if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms, cxxxix. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.

742 Hymns of high praise and I among them chief, Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

742

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron.

To execute the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. Psalms, cxlix. 6, 7, 8, 9.

forth rush'd with whirlwind sound, The chariot of paternal deity,

For, behold, the Lord will come, with fire and with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. Isaiah, lxvi. 15.

751 Wheel within wheel undrawn,

Itself instinct with spirit,

Out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures; and they ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning: a wheel in the middle of a wheel: the rings were so high, they were dreadful: when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Ezekial, i. 5, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19.

757 Over their heads a crystal firmament.

Whereon a sapphire throne,

1

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne; and upon the

likeness of the throne was the appearance of a man above upon it. Ezekial, 1, 26.

Amber,

inlaid with pure

And I saw, as the colour of amber, as the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spake. Ezekial, i. 28.

760 He, in celestial panoply well arm'd

Of radiant Urim,

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph. i. 11. Our only strength is in the Lord, and in the power of his might, by whom alone we can be kept in safety, and may be made even more than conquerors in all things; and, therefore, pointing us to this, at the same time that he sets forth the difficulty of the combat, and sounds a charge for battle, he shews the provision made for our defence, and calls us to put on the complete armour of God.

767 Attended with ten thousand thousand saints,

Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints. Jude xiv. The Lord comes with myriads of his holy ones, attended with legions of angels, in his descent for this important purpose; for he comes to execute judgment upon all, according to their respective works.

769 And twenty thousand (I their number heard) Chariots of God,

The chariots of God are twenty thousand,

776

even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. Matt. xxiv. 30. And then shall there evidently appear such a remarkable hand of providence, in avenging my quarrel upon this sinful people, that it shall be like the sign of the Son of man in heaven at the last day; and all tribes of the land shall then mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming, as it were in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory: For that celestial army, which shall appear in the air, marshelled round the city shall be a sure token to them, that the angels of God, and the great Lord of those heavenly hosts, are set as it were against them.

808 Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints ;

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine I will repay, saith the Lord. Rom. xii. 19. Beloved brethren, whatever wrongs you may receive, revenge not yourselves on those that have injured you, but rather yield and give place to the wrath of the enemy; for God hath forbidden us to indulge any of the vindictive passions, as it is written, (Deut. xxxii. 35.) Vengeance is mine; that is, it properly belongs to me, and I will recompense the deserved punishment, saith the Lord. And, indeed, it

requires the wisdom, as well as the dignity and majesty of a God, to claim and manage it aright. 815 Kingdom, and pow'r and glory appertains,

Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever, Amen. For thine is the kingdom of universal nature, and the fulness of Almighty power, and the glory of infinite perfection, and to thee be the praise of all ascribed for ever. Amen.'

825 His count'nance too severe to be beheld.

Hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand! Rev. vi. 16, 17.

827 At once the Four spread out their starry wings, With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.

And I saw visions of God. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lift up from the earth, the wheels were lift up. And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty; the voice of speech as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. Ezekiel, i. 19, 24.

833 The stedfast empyrean shook throughout.

The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof.

He divideth the sea with his power; and, by his understanding, he smiteth through the proud.

Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little

a portion is heard of him: but the thunder of his power who can understand? Job, xxvi. 11, 12, 14.

842 That wish'd the mountains might be again.

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Rev. iv. 15, 16.

859 With terrors and with furies to the bounds And crystal walls of heaven.

Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. Job, iv. 8, 9.

eternal wrath

Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. Rev. ix. 1.

882 To him all his saints who silent stood

I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried, with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. Rev. vii. 9, 10. Let us persevere, steadily and faithfully, as they did; and the day will come, when our robes shall be as white, and our crowns as radiant, and our palms as verdant as theirs. Let us then bear with patience,