Great is our redeeming Lord

Verse 1
Great is our Redeeming Lord (Psalm 48:1)
In Power, and Truth, and Grace, (John 1:14, John 1:17)
Him by highest Heaven ador’d (Heb. 1:6, Rev. 4:8-11, Rev. 5:14, Rev. 7:11, Rev. 11:6, Rev. 19:4)
His Church on Earth should Praise:
In the City of our GOD, (Psalm 48:1)
In his Holy Mount below (Psalm 48:1)
Publish, spread his Praise abroad, (Psalm 96:3, Isa. 12:4-5)
And all his Greatness shew. (Psalm 145:3)

Verse 2
Built by his Almighty Hands (Psalm 87:1)
The Towers of Salem rise, (Psalm 48:2, Psalm 48:12-13)
Fair, and firm the City stands, (Psalm 87:1)
Adjoining to the Skies; (Psalm 48:2, Rev. 21:2)
Joy to all the Earth She brings, (Psalm 48:2)
Stor’d with Blessings from above,
Kept by the great King of Kings, (I Tim. 6:5, Rev. 17:14, Rev. 19:16)
Her Guardian GOD of Love.

Verse 3
Monarchs with their Armies met (Psalm 48:4)
Jerusalem t’ assail
Sworn to o’erthrow the sacred Seat
Where GOD vouchsafes to dwell: (Psalm 132:13-14)
Lo! their Boast is turn’d to Shame,
Struck with sore Amaze and Dread,
Marching towards her Walls they came:
They came: they saw: they fled. (Psalm 48:4-5)

Verse 4
Horror seiz’d thy Sion’s Foes, (Psalm 48:6)
And pain’d their guilty Heart, (Psalm 48:6)
As a travelling [travailing] Woman’s Throe’s (Psalm 48:6, Isa. 13:8, Isa. 21:3, Isa. 26:17-18, Jer. 6:24, Jer. 13:21, Jer. 22:23, Jer. 49:24, Mic. 4:9-10)
They felt the killing Smart:
Scatter’d by thy Storming Ire,
Dash’d as Ships against the Shore, (Psalm 48:7)
Tyrants with their Hopes expire,
And sink to rise no more. (Ex. 15:4)

Verse 5
We the Works of Antient Days
Have seen repeated now,
GOD doth still his Sion raise, (Psalm 48:8)
And force her Foes to bow;
Still She in her Saviour trusts, (Isa. 14:32)
Glories in his Constant Care;
There He dwells, the Lord of Hosts, (Psalm 48:3)
He reigns for ever there. (Mic. 4:7)

Verse 6
For thy Loving-kindness, Lord, (Psalm 48:9)
We in thy Temple stay, (Psalm 48:9)
Here thy faithfull Love record,
Thy saving Power display,
With thy Name thy Praise is known, (Psalm 48:10)
Glorious thy Perfections shine,
Earth’s remotest Bounds shall own (Psalm 48:10, Psalm 96:3, Isa. 40:5)
Thy Works are all Divine.

Verse 7
All thy mighty Works are wrought
In perfect Equity; (Psalm 98:9, Psalm 111:3-4, Psalm 145:17)
Sion by thy Judgments taught
Shall give the Praise to Thee: (Psalm 48:11)
Thee let all thy Saints adore,
Ransom’d by thy timely aid,
Every Tongue confess thy Power, (Isa. 45:23, Rom. 14:11, Phil. 2:10-11)
And every Heart be glad. (Psalm 48:11)

Verse 8
Sons of GOD triumphant rise,
The City Walls surround; (Psalm 48:12)
Lo! her Bulwarks touch the Skies, (Psalm 48:13)
How high, yet how profound!
Note the Number of her Towers, (Psalm 48:12)
All her Palaces declare, (Psalm 48:13)
Guarded by Angelic Powers (Rev. 21:12, Heb. 12:22-23)
And GOD in Person there! (Psalm 48:14, Psalm 46:5)

Verse 9
See the Gospel-Church secure,
And founded on a Rock, (Matt. 16:18, Matt. 7:24-27)
All her Promises are Sure,
Her Bulwarks who can Shock?
Count her every pretious Shrine,
Tell to after-ages tell
Fortified by Power Divine
The Church can never fail. (Matt. 16:18)

Verse 10
Sion’s GOD is all our own (Psalm 48:14)
Who on his Love rely,
We his Pardning Love have known,
And live in Christ and die. (Psalm 48:14, Phil. 1:21)
To the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2)
He our faithful guide shall be,
Him we claim, and rest in Him (Matt. 11:28, Heb. 4:1-10, Rev. 14:13)
Thro’ all Eternity.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “Psalm XLVIII.” This hymn appears in the ca. 1749 manuscript “MS Psalms.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/553, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Introduced in Versions and Paraphrases of Select Psalms. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 8 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 111.
Publishing: Public Domain