THE Shunamite, opprefs'd with grief,
When the had loft the fon fhe lov'd,
Went to Elifha for relief,
Nor vain her application prov'd.
2 He fent his fervant on before
To lay a staff upon his head;
This he could do, but do no more,
He left him, as he found him, dead.
But when the LORD's almighty pow'r
Wrought with the prophet's pray'r and faith,
The mother faw a joyful hour,
She faw her child reftor'd from death. 4 Thus, like the weeping Shunamite, For many, dead in fin we grieve;
Now, LORD, display thine arm of might, Cause them to hear thy voice and live. 5 Thy preachers bear the ftaff in vain, Tho' at thine own command we go; LORD, we have try'd, and try'd again, We find them dead, and leave them fo. 6 Come then thyfelf-to ev'ry heart The glory of thy name make known; The means are our appointed part, The pow'r and grace are thine alone.
XIV. E L IF A H's prayer (ƒ)• OES it not grief, and wonder move, To think of Ifrael's fhameful fall? Who needed miracles to prove Whether the LORD was GOD or Baal!
(e) 2 King iv. 31. (f) : Kings xviii.
2 Methinks I fee Elijah stand,
His features glow with love and zeal,
In faith and pray'r he lifts his hand,
And makes to heav'n his great appeal.
3" O GOD! if I thy fervant am,
If 'tis thy meffage fills my heart;
Now glorify thy holy name,
And fhew his people who thou art !" 4 He fpake and lo! a fudden flame Confum'd the wood, the duft, the ftone; The people ftruck, at once proclaim "The LORD is GOD, the LORD alone." Like him we mourn an awful day, When more for Baal, than GoD appear; Like him believers, let us pray,
And may the GOD of Ifrael hear!
6 LORD, if thy fervants speak thy truth,
If he indeed is fent by thee;
Confirm the word to all our youth,
And let them thy falvation fee.
7 Now may thy Spirit's holy fire
Pierce ev'ry heart that hears thy word;
Confume each hurtful vain defire,
And make them know thou art the LORD.
XV. Preaching to the dry bones, (g). I pReachers may, from Ezekiel's cafe, Draw hope in this declining day; A proof, like this, of fovereign grace Should chafe our unbelief away.
2 When fent to preach to mold'ring bones,
Who could have thought he would fucceed?
But well he knew the LORD from ftones
Could raise up Abra'm's chosen feed.
3 Can these be made a num'rous hoft,
And fuch dry bones new life receive? sti
The prophet answer'd, "LORD thou knowst
They fhall, if thou commandment give."
4 Like him, around I caft my eye,
And oh ! what heaps of bones appear;
Like him, by JESUS fent, I'll try,
For he can cause the dead to hear.
5 Hear, ye dry bones, the Saviour's word! He, who when dying gafp'd, "Forgive," That gracious finner-loving Lord,
Says, "Look to me, dry bones, and live."
6 Thou heav'nly wind awake and blow,
In answer to the pray'r of faith;
Now thine almighty influence fhow,
And fill dry bones with living breath.
7 O make them hear, and feel, and shake,
And, at thy call, obedient move;
The bonds of death and Satan break,
And bone to bone unite in love.
WHEN Mofes wav'd his myftic rod Whatwonders follow'd while he fpoke? Firm as a wall the waters ftood(b) Or gush'd in rivers from the rock(i)!
2 At his command the thunders roll'd,
Light'ning and hail his voice obey'd(k),
And Pharaoh trembled, to behold,
His land in defolation laid.
3 But what could Mofes' rod have done
Had he not been divinely fent ?
The pow'r was from the LORD alone,
And Mofes but the inftrument.
4 O LORD regard thy peoples prayers!
Affift a worm to preach aright;
And fince thy gofpel-rod he bears,
Difplay thy wonders in our fight.
5 Proclaim the thunders of thy law,
Like light'ning let thine arrows fly,
That careless finners, ftruck with awe,
For refuge may to JESUS cry!
6 Make ftreams of godly forrow flow
From rocky hearts, unus'd to feel;
And let the poor in fpirit know
That thou art near, their griefs to heal.
7 But chiefly, we would now look up
To afk a bleffing for our youth,
The rifing generations hope,
That they may know and love the truth. 8 Arife, O LORD afford a fign,
Now fhall our pray'rs fuccefs obtain;
Since both the means and pow'r are thine,
How can the rod be rais'd in vain!
XVII. GOD Speaking from mount Zion.
THE GOD who once to Ifrael spoke
From Sinai's top, in fire and smoke,
In gentler ftrains of gospel grace
Invites us now, to feek his face.
2 He wears no terrors on his brow,
He fpeaks, in love, from Zion, now;
It is the voice of JESUS' blood
Calling poor wand'rers home to God.
3 The holy Mofes quak'd and fear'd
When Sinai's thund'ring law he heard;
But reigning grace, with accents mild,
Speaks to the finner as a child.
4 Hark! how from Calvary it founds;
From the Redeemer's bleeding wounds;
"Pardon and grace, I freely give,
Poor finner look to me and live."
5 What other arguments can move
The heart that flights a Saviour's love!
Yet till Almighty pow'r conftrain,
This matchlefs love is preach'd in vain.
6 O Saviour let that pow'r be felt,
And cause each ftony heart to melt!
Deeply imprefs upon our youth
The light and force of gofpel truth.
With the new-year may they begin
To live to thee, and die to fin;
To enter by the narrow way
Which leads to everlasting day.
8 How will they elfe thy prefence bear When as a Judge thou fhalt appear! When flighted love, to wrath fhall turn, And the whole earth like Sinai burn!
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