4 This is now my resolution,
At thy dearest feet to fall;
Here I'll meet my condemnation,
Or a freedom from my thrall.
5 If1 meet with condemnation,
Justly I deserve the same;
If I meet with free salvation,
I will magnify thy name.
271. Seeking pardon. Ps. xxvii. 8.
1 LORD, at thy feet I prostrate fall,
Opprest with fears to thee I call:
Reveal thy pard'ning love to me,
And set my captive spirit free.
2 Hast thou not said, "Seek ye my face;"
The invitation I embrace;
I'll seek thy face; thy Spirit give!
O let me see thy face, and live.
3 I'll wait, perhaps my Lord may come;
If I turn back, hell is my doom;
And begging in his way, I'll lie
Till the dear Saviour passes by.
4 I'll seek his face with cries and tears,
With secret sighs and fervent pray❜rs;
And if not heard, I'll waiting sit,
And perish at my Saviour's feet.
5 But canst thou, Lord, see all my pain,
And bid me seek thy face in vain?
No! Jesus wili not, can't deceive,
The soul that seeks his face shall live,
What must I do to be saved?" Acts ix. 6
1 WITH melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
T'escape that vengeance due to me?
2 Till now, I saw no danger nigh;
I liv'd at ease, nor fear'd to die;
Wrapt up in self-deceit and pride,
"I shall have peace at last," I cried.
3 But when, great God! thy light divine
Had shone on this dark soul of mine,
Then I beheld, with trembling awc,
The terrors of thy holy law.
4 How dreadful, now, my guilt appears,
In childhood, youth, and growing years!
Before thy pure discerning eye,
Lord, what a filthy wretch am I!
5 Should vengeance still my soul pursue,
Death and destruction are my due;
Yet mercy can my guilt forgive,
And bid a dying sinner live.
6 Loes not thy sacred word proclaim
Salvation free in Jesus' name?
To him I look, and humbly cry,
save a wretch condemned to die!"
273. Apprehension confessed, or Jesus was heard in that he feared. Heb. v. 7. ii. 15. THOU man of griefs, remember me,
Who never canst thyself forget
Thy last, mysterious agony,
Thy fainting pangs, and bloody sweat!
2 When, wrestling in the strength of prayer,
Thy spirit sunk beneath its load!
Thy feeble flesh afraid to bear
The wrath of an almighty God!
5 Father if I may call thee so,
Regard my fearful heart's desire,
Remove this load of guilty wo,
Nor let me in my sins expire!
4 I tremble lest the wrath divine,
Which bruises now my sinful soul,
Should bruise this wretched soul of mine,
Long as eternal ages roll!
5 To thee, my last distress I bring!
The heighten'd fear of death find!
The tyrant, brandishing his sting,
Appears, and hell is close behind!
6 I deprecate that death alone,
That endless banishment from thee!
O save me, through thine only Son,
Who trembled, wept, and bled for me!
(240.) L. M.
Penitence.
SHOW pity, Lord! O Lord, forgive!
Let a repenting sinner live.
Are not thy mercies large and free?
May not the contrite trust in thee?
2 With shame my num'rous sins I trace
Against thy law, against thy grace;
And, though my pray'r thou shouldst not hea,
My doom is just, and thou art clear.
3 Yet save a penitent, O Lord!
Whose hope, still hov'ring round thy word,
Seeks for some precious promise there,
Some sure support against despair.
4 My sins are great, but don't surpass
The riches of eternal grace.
Great God! thy nature hath no bound:
So let thy pard'ning love be found.
5 O wash my soul from ev'ry stain,
Nor let the guilt I mourn remain.
Give me to hear thy pard'ning voice,
And bid my bleeding heart rejoice.
6 Then shall thy love inspire my tongue;
Salvation shall be all my song;
And ev'ry power shall join to bless
'The Lord, my strength and righteousness.
THOU that hear'st when sinners cry!
Though all my crimes before thee lie,
Behold them not with angry look,
But blot their mem'ry from thy book.
2 Create my nature pure within,
And form my soul averse to sin:
Let thy good Spirit ne'er depart,
Nor hide thy presence from my heart.
3 I cannot live without thy light,
Cast out and banish'd from thy sight;
Thy holy joys, O God, restore,
And guard me that I fall no more.
4 A broken heart, my God, my King,
Is all the sacrifice I bring:
The God of grace will ne'er despise
A broken heart for sacrifice.
5 My soul lies humbled in the dust,
And owns thy dreadful sentence just:
Look down, O Lord, with pitying eye,
And save the soul condemn'd to die.
ESUS, if still the same thou art,
If all thy promises are sure,
Set up thy kingdom in my heart,
And make me rich, for I am poor.
2 Thou hast pronounc'd the mourner blest, And lo! for thee I ever mourn;
I cannot, no, I will not rest,
Till thou my only rest return.
3 Where is the blessedness bestow'd
On all that hunger after thee?
I hunger now, I thirst for God!
See the poor fainting sinner, see,
4 Ah, Lord! if thou art in that sigh, Then hear thyself within me pray, Hear in my heart thy Spirit's cry, Mark what my lab'ring soul would say 5 Shine on thy work, disperse the gloom; Light in thy light I then shall sec;
Say to my soul, Thy light is come,
Glory divine is ris'n on thee."
6 Lord, I believe thy promise sure,
And trust thou wilt not long delay:
Hungry, and sorrowful, and poor,
Upon thy word myself I stay.
JESUS, if still thou art to-day
As yesterday the same,
Present to heal, in me display
The virtue of thy name.
2 If still thou go'st about to do
Thy needy creatures good:
On me, that I thy praise may show,
Be all thy wonders show'd
S Now, Lord, to whom for help 1 call,
Thy miracles repeat;
With pitying eyes behold me fall
A leper at thy feet.
A Loathsome, and foul, and self-abhorr'd,
I sink beneath my sin;
But if thou wilt, a gracious word
Of thine can make me clean.
5 Thou seest me deaf to thy commands,
Open, O Lord, my ear;
Bid me stretch out my wither'd hands,
And lift them up in prayer.
6 Silent (alas! thou know'st how long)
My voice, I cannot raise;
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