In that abyss of endless pains,
I'm overwhelm'd with horror:
What's in this life of misery,
So awful as eternity?

3 Should hell endure as many years, .
As many men, this world of tears,
Has seen since the creation;
As many stars adorn the sky,
As many leaves the woods supply,
You'd hope for its cessation.
This sum of ages would but be,
One moment to eternity.

4 But having spent in endless fears,
So many thousand thousand years,
Thy scene is still beginning;
When thou hast suffer'd all these times,
The just reward of wilful crimes,

Thy thread ne'er ceases spinning;
Th' eternal Now, who can unfold?
"Tis ever new, but never old.

5 Awake and rise from sinful sleep!
Bethink thyself, thou straying sheep!
Return by true repentance;
Arise, thy wicked ways amend,
The glass of life runs to its end;
Then dread the fatal sentence:
Perhaps within few minutes breath,
Thou'rt snatch'd away by sudden death.

THE

PERFECTIONS AND WORKS of God.

305.

Perfections. (C. M.)

1 GREAT is the Lord; his works of might,

Demand our noblest songs;

Let his assembled saints unite,
Their harmony of tongues.

2 Great is the mercy of the Lord;
He gives his children food;
And ever mindful of his word,
He makes his promise good.

3 His Son, the great Redeemer, came,
To seal his cov'nant sure;
Holy and reverend is his name,
His ways are just and pure.

4 They that would grow divinely wise,
Must with his fear begin;

Our fairest proof of knowledge lies,
In hating every sin.

.306. Divine Wrath and Mercy. Nahum i. 1. (C.M.)

1

ADORE and tremble, for our God,

Is a consuming fire;

His jealous eyes his wrath inflame,
And raise his vengeance higher.

2 Almighty vengeance how it burns!
How bright his fury glows!

Vast magazines of plagues and storms,
Lie treasur'd for his foes.

3 Those heaps of wrath by slow degrees,
Are forc'd into a flame;

But kindled, O how fierce they blaze!
And rend all nature's frame.

4 At his approach the mountains flee,
And seek a watery grave;

The frighted sea makes haste away,
And shrinks up every wave.

5 Through the wide air the weighty rocks,
Are swift as hailstones hurl'd:
Who dares engage his fiery rage,
That shakes the solid world?

6 Yet, mighty God, thy sov'reign grace,
Sits regent on the throne,
The refuge of thy chosen race,
When wrath comes rushing down.

7 Thy hand shall on rebellious kings,
A fiery tempest pour,

While we beneath thy sheltering wings,
Thy just revenge adore.

307. God, Holy, Just, and Sovereign. Job ix. 2. 10.

1

HOW

(C. M.)

OW should the sons of Adam's race,
Be pure before their God?

If he contend in righteousness,
We fall beneath his rod.

2 To vindicate my words and thoughts,
I'll make no more pretence;

Not one of all my thousand faults,
Can bear a just defence.

3 Strong is his arm, his heart is wise;
What vain presumers dare,
Against their Maker's hand to rise,
Or tempt th' unequal war?

4 Mountains by his almighty wrath,
From their old seats are torn;

He shakes the earth from south to north,
And all her pillars mourn.

5 He bids the sun forbear to rise,
Th' obedient sun forbears:

His hand with sackcloth spreads the skies,
And seals up all the stars.

6 He walks upon the stormy sea,
Flies on the stormy wind;

There's none can trace his wond'rous way,
Or his dark footsteps find.

308. God dwells with the Penitent. Isaiah lvii. 15, 16.

66

TH

(L. M.)

HUS saith the High and Lofty One,
“I sit upon my holy throne;

My name is God, I dwell on high,
"Dwell in my own eternity.

2" But I descend to worlds below,
"On earth I have a mansion too
"The humble spirit and contrite,
"Is an abode of my delight.

3 "The humble soul my words revive,
"I bid the mourning sinner live,
"Heal all the broken hearts I find,
"And ease the sorrows of the mind.

4" When I contend against their sin,

"I make them know how vile they've been; "But should my wrath for ever smoke, "Their souls would sink beneath my stroke." 5 0 may thy pardoning grace be nigh, Lest we should faint, despair, and die! Thus shall our better thoughts approve, The methods of thy chastening love.

309. God's awful Power and Goodness. (S.M.)

1

THE Almighty Lord!

How matchless is his power!

Tremble, O earth, beneath his word,
And all the heav'ns adore.

2

Let proud imperious kings,

3

4

5

Bow low before his throne;

Crouch to his feet, ye haughty things,
Or he shall tread you down.

Above the skies he reigns,
And with amazing blows,
He deals unsufferable pains,
On his rebellious foes.

Yet, everlasting God,
We love to speak thy praise;
Thy sceptre's equal to thy rod,
The sceptre of thy grace.

The arms of mighty love,
Defend our Sion well,

And heav'nly mercy walls us round,
From Babylon and hell.