6 Now, on prefumption's billows borne,
My fpirit seem'd the LORD to dare;
Now, quick as thought, a fudden turn
Plung'd me in gulphs of black defpair.
7 LORD, fave me, or I fink, I pray'd,
He heard, and bid the tempeft cease;
The angry waves his word obey'd,
And all my fears were hush'd to peace.
8 The peace is his, and not my own,
My heart (no better than before)
Is ftill to dreadful changes prone,
Then let me never truft it more.
LXXXVIII. The flood.
HO' fmall the drops of falling rain,
If one be fingly view'd;
Collected, they o'erfpread the plain,
And form a mighty flood.
2 The house it meets with in its course,
Should not be built on clay;
Left, with a wild refiftlefs force,
It sweep the whole away.
3 Tho' for awhile it feem'd fecure;
It will not bear the shock;
Unless it has foundations fure,
And ftands upon a rock.
4 Thus finners think their evil deeds,
Like drops of rain, are fmall;
But it the pow'r of thought exceeds,
To count the fum of all.
5 One fin can raise, tho' small it feems, A flood to drown the foul;
What then, when countless million ftreams
Shall join, to fwell the whole.
6 Yet, while they think the weather fair,
If warn'd, they smile or frown;
But they will tremble and despair,
When the fierce flood comes down!
7 Oh! then on JESUS ground your hope,
That stone in Zion laid (s);
Left your poor building quickly drop,,
With ruin, on your head.
LXXXIX. The thaw.
THE ice and fnow we lately faw,
Which cover'd all the ground;
Are melted foon before the thaw,
And can no more be found.
2 Could all the heart of man fuffice
To move away the fnow,
To clear the rivers from the ice,
Or make the waters flow?
3 No, 'tis the work of GOD alone;
An emblem of the pow'r
By which he melts the heart of stone,
In his appointed hour.
4 All outward means, till he appears,
Will ineffectual prove;
Tho' much the finner fees and hears,
He cannot learn to love.
(s) Matt. vii. 24. 1 Peter ii. 6.
But let the ftouteft finner feel
The foft'ning warmth of grace;
Tho' hard as ice, or rocks, or fteel,
His heart diffolves apace.
6 Seeing the blood which JESUs fpilt,
To fave his foul from woe,
His hatred, unbelief, and guilt,
All melt away like fnow.
7 JESUS, we in thy name intreat,
Reveal thy gracious arm;
And grant thy Spirit's kindly heat,
Our frozen hearts to warm.
S needles point towards the pole,
When touch'd by the magnetic ftone;
So faith in JESUS, gives the foul
A tendency before unknown.
2 Till then, by blinded paffions fed,
In fearch of fancy'd good we range;
The paths of difappointment tread,
To nothing fix'd, but love of change.
But when the Holy Ghoft imparts
A knowledge of the Saviour's love;
Our wand'ring, weary, reftlefs hearts,
Are fix'd at once, no more to move.
4 Now a new principle takes place,
Which guides and animates the will;
This love, another name for grace,
Conftrains to good, and bars from ill.
5 By love's pure light we foon perceive Our nobleft blifs and proper end; And gladly ev'ry idol leave,
To love and ferve our LORD and Friend. 6 Thus borne along by faith and hope, We feel the Saviour's words are true; "And I, if I be lifted up (u), Will draw the finner upward too."
XCI. The fpider and bee.
N the fame flow'r we often fee
The lothfome fpider and the bee;
But what they get by working there,
Is diff'rent as their natures are.
2 The bee a fweet reward obtains,
And honey well repays his pains;
Home to the hive he bears the store,
And then returns in queft of more.
3 But no fweet flow'rs that grace the field,
Can honey to the spider yield;
A cobweb all that he can spin,
And poifon all he ftores within.
4 Thus in that facred field the word,
With flow'rs of God's own planting ftor'd,
Like bees his children feed and thrive,
And bring home honey to the hive.
5 There, fpider-like, the wicked come,
And seem to tafte the sweet perfume;
But the vile venom of their hearts,
To poifon all their food converts.
6 From the fame truths believers prize,
They weave vain refuges of lies;
And from the promise license draw,
To trifle with the holy law!
7 Lord, fhall thy word of life and love, The means of death to numbers prove! Unless thy grace our hearts renew (x), We fink to hell, with heav'n in view.
XCII. The bee faved from the spider.
HE fubtle fpider often weaves
His unfufpected fnares,
Among the balmy flow'rs and leaves,
To which the bee repairs.
2 When in his web he fees one hang,
With a malicious joy,
He darts upon it with his fang,
To poifon and destroy.
How welcome then, fome pitying friend,
To fave the threat'ned bee!
The spider's treach'rous web to rend,
And fet the captive free!
4 My foul has been in fuch a cafe,
When firft I knew the LORD,
I hafted to the means of grace,
Where sweets I knew were ftor'd.
Little I thought of danger near,
That foon my joys would ebb;
But ah! I met a fpider there,
Who caught me in his web.
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