We sing the glo-rious con-quest
Be-fore Da-mas-cus gate,
When Saul, the church-'s spoil-er,
Came breath-ing threats and hate;
The rav-ening wolf rushed for-ward
Full ear-ly to the prey;
But lo! the Shep-herd met him,
And bound him fast to-day.
O glo-ry most ex-cel-ling
That smote a-cross his path!
O light that pierced and blind-ed
The zea-lot in his wrath!
O voice that spake un-to him
The calm, re-prov-ing word!
O love that sought and held him
The bond-man of his Lord!
O Wis-dom or-dering all things
In or-der strong and sweet,
What no-bler spoil was ev-er
Cast at the vic-tor's feet?
What wis-er mas-ter-build-er
E'er wrought at Thine em-ploy
Than he, till now so fur-ious
Thy build-ing to de-stroy?
Lord, teach Thy church the les-son,
Still in her dark-est hour
Of weak-ness and of dan-ger,
To trust Thy hid-den power:
Thy grace by ways mys-ter-ious
The wrath of man can bind,
And in Thy bold-est foe-man
Thy cho-sen saint can find.