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II. SEEKING, PLEADING, AND HOPING.

VI. The Burdened Sinner.

1 АH! what can I do,

Or where be secure!

If justice pursue

What heart can endure!
The heart breaks asunder,

Though hard as a stone,
When God speaks in thunder,
And makes himself known.

2 With terror I read

My sins' heavy score,

The number exceeds

The sands on the shore;

Guilt makes me unable
To stand or to flee;
So Cain murder'd Abel,
And trembled like me.

3 Each sin, like his blood, With a terrible cry,

Calls loudly on God

To strike from on high:
Nor can my repentance,
Extorted by fear,

Reverse the just sentence;
'Tis just, though severe.

4 The case is too plain,

I have my own choice;

Again, and again,

I slighted his voice;

His warnings neglected,
His patience abus'd,
His Gospel rejected,
His mercy refus'd.

5 And must I then go,
For ever to dwell

In torments and wo

With devils in hell!
Oh! where is the Saviour
I scorn'd in times past?
His word in my favour
Would save me at last.

6 Lord Jesus, on thee I venture to call,

Oh look upon me,

The vilest of all!

For whom didst thou languish,

And bleed on the tree?

Oh pity my anguish,

And say,

""Twas for thee."

7 A case such as mine

Will honour thy pow'r;

All hell will repine,

All heav'n will adore:

If in condemnation

Strict justice takes place,

It shines in salvation

More glorious through grace.

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VII.

Behold, I am vile!

1 O LORD, how vile am I,
Unholy and unclean!

How can I dare to venture nigh
With such a load of sin?

2 Is this polluted heart

A dwelling fit for thee?
Swarming, alas! in ev'ry part,
What evils do I see!

3 If I attempt to pray,

And lisp thy holy name,

My thoughts are hurry'd soon away,
I know not where I am.

4 If in thy word I look,

Such darkness fills my mind,

I only read a sealed book,
But no relief can find.

5 Thy Gospel oft I hear,

But hear it still in vain ;
Without desire, or love, or fear,
I like a stone remain.

6 Myself can hardly bear

This wretched heart of mine;
How hateful then must it appear
To those pure eyes of thine?

7 And must I then indeed

Sink in despair and die?

Fain would I hope that thou didst bleed'

For such a wretch as I.

8 That blood which thou has spilt,

That grace which is thine own, Can cleanse the vilest sinner's guilt, And soften hearts of stone.

9 Low at thy feet I bow,

Oh pity and forgive;

Here will I lie, and wait till thou
Shalt bid me rise and live.

VIII. C. The shining Light.

1 My former hopes are fled,
My terror now begins;
I feel, alas! that I am dead
In trespasses and sins.

2 Ah, whither shall I fly!

I hear the thunder roar ;
The law proclaims destruction nigh,
And vengeance at the door.

3 When I review my ways,

I dread impending doom;

But sure a friendly whisper says,
"Flee from the wrath to come."

4 I see, or think I see,

A glimm'ring from afar ;

A beam of day that shines for me,
To save me from despair.

5 Fore-runner of the sun*,

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It marks the pilgrim's way;
I'll gaze upon it while I run,
And watch the rising day.

* Psal. cxxx. 6.

IX. Encouragement.

1 My soul is beset

With grief and dismay
I owe a vast debt,

And nothing can pay :
I must go to prison,
Unless that dear Lord,
Who dy'd and is risen,
His pity afford.

2 The death that he dy'd,
The blood that he spilt
To sinners apply'd,
Discharge from all guilt;
This great intercessor
Can give, if he please,
The vilest transgressor
Immediate release.

3 When nail'd to the tree,
He answer'd the pray'r
Of one, who, like me,
Was nigh to despair* ;
He did not upbraid him
With all he had done,
But instantly made him
A saint and a son.

4 The jailer, I read,

A pardon receiv'dt:

And how was he freed?

He only believ d:

* Luke xxiii. 43.

† Acts xvi. 31.

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