SHALL I STAND THE TEST?
By Lilla D. Avery
When the Lord of hosts in mighty power
Shall try the hearts of the sons of men,
Shall I stand the test of the Judgment hour?
Shall I be prepared with the King to reign?
When he calls his saints from east and west
Shall I be clothed as a wedding guest? Will my hands be clean, and my garments pure?
Will guile be cleansed from my sinful heart?
Shall I leap for joy that my crown is sure?
Or shrink with dread at the word, “Depart!”?
Shall I be clothed in a spotless vest?
Shall I stand approved in the final test? All hearts shall quake in that trying day,
And trembling seize on the souls of men;
The scoffing boast of the proud and gay
Shall be hushed by the cries for mercy then.
Shall I stand at last in the sinner’s lot,
When the Judge proclaims, “I know you not”? Shall I stand the test when the books are read
Where all my deeds have been written down?
Will the Master place on my waiting head,
With a smile of approval, a starry crown?
Or will sin be found in this guilty breast?
Oh! solemn thought, shall I stand the test? Shall I be too late when the Judge shall come
With the holy angels pure and bright,
To seal the guilty sinners’ doom
And take his saints to their home of light?
Shall I share at last in the scoffer’s fate?
Oh! wretched thought, should I be too late! Let my hands be clean and my heart be pure;
Let my sins and guilt be washed away,
Let me bear the cross, to the end endure,
And stand the test of the Judgment day,
And pass with joy through the golden gate.
O God, forbid that I be too late!