From the loins of Abraham did spring
A nation great and strong,
A people who the Lord would bring
To the land where they belong;
There was a time in which this friend
Of the faithful, living God,
Bethought in his own way to bend
The twig that shapes the rod.
As long as yet remained a bead
Of strength within his loin,
He woulds’t with this beget the seed,
The glory of God purloin;
For, in his strongest point to fail
Has ever been the lot
Of man, who woulds’t HIMSELF prevail
In the faith which GOD begot.
‘Twas only when he had been lamed,
Thrown out of joint his thigh,
That Jacob “ISRAEL” was named,
Was raised to walk on high;
While yet in his own way he walked,
In his own strength did run,
It was not his that which he sought,
The victory not yet won.