Classic Poem

Behold the great Messiah comes to reign!
God of all grace! his glorious throne sustain;
He comes, to plead the poor and needy's cause,
To rule the world with just and holy laws:
Lo! from the mountain-peaks the shout ascends,
And Love in streams from ev'ry hill descends.

To him th' oppress'd shall flee in all their fears,
Their wants he'll banish, and dry up their tears;
He'll burst their bonds, the proud oppressor crush,
His poor redress, and all their cryings hush;
The sun and moon themselves shall cease to shine,
But, Savior! never shall thy light decline.

Like rain on meadows mown, shall he come down,
Like show'rs that hills and dales with verdure crown;
When he appears, the righteous shall enjoy
Celestial peace, and bliss without alloy;
The east and west, the north and south shall own,
That he, o'er heav'n and earth, is King alone.

Barbarian hordes shall bow before his face,
His own right arm shall all his foes abase;
The distant isles with gifts shall own his sway,
And Europe's mighty thrones his will obey;
While Asia's pompous monarchs all shall haste,
With Afric's sable tribes, his love to taste.

The mourning soul, borne down with guilt and woe,
To him shall cry, and pard'ning grace shall flow;
The wretched child of want, his aid shall seek,
He'll fill the hungry, and sustain the weak;
His saints from violence, fraud, and harm he'll free,
And precious in his sight their blood shall be.