Olney Hymns (1840)/Book 1/Hymn 97
97.
The Blasted Fig-tree.—Mark, xi, 20.
1 One awful word which Jesus spoke
Against the tree which bore no fruit,
More piercing than the lightning's stroke,
Blasted and dried it to the root.
Against the tree which bore no fruit,
More piercing than the lightning's stroke,
Blasted and dried it to the root.
2 But could a tree the Lord offend,
To make him show his anger thus!
He surely had, a further end—
To be a warning word to us.
To make him show his anger thus!
He surely had, a further end—
To be a warning word to us.
3 The fig-tree by its leaves was known;
But having not a fig to show,
It brought a heavy sentence down—
"Let none hereafter on thee grow."
But having not a fig to show,
It brought a heavy sentence down—
"Let none hereafter on thee grow."
4 Too many, who the gospel hear,
Whom Satan blinds and sin deceives
We to this fig-tree may compare,
They yield no fruit, but only leaves
Whom Satan blinds and sin deceives
We to this fig-tree may compare,
They yield no fruit, but only leaves
5 Knowledge and zeal and gifts and talk.
Unless combined with faith and love,
And witnessed by a gospel-walk,
Will not a true profession prove.
Unless combined with faith and love,
And witnessed by a gospel-walk,
Will not a true profession prove.
6 Without the fruit the Lord expects,
Knowledge will make our state the worse;
The barren trees he still rejects,
And soon will blast them with his curse.
Knowledge will make our state the worse;
The barren trees he still rejects,
And soon will blast them with his curse.
7 O Lord, unite our hearts in prayer!
On each of us thy Spirit send,
That we the fruits of grace may bear,
And find acceptance in the end.
On each of us thy Spirit send,
That we the fruits of grace may bear,
And find acceptance in the end.