In Time of Tribulation (EN 1277)

1

In time of tribulation, hear, Lord, my feeble cries;

With humble supplication to Thee my spirit flies;

My heart with grief is breaking, scarce can my voice complain;

Mine eyes with tears kept waking, still watch and weep in vain.

2

The days of old, in vision, bring banished bliss to view;

The years of lost fruition, their joys in pangs renew;

Remembered songs of gladness, through nights lone silence brought,

Strike notes of deeper sadness, and stir desponding thought.

3

Hath God cast off forever? Can time His truth impair?

His tender mercy never shall I presume to share?

Hath He His loving kindness shut up in endless wrath?

No; this is mine own blindness, that cannot see His path.

4

I call to recollection the years of His right hand;

And, strong in His protection, again through faith I stand;

Thy deeds, O Lord, are wondrous; holy are all Thy ways;

The secret place of thunder shall utter forth Thy praise.

5

Thee, with the tribes assembled, O God, the billows saw;

They saw Thee, and they trembled, turned, and stood still with awe;

The clouds shot hail and lightning; the earth reeled to and fro;

Thy fiery pillar brightened the gulf of gloom below.

6

Thy way is in great waters, Thy footsteps are not known;

Let Adam’s sons and daughters confide in Thee alone:

Through the wild sea Thou leadest Thy chosen flock of yore;

Still on the waves Thou treadest, and Thy redeemed pass o’er.