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| Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
Similar to the last hymn this one begins with Sinai and the law and then moves to Jesus' rescue mission when he frees captive souls 'And spreads a heaven of comfort there' (what a great line - heaven of comfort is a Puritan phrase). The idea of God as a shield is in Genesis 15. Philip Henry has a sermon called 'Christ is our shield'. ''Tis a dark night when he is gone, When he appears 'tis light and day' - another fine bit of writing.
JEHOVAH sends his wrath abroad,
And fills a guilty world with fear;
With awe we view th’ extended rod,
And start to see our ruin near.
2 Not Israel’s sons could tremble more,
When God from Sinai’s mountain spoke,
Bade the loud thunders rage and roar,
And clad his words in fire and smoke.
3 The law revealed with mighty power,
Strikes all our hopes and comforts dead;
Convictions now unknown before
Our guilty trembling souls invade.
4 Hell's billows all around us roll,
And all within is black despair,
Till Jesus frees our captive souls,
And spreads a heaven of comfort there.
5 Christ is our shield, and he our sun,
His presence sends our fears away;
'Tis a dark night when he is gone,
When he appears 'tis light and day.
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