EXODUS XV.

Part I.

T HE praise of our triumphant King,
And of His victory we sing,
Who in the seas with horrid force
O'erthrew the rider and his horse.
My Strength, my God, my Argument,
My father's God, hath safety sent.
To Him will I a mansion raise,
There celebrate His glorious praise.
His sword hath won eternal fame,
And Great Jehovah is His Name.
Lo! Pharaoh's chariots, his proud host,
Are in the swallowing billows lost.
God, in the fathomless profound,
Hath all his choice commanders drown'd.
Down sunk they, like a falling stone,
By raging whirlpits overthrown.
Thy pow'rful Hand these wonders wrought,
Our foes by Thee to ruin brought.
Thou, all that durst against Thee fight,
Hast crush'd by Thy prevailing might,
Thy wrath Thy foes to cinders turns,
As fire the sun-dried stubble burns.

Part II.

Blown by Thy nostrils' breath, the flood
In heaps, like solid mountains, stood.
The sea's divided heart congeal'd,
Her sandy bottom first reveal'd.
Pursue, o'ertake, th' Egyptians cried,
Let us their wealthy spoil divide;
Our sword these fugitives destroy,
And with their slaughter feast our joy.
Thou blew'st; those hills their billows spread,
In mighty seas they sunk like lead.
What god is like our God? so high!
So excellent in sanctity!
Whose glorious praise such terror breeds.
So wonderful in all Thy deeds!
Thy Hand outstretch'd, the closing womb
Of waves gave all his host one tomb.
But us, who have Thy Mercy tried,
In our redemption, Thou wilt guide:
Guide by Thy pow'r, till we possess
The mansion of Thy holiness.

Part III.

Our foes shall this with terror hear,
Sad Palestine grow pale with fear.
Those who the Edomites command,
And Moab's chiefs, shall trembling stand.
The hearts of Canaan melt away,
Like snow before the sun's bright ray.
Horror shall seize on all; not one
But stand like statues cut in stone,
Until Thy people pass; ev'n those
Whom Thou hast ransom'd from their foes.
Thou shalt conduct and plant them where
Thy fruitful hills their shoulders rear;
By Thy election dignified,
Where Thou for ever shalt abide.
Thy reign, Eternal King, shall last
When heav'n and earth in vapours waste.
While Pharaoh's chariots and his horse
'Twixt walls of seas their way enforce,
Thy Hand reduc'd th' obedient waves,
Which clos'd them in their rolling graves;
But Israel through the bottom sand
Securely pass'd, as on dry land.