Why did the nations join to slay
The Lord’s anointed Son?
Why did they cast His laws away,
And tread His Gospel down?

The Lord, that sits above the skies,
Derides their rage below;
He speaks with vengeance in His eyes,
And strikes their spirits through.

“I call him my eternal Son,
And raise Him from the dead;
I make My holy hill His throne,
And wide His kingdom spread.

“Ask Me, My Son, and then enjoy
The utmost heathen lands:
Thy rod of iron shall destroy
The rebel that withstands.”

Be wise, ye rulers of the earth,
Obey th’ anointed Lord,
Adore the King of heav’nly birth,
And tremble at His Word.

With humble love address His throne;
For if He frown, ye die:
Those are secure, and those alone,
Who on His grace rely.

Maker and sov’reign Lord
Of Heav’n, and earth, and seas,
Thy providence confirms Thy Word,
And answers Thy decrees.

The things so long foretold
By David are fulfilled,
When Jews and Gentiles join’d to slay
Jesus, Thine holy Child.

Why did the Gentiles rage,
And Jews, with one accord,
Bend all their counsels to destroy
Th’Anointed of the Lord?

Rulers and kings agree
To form a vain design;
Against the Lord their powers unite
Against His Christ they join.

The Lord derides their rage,
And will support His throne;
He that hath rais’d Him from the dead
Hath own’d Him for His Son.

Now He’s ascended high,
And asks to rule the earth;
The merit of His blood He pleads,
And pleads His heav’nly birth.

He asks, and God bestows
A large inheritance;
Far as the world’s remotest ends
His kingdom shall advance.

The nations that rebel
Must feel His iron rod;
He’ll vindicate those honors well
Which He receiv’d from God.

Be wise, ye rulers, now,
And worship at His throne;
With trembling joy, ye people, bow
To God’s exalted Son.

If once His wrath arise,
Ye perish on the place;
Then blessèd is the soul that flies
For refuge to His grace.