And must I be to judgment brought,
And answer in that day,
For every vain and idle thought,
And every word I say?

Yes, every secret of my heart,
Shall shortly be made known,
And I receive my just desert
For all that I have done.

How careful, then ought I to live,
With what religious fear!
Who such a strict account must give
For my behavior here.

Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,
The watchful power bestow;
So shall I to my ways take heed,
To all I speak or do.

If now Thou standest at the door,
O let me feel Thee near,
And make my peace with God, before
I at Thy bar appear.

My peace Thou hast already made,
While hanging on the tree;
My sins He on Thy body laid,
And punished them in Thee.

Ah! might I, Lord, the virtue prove
Of Thine atoning blood,
And know Thou ever livest above,
My Advocate with God.

Receive the answer of Thy prayer,
The sense of sin forgiven,
And follow Thee with loving care,
And go in peace to Heaven.

The day is surely drawing near,
When God’s Son, the Anointed,
Shall with great majesty appear,
As Judge of all appointed.
All mirth and laughter then shall cease
When flames on flames will still increase,
As Scripture truly teacheth.

A trumpet loud shall then resound,
And all the earth be shaken;
Then all who in their graves are found
Shall from their sleep awaken.
But all that live shall in that hour,
By the Almighty’s boundless power
Be changed at His commanding.

A book is opened then to all,
A record truly telling
What each hath done, both great and small,
When he on earth was dwelling;
And every heart be clearly seen,
And all be known as they have been,
In thoughts and words and actions.

Then woe to those who scorned the Lord,
And sought but carnal pleasures,
Who here despised His precious Word,
And loved their earthly treasures!
With shame and trembling they will stand,
And at the Judge’s stern command
To Satan be delivered.

O Jesus, who my debt didst pay
And for my sin wast smitten
Within the Book of Life, oh, may
My name be also written!
I will not doubt; I trust in Thee,
From Satan Thou hast made me free
And from all condemnation.

Therefore, my Intercessor be,
And for Thy blood and merit
Declare my name from judgment free,
With all who life inherit;
That I may see Thee face to face
With all thy saints in that blest place
Which Thou for us hast purchased.

O Jesus Christ, do not delay,
O hasten our salvation!
We often tremble on our way
In fear and tribulation.
Then hear us when we cry to Thee;
Come, mighty Judge, and make us free
From every evil.

The judgment has set, the books have been opened;
How shall we stand in that great day,
When every thought, and word, and action,
God, the righteous Judge, shall weigh?

Refrain

How shall we stand in that great day?
How shall we stand in that great day?
Shall we be found before Him wanting?
Or with our sins all washed away?

The work is begun with those who are sleeping,
Soon will the living here be tried,
Out of the books of God’s remembrance,
His decision to abide.

Refrain

O, how shall we stand that moment of searching,
When all our sins those books reveal?
When from that court, each case decided,
Shall be granted no appeal?

Refrain

Mistful are our waiting eyes,
As of them who saw Him rise
From that mountain to the skies.
Then the holy angels near
Gave them tidings of good cheer:
“Jesus shall again appear.”

And we wait an angel’s cry,
Piercing earthward from the sky:
“Now, behold your Lord is nigh!”
Yet, who shall abide that day,
When the Judge with dread array
Comes for universal sway?

Dreadly shall His summons sweep,
Heard by those who wake or sleep,
On the height or in the deep:
Heard by Life ’mid all its bloom,
Heard by Death in every tomb—
Terrible decree of doom.

For the gathered souls who stand,
Waiting that supreme command,
He shall part on either hand.
To those souls of quick and dead,
“Come,” shall be the blessing said,
“Go,” shall be the cursing dread.

Lord, dwell in us now, we pray,
That, in the dividing day,
We be not the cast away!
So shall we till Thou appear
Blend, in longing eye and ear,
Holy joy with holy fear!

Thou Judge of quick and dead, before Whose bar severe,
With holy joy, or guilty dread, we all shall soon appear;
Our cautioned souls prepare for that tremendous day,
And fill us now with watchful care, and stir us up to pray.

To pray, and wait the hour, that wondrous hour unknown,
When, robed in majesty and power, Thou shalt from Heaven come down
The immortal Son of Man, to judge the human race,
With all Thy Father’s dazzling train, with all Thy glorious grace.

To damp our earthly joys, to increase our gracious fears,
For ever let the archangel’s voice be sounding in our ears;
The solemn midnight cry, “Ye dead, the Judge is come,
Arise, and meet Him in the sky, and meet your instant doom!”

O may we thus be found obedient to His Word,
Attentive to the trumpet’s sound, and looking for our Lord!
O may we thus ensure a lot among the blest;
And watch a moment to secure an everlasting rest!