Oft as the bell, with solemn toll

The words

1. 1

   Stanza 1. Oft as the bell, with solemn toll,Speaks the departure of a soul;Let each one ask himself; “Am IPrepared, should I be called to die?”

2. 2

   Stanza 2. Only this frail and fleeting breathPreserves me from the jaws of death;Soon as it fails, at once I’m gone,And plunged into a world unknown.

3. 3

   Stanza 3. Then, leaving all I loved below,To GOD’S tribunal I must go;Must hear the Judge pronounce my fate,And fix my everlasting state.

4. 4

   Stanza 4. But could I bear to hear him say,“Depart, accursed, far away!With Satan, in the lowest hell,Thou art for ever doomed to dwell.”

5. 5

   Stanza 5. LORD JESUS! help me now to flee,And seek my hope alone in thee.Apply thy blood, thy Spirit give,Subdue my sin, and in me live.

6. 6

   Stanza 6. Then, when the solemn bell I hear,If saved from guilt, I need not fear;Nor would the thought distressing be,Perhaps it next may toll for me.

7. 7

   Stanza 7. Rather, my spirit would rejoice,And long, and wish, to hear thy voice;Glad when it bids me earth resign,Secure of heav’n, if thou art mine.

Olney Hymns (1779), Book 2, Hymn 74. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/2-74