Jesus, Thy flaming eyes

Verse 1
Jesus, thy flaming eyes
Full on the wicked dart,
Who in rebellion’s cause arise,
And take the murtherer’s part,
Their bloody path pursue,
A congress from beneath,
A daring, dark, and desperate crew,
In league with hell and death.

Verse 2
Possest of lawless power,
Of absolute command,
The beasts with iron teeth devour
A sad distracted land:
Traitors with Gaul combin’d
Their cruel sway maintain,
The scum and refuse of mankind
As sovereign lords they reign.

Verse 3
Their heart, O Lord, thou know’st
Elated with success,
Who triumph now, and make their boast
Of prosperous wickedness,
Who blasphemously claim
Divine authority,
As acting treasons in thy name,
And countenanc’d by thee.

Verse 4
How long, O God, how long
Wilt thou their crimes pass by,
And suffer their oppressive wrong
Who all thy plagues defy?
Blast the aspiring fiend,
Avenge us of the foe,
Confound his sworn allies, and end
Their empire at a blow.

Verse 5
So shall thy people sing
The power that sets us free,
The arm that doth deliverance bring
From hellish tyranny;
The same in heart and mind
With loyal Britons prove,
In strictest bonds fraternal join’d,
In everlasting love.

Verse 6
Then, when the work is done
Which fiends in vain withstand,
America and Britain, one
In thy all-healing hand,
The Lord’s redeem’d shall come,
And crown’d with joy arise
To Sion’s heights, their long-sought home,
Their country in the skies!

Hymnal/Album: Introduced in Charles Wesley, Hymns for the Nation in 1782, In Two Parts (London: J. Paramore, 1781), in the section Hymns for the National Fast, February 8, 1782.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 332.
Publishing: Public Domain