Hail, Sovereign Love

Hail

sov­er­eign love that formed the plan

To save re­bel­li­ous

ru­ined man!

Hail

match­less

free

eter­nal grace

That gave my soul a hid­ing-place.

Against the God that rules the sky

I fought

with wea­pons lift­ed high

I mad­ly ran the sin­ful race

Regardless of a hid­ing-place.

Enwrapped in thick Egypt­ian night

And fond of dark­ness more than light

Madly I ran the sin­ful race

Secure with­out a hid­ing-place.

But thus th’eter­nal coun­sel ran

Almighty love

ar­rest that man!

I felt the ar­rows of dis­tress

And found I had no hiding-place.

Indignant jus­tice stood in view

To Si­nai’s fie­ry mount I flew

But jus­tice cried

with frown­ing face

This mount­ain is no hid­ing-place!

Ere long a heav’n­ly voice I heard

And mer­cy’s an­gel form ap­peared;

She led me on with pla­cid pace

To Je­sus

as my hid­ing-place.

Should storms of se­ven­fold thun­der roll

And shake the globe from pole to pole;

No flam­ing bolt could daunt my face

For Je­sus is my hid­ing place.

On Him al­migh­ty ven­geance fell

That must have sunk a world to hell;

He bore it for the chos­en race

And thus be­came their hid­ing-place.

A few more roll­ing suns at most

Shall land me on fair Ca­naan’s coast.

Where I shall sing the song of grace

And see my glo­ri­ous hid­ing-place.