SECTION V.

REPENTANCE, FAITH, &c.

HYMN 77.

(L. M.)

God is willing that all should come to repentance.--2 Pet. iii. 9. Ezek. xviii. 30, &c.

1 HOW graciously the Lord invites
Unworthy sinners to repent;

And gives them time, before he smites,
To escape the threaten'd punishment.

2 Thus, ere the flood of waters came,
To overwhelm man's guilty race;
God sent his servant to proclaim
For many a year the terms of

grace;

3 Thus too the Ninevites receiv'd
A warning of approaching woe;
The trembling multitude believ'd
The message, and escap'd the blow.

4 Thus mercy stay'd the avenging sword,
Till Israel's disobedient seed

Spurn'd all the offers of their Lord,
And brav'd the ruin he decreed.

Q

5 We too have time and means bestow'd, We have a gracious warning given, To turn from sin's deceitful road,

And seek the path that leads to heaven.

6 Lord, with thy word a blessing give, That it may soften every heart; Not only bid us turn and live,

But penitence and life impart.

HYMN 78.

(C. M.)

Joy in heaven over repenting sinners. Luke xv. 7.

1 JOY in angelic bosoms burns,

And fills the courts of heaven,
When a repenting sinner turns
To God, and is forgiven.

2 Midst all the wonders of the skies,
No sight so strange as this,
That lost and guilty souls should rise
To taste of heavenly bliss.

3 Of all the titles of their Lord, o

None shines more bright than Love ;
Which grants frail dust a high reward
Near his own throne above.

4 And can we madly persevere
To sin against such grace,
Nor seek in that celestial sphere
A peaceful resting-place?

5 Shall we present to angels' eyes
That strangest sight of all,

When souls, invited to the skies,
Are deaf to mercy's call ?

6 Forbid it, Lord, that we should stray, For ever lost in sin;

Let Love its richest boon display,
Its noblest work begin.

HYMN 79.

(L. M.)

For grace to return.

1 O FOR a beam of heavenly light
To guide my roving steps aright,
And lead me to the blest abode
Where dwells my Father and my God.

2 Lord, I am weak, and prone to stray; O keep me in thy holy way;

What nature wants let grace supply,
And smooth my progress to the sky.

3 Though I am but a worm of earth,
Sinful by practice as by birth;
O let divine compassion shed
New lustre on the path I tread.

4 Trusting in Jesus, let me go

In safety through this vale of woe; And may his gracious presence cheer My heart in all its wanderings here. 5 And when my pilgrimage is o'er, O let me rest upon that shore, Where sin shall never more molest, Nor drive me from my Saviour's breast.

HYMN 80.

(C. M.)

The blessing of repentance.

1 HOW blest are they, who feel the weight
Of sin, unfelt before;

Who own with tears their wretched state,
And knock at mercy's door.

2 So David, at the Seer's rebuke,
Was fill'd with sorrowing fears;
So Peter, at his Master's look,
Was melted into tears.

3 When sinners thus behold their guilt,
And tremble as they view;
Jesus applies the blood he spilt,
To cleanse and comfort too.

4 He washes all the stains away,
The crimson stains of sin;
Back to his fold directs their way,
And lets the wanderers in.

5 Thus all the saints, now thron'd in light,
Escap'd from sin's dark flood,

Have wash'd their robes, and made them white, In his atoning blood.

1 O THOU, whose tender care supplies
Strength to support the weak,

Who wilt not slight the feeblest cries
Of those who scarce can speak ;

2 See, low before thy throne of grace A guilty rebel mourn;

Wilt thou despise my piteous case,
My weak petitions scorn?

3 Shall my distressing fears prevail
To fill me with despair?
Lord, can thy sovereign mercy
To listen to my prayer?

fail

4 Do I not seek thy face aright? Then teach me how to come; And guide with thy refreshing light A wretched wanderer home.

5 In trembling sorrow I draw near
To tell thee all my woe;

And till thy quickening grace appear,
I cannot let thee go.

6 O hear me for my Saviour's sake ;
This is my only plea;

And let redeeming mercy make
My sin-bound spirit free.

For deliverance from sin.

1 LORD, a better heart bestow,
Hear a sinner's broken prayer;

Full of weariness and woe,
To thy mercies I repair.

2 Once I thought I could amend
All the evil of my ways;