5 With flowing tears, Lord, we confess
Our folly and unsteadfastness;
When shall these hearts more fixed be,
Fixed by thy grace, and fixed for thee?
1 WHY sinks my weak, desponding mind?
Why heaves my heart the anxious sigh
Can sovereign goodness be unkind?
Am I not safe if God is nigh?
2 He holds all nature in his hand;
That gracious hand, on which I live,
Doth life, and time, and death command,
And has immortal joys to give.
3 'Tis he supports this fainting frame;
On him alone my hopes recline;
The wondrous glories of his name,
How wide they spread! how bright they shine!
4 Infinite wisdom! boundless power!
Unchanging faithfulness and love!
Here let me trust, while I adore,
Nor from my refuge e'er remove.
5 My God, if thou art mine indeed,
Then have I all my heart can crave;
A present help in time of need;
Still kind to hear, and strong to save.
6 Forgive my doubts, O gracious Lord!
And ease the sorrows of my breast;
Speak to my heart the healing word,
That thou art mine, — and I am blest.
Complaining of Want of Faith.
1 0 My distrustful heart,
How small thy faith appears!
But greater, Lord, thou art
Than all my doubts and fears:
Did Jesus once upon me shine?
Then Jesus is forever mine.
2 Unchangeable his will,
Though dark
may be His loving heart is still Eternally the same:
My soul through many changes goes;
His love no variation knows.
3 Thou, Lord, wilt carry on,
And perfectly perform,
The work thou hast begun
In me, a sinful worm:
'Midst all my fears, and sin, and woe,
Thy spirit will not let me go.
4 The bowels of thy grace
At first did freely move;-
1 still shall see thy face,
And feel that God is love:
Myself into thy arms I cast;
Lord, save, O save my soul at last.
The Sinner admonished to turn.
1 SINNERS, the voice of God regard;
'Tis mercy speaks to-day;
He calls you by his sovereign word,
From sin's destructive way.
2 Like the rough sea that cannot rest,
You live devoid of peace;
A thousand stings within your breast
Deprive your souls of ease.
3 Why will you in the crooked ways
Of sin and folly go?
In pain you travel all your days,
And all you reap is woe!
4 But he that turns to God shall live,
Through his abounding grace;
His mercy will the guilt forgive
Of those that seek his face.
5 Bow to the sceptre of his word,
Renouncing every sin;
Submit to him, your sovereign Lord,
And learn his will divine.
6 His love exceeds your highest thoughts; He pardons like a God;
He will forgive your numerous faults,
Through a Redeemer's blood.
Wisdom's Voice to the Sinner.
1 'Tis wisdom's earnest cry,
Wisdom, the voice of God;
To young and old, the low and high,
She speaks his will abroad.
2 Within the human breast
Her strong monitions plead,
She thunders her divine protest
Against th' unrighteous deed.
3 Within the holy place
She calls with open arms,
'How long, ye fools, will you embrace
Folly's deceiving charms?
4 The race of men I love;
In mercy I chastise;
Severely faithful, I reprove;
Hear, mortals, and be wise.
5 'My doors are open wide,
My table spread within;
Come then, ye simple, turn aside,
And leave the paths of sin.
6'My ways are ways of peace,
My pleasures never cloy;
The bliss I give will never cease,
But lead to endless joy.'
State of the Wicked and Righteous compared.
1 As, parched in the barren sands
Beneath a burning sky,
The worthless bramble withering stands,
And only grows to die;
2 Such is the sinner's awful case,
Who makes the world his trust,
And dares his confidence to place
In vanity and dust.
3 A secret curse destroys his root,
And dries his moisture up;
He lives awhile, but bears no fruit,
Then dies unblest by hope.
4 But happy he whose hopes depend
Upon the Lord alone;
The soul that trusts in such a friend
Can ne'er be overthrown.
5 So thrives and blooms the tree whose roots
By constant streams are fed;
Arrayed in green, and rich in fruits,
It rears its branching head.
6 It thrives, though rain should be denied,
And drought around prevail :
'Tis planted by a river side,
Whose waters cannot fail,
1 LORD, when iniquities abound,
And growing crimes appear,
We view the deluge rising round,
With sorrow and with fear.
2 Yet, when its waves most fiercely beat,
And spread destruction wide,
Thy spirit can a barrier raise
To stem the rising tide.
3 May thy resistless arm awake,
Thy sacred cause to plead ;
And let the multitude confess
'That thou art God indeed.
4 Our faint and feeble souls support;
Thy saving power display;
And multitudes in vain shall strive
To lead us from thy way.
'Shall mortal man be more just than God?' 1 SHALL the vile race of flesh and blood Contend with their Creator, God? Shall mortal worms presume to be More holy, wise, or just than he?
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