When Sodom’s Rich but Guilty Plains

When So­dom’s rich but guil­ty plains

To wrath di­vine were doomed

Abr’am the pa­tri­arch in­ter­posed

And thus his plea as­sumed.

“Shall good and bad to­ge­ther fall

And un­dis­ting­uished lie?

Far be this ev­er from the God

That rules above the sky.

Shall not the Judge of all the earth

Whom right­eous acts de­light;

Shall not the spring whence jus­tice flows

Do ev­er what is right?

Thus did the ho­ly pa­tri­arch plead

When zeal

with pi­ty warm;

And saw with joy just Lot pre­served

From the sul­fur­ous storm.

Let God in wrath de­stroy a land

Or drown in floods a world;

Guilty they were and did de­serve

In ru­in to be hurled.

What tho’ the faint some­times may smart

Beneath a hea­vi­er rod?

He that in­flicts the blow is still

A just and right­eous God.

The ways of Heav­en

dark as they seem

Are not with­out their light;

The last

that bright­est day of truth

Will show that all is right.