Verse 1
Lord! what a wretched land is this
That yields us no supply!
No cheering fruits no wholesome trees,
Nor streams of living joy!
Verse 2
But pricking thorns thro’ all the ground
And mortal poisons grow,
And all the rivers that are found
With dangerous waters flow.
Verse 3
Yet the clear path to thine abode
Lies thro’ this horrid land;
Lord! we would keep the heavenly road,
And run at thy command.
Verse 4
[Our souls shall tread the desert thro’
With undiverted feet;
And faith and flaming zeal subdue
The terrors that we meet.]
Verse 5
[A thousand savage beasts of prey
Around the forest roam;
But Judah’s lion guards the way,
And guides the strangers home.]
Verse 6
[Long nights and darkness dwell below,
With scarce a twinkling ray;
But the bright world to which we go
Is everlasting day.]
Verse 7
[By glimmering hopes and gloomy fears
We trace the sacred road,
Thro’ dismal deeps and dangerous snares
We make our way to God.]
Verse 8
Our journey is a thorny maze,
But we march upward still;
Forget these troubles of the ways,
And reach at Zion’s hill.
Verse 9
[See the kind angels at the gates,
Inviting us to come;
There Jesus the fore-runner waits
To welcome travellers home.]
Verse 10
There on a green and flowery mount
Our weary souls shall sit,
And with transporting joys recount
The labours of our feet.
Verse 11
[No vain discourse shall fill our tongue,
Nor trifles vex our ear,
Infinite grace shall be our song,
And God rejoice to hear.]
Verse 12
Eternal glories to the King
That brought us safely thro’;
Our tongues shall never cease to sing,
And endless praise renew.
Isaac Watts, “Lord! What a Wretched Land Is This”