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Hail Sovereign Love

Jehoida Brewer, 1776
Music by Mark Webb
[Key: Eb Minor]

Verse 1
Hail Sovereign love which first began,
This scheme to rescue fallen man;
Hail Sovereign free eternal grace,
That gave my soul a hiding place.
Against the God who rules the sky,
I fought with hand uplifted high,
Despised the mention of His grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place!

Verse 2
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!

Verse 3
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 heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy’s angel soon appeared.
He led me on with gentle pace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place.

Verse 4
Should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll,
And shake this earth 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 a chosen race,
And thus became their hiding place.

Verse 5
A few more rolling suns at most,
Shall land me safe on Canaan’s coast
There I shall sing the song of grace,
To Jesus Christ, my hiding place!
Exalt the Lord, His praise proclaim,
Let ev’ry saint now raise His name
Forever more we’ll see His face,
The Face of Christ our Hiding Place