340

MAN BY NATURE.

L. M.

DEEP in the dust before thy throne,

Our guilt and our disgrace we own: Great God! we own the unhappy name Whence sprang our nature and our shame. 2 But whilst our spirits, filled with awe, Behold the terrors of thy law,

We sing the honours of thy grace,
That sent to save our ruined race.

3 We sing thine everlasting Son,
Who joined our nature to his own:
Adam the Second from the dust
Raises the ruins of the first.

4 Where sin did reign, and death abound,
There have the sons of Adam found
Abounding life; there glorious grace
Reigns thro' the Lord our Righteousness.

GREAT King of glory and of grace,

We own, with humble shame,
How vile is our degenerate race,
And our first father's name.

2 From Adam flows our tainted blood,
The poison reigns within,
Makes us averse to all that's good,
And willing slaves to sin.

3 We live estranged afar from God,
And love the distance well;

With haste we run the dangerous road
That leads to death and hell.

4 And can such rebels be restored,
Such natures made divine?
Let sinners see thy glory, Lord,
And feel this power of thine.

LORD, we are born a sensual race,
To sinful joys inclined;

Reason has lost its native place,

And flesh enslaves the mind.

2 While flesh, and sense, and passion reign,
Sin is the sweetest good;
We fancy music in our chain,
And so forget the load.

3 Great God, renew our ruined frame,
Our broken powers restore;
Inspire us with a heavenly flame,
'And flesh shall reign no more.

4 Eternal Spirit, write thy law
Upon our inward parts;

And let the second Adam draw
His image on our hearts.

343

Lo

L. M.

ORD, we are vile, conceived in sin,
And born unholy and unclean;

Sprung from the man, whose guilty fall
Corrupts the race, and taints us all.
2 Soon as we draw our infant breath,
The seeds of sin grow up for death:

Thy law demands a perfect heart, But we're defiled in every part. 3 Great God, create our hearts anew, And form our spirit pure and true; No outward rites can make us clean, The leprosy lies deep within.

4 Jesus, our God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone:

Thy blood can make us white as snow,
No Jewish types could cleanse us so.

AH! how shall fallen man
Be just before his God?

If thou contend in righteousness,
We fall beneath thy rod.

2 If thou our ways should'st mark
With strict inquiring eyes,
Could we for one of thousand faults,
A just excuse devise?

3 All-seeing, powerful God,

Who can with thee contend?
Or who that tries the unequal strife,
Shall prosper in the end?

4 The mountains, in thy wrath,
Their ancient seats forsake;
The trembling earth deserts her place,
Her rooted pillars shake.

5 Ah! how shall guilty man,
Contend with such a God?

None, none can meet thee and escape,
But through the Saviour's blood." 1

345

C. P. M.

WE look to thee, O Lord, alone,

And low beneath thy gracious
throne

Pour out our ardent prayer:
Pardon our sin, our souls reprieve,
No hand but thine can now relieve,
Or save us from despair.

2 Our trembling spirit, filled with awe,
Beholds the terrors of thy law,
And bows itself in dust;

Thou, Lord, art righteous, just, and good,
Our only refuge is thy blood:

Thou art our only trust.

3 Guilty before thy bar we plead, Guilty in thought, in word, and deed, Wholly defiled by sin:

O, heal the leprosy of soul!

One pardoning word can make us whole,
And bid our hearts be clean.

346

SALVATION BY GRACE.

HOW

L. M.

OW shall the sons of men appear,
Great God, before thine awful bar!
How may the guilty hope to find
Acceptance with the Eternal Mind?

2 Not vows, nor groans, nor broken cries,
Not the most costly sacrifice:
Not infant blood, profusely spilt,
Will expiate a sinner's guilt.

3 Thy blood, dear Jesus, thine alone,
Hath sovereign virtue to atone;
Here we will rest our only plea,
When we approach, great God, to thee.

THOU art the way; to thee alone,
From sin and death we flee;
And he who would the Father seek,
Must seek him, Lord, by thee.

2 Thou art the truth; thy word alone
True wisdom can impart;

Thou only canst inform the mind,
And purify the heart.

3 Thou art the life; the rending tomb
Proclaims thy conquering arm;
And those who put their trust in thee,
Nor death nor hell shall harm.

4 Thou art the way, the truth, the life, Grant us that way to know,

That truth to keep, that life to win,
Whose joys eternal flow.

348

C. M.

BLESSED be God, for ever blest!
And glorious be his name!

His Son he gave, our souls to save
From everlasting shame.

2 The Eternal Life his life laid down,
Such was the wondrous plan,
And God, the blessed God, was made
A curse for cursed man.