REPENTANCE AND FAITH.

459

C. M.

ADDISON.

Solemn Apprehension.

WHEN, rising from the bed of death,

O'erwhelmed with guilt and fear,

I see my Maker face to face,-
O, how shall I appear!

2 If yet, while pardon may be found,
And mercy may be sought,

My heart with inward terror shrinks,
And trembles at the thought, —

3 When thou, O Lord, shalt stand disclosed In majesty severe,

And sit in judgment on my soul,

O, how shall I appear!

4 But there's forgiveness, Lord, with thee; Thy nature is benign;

Thy pardoning mercy I implore,
For mercy, Lord, is thine.

460

1

C. M.

Painful Recollections.

MIDDLETON.

As o'er the past my memory strays,

Why heaves the secret sigh?

'Tis that I mourn departed days,

Still unprepared to die.

2 The world and worldly things beloved My anxious thoughts employed; And time, unhallowed, unimproved,

Presents a fearful void.

3 Yet, holy Father, wild despair

Chase from my laboring breast:

Thy grace it is which prompts the prayer; That grace can do the rest.

4 My life's brief remnant all be thine;
And when thy sure decree

Bids me this fleeting breath resign,
O, speed my soul to thee.

461

C. M.

Sense of Ingratitude.

STEELE.

DThe wonders of thy grace,

EAR Saviour, when my thoughts recall

Low at thy feet, ashamed, I fall,
And hide this wretched face.

2 Shall love like thine be thus repaid?
Ah, vile, ungrateful heart!

By earth's low cares detained, betrayed
From Jesus to depart;-

3 From Jesus, who alone can give

True pleasure, peace, and rest;-
When absent from my Lord, I live
Unsatisfied, unblest.

4 But he, for his own mercy's sake,
My wandering soul restores;
He bids the mourning heart partake
The pardon it implores.

5 0, while I breathe to thee, my Lord,
The penitential sigh,

Confirm the kind, forgiving word,
With pity in thine eye.

6 Then shall the mourner, at thy feet,
Rejoice to seek thy face;

And, grateful, own how kind, how sweet,
Is thy forgiving grace.

462

1

GOD of mercy, God of grace,

Hear our sad, repentant songs;

O, restore thy suppliant race,

Thou, to whom our praise belongs.

2 Deep regret for follies past,
Talents wasted, time misspent;
Hearts debased by worldly cares,
Thankless for the blessings lent; -
3 Foolish fears, and fond desires,
Vain regrets for things as vain,
Lips too seldom taught to praise,
Oft to murmur and complain; -
4 These, and every secret fault,

Filled with grief and shame, we own;
Humbled at thy feet we lie,

Seeking pardon from thy throne.

5 God of mercy, God of grace,
Hear our sad, repentant songs;
O, restore thy suppliant race,
Thou, to whom our praise belongs.

463

Repentance in View of the Cross.

AND can mine eyes, without a tear,

weeping Saviour see?

Shall I not weep his groans to hear,
Who groaned and died for me?

2 Blest Jesus, let those tears of thine
Subdue each stubborn foe;

Come, fill my heart with love divine,
And bid my sorrows flow.

464

1

S. M.

Holy Fear of God.

WATTS.

AH, how shall fallen man

Be just before his God!

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

2 If he our ways should mark
With strict, inquiring eyes,

Could we for one of thousand faults
A just excuse devise?

8 All-seing, powerful God,

Who can with thee contend?
Or who that tries th' unequal strife
Shall prosper in the end?

4 The mountains, in thy wrath,
Their ancient seats forsake;
The trembling earth deserts her place;
Her rooted pillars shake.

5 Ah, how shall guilty man
Contend with such a God?

None, none can meet him, and escape,
But through the Saviour's blood."

465

1

Prayer for Deliverance.

LIKE Israel, Lord, am I;

My soul is at a stand;

A sea before, a host behind,
And rocks on either hand.

2 O Lord, I cry to thee,

And would thy word obey;

Bid me advance; and, through the sea,
Create a new-made way.

3 The time of greatest straits

Thy chosen time has been
To manifest thy power is great,
And make thy glory seen.

4 O, send deliverance down;
Display the arm divine;

466

W

So shall the praise be all thy own,
And I be doubly thine.

ITH guilt oppressed, bowed down with sin,
Beneath its load I groan;

Give me, O Lord, a heart of flesh;

Remove this heart of stone.

2 A burdened sinner, lo! I come,
In dread of death and hell;
O, seal my pardon with thy blood,
And all my fears dispel.

3 Nor peace, nor rest, my soul can find,
Till thy dear cross I see;
Till there in humble faith I cry,
"The Saviour died for me."

4 O, give this true and living faith,
This soul-supporting view;
Till old things be forever past,
And all within be new.

467

L. M.

The Backslider's Supplication.

WATTS.

THOU that bear'st when sinners cry,
Though all my crimes before thee lie,
Behold them not with angry look,
But blot their memory 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 banished from thy sight;
Thy holy joys, my God, restore,
And guard me, that I fall no more.

4 Though I have grieved thy Spirit, Lord, His help and comfort still afford,

And let a wretch come near thy throne,
To plead the merits of thy Son.

468

1

ABROKEN heart, my God, my King,

Is all the sacrifice I bring;

The God of grace will ne'er despise

A broken heart for sacrifice.