungodly men like these
Are in the land exalted.
ORD, by Thy Word deliv'rance work
And stay the hand of Pope and Turk,
Who fain from Christ would wrest the crown,
And from His kingdom hurl Him down.
2 Lord Jesus Christ, Thy power make known,
For Thou art Lord of lords alone;
Defend Thy Christendom, that we
May evermore sing praise to Thee.
3 Thou Comforter of priceless worth,
Give us one mind and heart on earth;
Be with us in our last dread strife,
And lead us out of death to life.
4 Destroy their counsels, Lord our God,
And humble them with iron rod;
And let them fall into the snare
Which for Thy Christians they prepare.
5 So that at last they may perceive
That, Lord our God, Thou still dost live,
And dost deliver mightily
All those who put their trust in Thee.
ZION stands with hills surrounded,
Zion kept by power divine;
All her foes shall be confounded,
Though the world in arms combine;
What a favored lot is thine!
2 In the furnace God may prove thee, Thence to bring thee forth more bright, But can never cease to love thee;
Thou art precious in His sight:
God is with thee,
God, thine everlasting light.
WHEN Rome had shrouded earth in night,
God said again, Let there be light!
And Luther with the Gospel came
To spread the truth in Jesus' name.
2 When Rome the saints of God oppressed,
And burdened souls could find no rest,
Through Luther God deliv'rance sent
By His pure Word and Sacrament.
3 Though hosts against us stand arrayed,
Christ bids us still, Be not afraid;
Though all its powers the truth assail,
The gates of hell shall not prevail.
4 To-day with joyful hearts we sing
The guardian care of Christ our King,
Who through His chosen instrument
To us hath this salvation sent.
5 O Lord, whose mercies still endure,
Preserve to us Thy Gospel pure;
Let it alone within us reign,
That Thine the glory may remain.
NATIONAL HUMILIATION AND THANKSGIVING.
HEN in our hour of utmost need
We know not where to look for aid, When days and nights of anxious thought Nor help nor counsel yet have brought,
2 Then this our comfort is alone,
That we may meet before Thy throne,
And cry, O faithful God, to Thee
For rescue from our misery;
3 To Thee may raise our hearts and eyes,
Repenting sore with bitter sighs,
And seek Thy pardon for our sin,
And respite from our griefs within.
4 For Thou hast promised, graciously
To hear all those who cry to Thee
Through Him whose name alone is great,
Our Savior and our Advocate.
5 And thus we come, O God, to-day,
And all our woes before Thee lay,
For tried, afflicted, lo! we stand,
Peril and foes on every hand.
6 O, hide not for our sins Thy face;
Absolve us through Thy boundless grace;
Be with us in our anguish still,
Free us at last from every ill.
7 That so with all our hearts may we
Once more with joy give thanks to Thee,
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