4 Perhaps he will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But, if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.
5 I can but perish if I go-
I am resolved to try;
For if I stay away, I know
I must forever die.

360

Α'

PENITENTIAL.

To whom should we go?
H! whither should I go,

S. M.

Burden'd, and sick, and faint?
To whom should I my trouble show,
And pour out my complaint?
My Saviour bids me come;
Ah! why do I delay ?

He calls the weary sinner home,
And yet from him I stay.

2 What is it keeps me back,

From which I cannot part,Which will not let the Saviour take Possession of my heart?

Searcher of hearts, in mine

Thy trying power display;
Into its darkest corners shine,
And take the veil away.

3 I now believe, in thee,
Compassion reigns alone;
According to my faith, to me
O let it, Lord, be done!
In me is all the bar,

Which thou wouldst fain remove. Remove it, and I shall declare

That God is only love.

318

S. M.

Hardness of heart lamented.

THAT I could repent!

O that I could believe!

Thou, by thy voice, the marble rend,
The rock in sunder cleave:
Thou, by thy two-edged sword,
My soul and spirit part;

Strike, with the hammer of thy word,
And break my stubborn heart.
2 Saviour, and Prince of peace!
The double grace bestow;
Unloose the bands of wickedness,
And let the captive go:

Grant me my sins to feel,

And then the load remove :

Wound, and pour in, my wounds to heal,
The balm of pard'ning love.

319

0

The Physician needed.

L. M.

THOU, whom once they flock'd to hear,Thy words to hear, thy power to feel,Suffer a sinner to draw near,

And graciously receive me still.

2 They that be whole, thyself hast said, No need of a physician have;

But I am sick, and want thine aid,

And wait thine utmost power to save.
3 Thy power, and truth, and love divine,
The same from age to age endure:
A word, a gracious word of thine,
The most invet'rate plague can cure.
4 Helpless howe'er my spirit lies,
And long hath languish'd at the pool.
A word of thine shall make it rise,
And speak me in a moment whole.

320

FA

1st P. M. 6 lines 88.

Desiring conviction.

ATHER of lights, from whom proceeds
Whate'er thy every creature needs;
Whose goodness, providently nigh,
Feeds the young ravens when they cry;
To thee I look; my heart prepare;
Suggest, and hearken to my prayer.
2 Since by thy light myself I see
Naked, and poor, and void of thee,
Thine eyes must all my thoughts survey,
Preventing what my lips would say:
Thou seest my wants; for help they call;
And, ere I speak, thou know'st them all.
3 Fain would I know, as known by thee,
And feel the indigence I see;
Fain would I all my vileness own,
And deep beneath the burden groan;
Abhor the pride that lurks within,
Detest and loathe myself and sin.
4 Ah, give me, Lord, myself to feel;
My total misery reveal:

Ah, give me, Lord, I still would say,
A heart to mourn, a heart to pray:
My business this, my only care,-
My life, my every breath, be prayer.

321

JESU

L. M.

Christ, the good Physician.
ESUS, thy far-extended fame
My drooping soul exults to hear;
Thy name, thy all-restoring name,
Is music in a sinner's ear.

2 Sinners of old thou didst receive
With comfortable words, and kind;
Their sorrows cheer, their wants relieve,
Heal the diseased, and cure the blind.

3 Give us ourselves and thee to know,
In this our gracious day;
Repentance unto life bestow,
And take our sins away.
4 Convince us first of unbelief,
And freely then release;
Fill every soul with sacred grief,
And then with sacred peace.

329

The accepted time.

L. M.

HILE life prolongs its precious light, Mercy is found, and peace is given; But soon, ah, soon, approaching night Shall blot out every hope of heaven. 2 While God invites, how blest the day! How sweet the Gospel's charming sound! Come, sinners, haste, O haste away,

While yet a pard'ning God is found. 3 Soon, borne on time's most rapid wing, Shall death command you to the grave,-Before His bar your spirits bring,

And none be found to hear or save. 4 In that lone land of deep despair, No Sabbath's heavenly light shall rise,-No God regard your bitter prayer, No Saviour call you to the skies.

5 Now God invites; how blest the day! How sweet the Gospel's charming sound! Come, sinners, haste, Ō haste away,

While yet a pard'ning God is found.

330

To-day the accepted time.

OW is the' accepted time,

NOW Now is the day of grace;

S. M.

Now, sinners, come without delay,
And seek the Saviour's face.

2 Now is the' accepted time,
The Saviour calls to-day;
To-morrow it may be too late-
Then why should you delay ?
3 Now is the' accepted time,
The gospel bids you come;
And every promise in his word
Declares there yet is room.

O sinner, come, without delay,
And bow before the throne.
2 O hear God's voice to-day,
And harden not your heart;
To-morrow, with a frown, he may
Pronounce the word,-Depart!

332

WHY

Boast not thyself of to-morrow.

S. M.

C. M.

HY should we boast of time to come,
Though but a single day?

This hour may fix our final doom,

Though strong, and young,

and gay.

2 The present we should now redeem; This only is our own;

The past, alas! is all a dream;

The future is unknown.

3 0, think what vast concerns depend
Upon a moment's space,

When life and all its cares shall end
In vengeance or in grace!

4 O for that power which melts the heart, And lifts the soul on high,

Where sin, and grief, and death depart,
And pleasures never die.