When mortal man resigns his breath,
’Tis God directs the shafts of death,
Casual howe’er the stroke appear,
He sends the fatal messenger:
The keys are in that hand divine;
That hand must first the warrant sign,
And arm the death, and wing the dart,
Which doth his message to our heart.
When mortal man resigns his breath
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “The Lord killeth.”—[I. Sam.] ii. 6. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 1 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 9 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 151.
Publishing: Public Domain