GOD'S LOVE AND POWER.
I I FELT my heart, and found a chillness cool
Its purple channels in my frozen side;
The spring was now become a standing pool,
Deprived of motion and its active tide.
O, stay! O, stay!
I ever freeze if banish'd from Thy ray :
A lasting warmth Thy secret beams beget;
Thou art a Sun which cannot rise or set.
2 Then thaw this ice, and make my frost retreat,
But let with temperate rays Thy lustre shine:
Thy judgments lightning, but Thy love is heat;
Those would consume my heart, but this refine.
Inspire inspire!
And melt my soul with Thy more equal fire;
So shall a pensive deluge drown my fears,
My ice turn water, and dissolve in tears.
3 After Thy love, if I continue hard,
If sin again knit and confirm'd be grown,
If guilt rebel, and stand upon his guard,
And what was ice before freeze into stone;
Reprove! reprove!
Thy power assist Thee to revenge Thy love. Lo, Thou hast still Thy threats and thunder left; The heart that can't be melted may be cleft!
THE RESIGNATION.*
I LONG have I view'd, long have I thought,
And trembling held this bitter draught;
* Altered from Norris's "Miscellanies," p. 83.
'Twas now just to my lips applied,
Nature shrank in, my courage died:
But now resolved and firm I'll be,
Since, Lord, 'tis mixt and given by Thee.
2 I'll trust my Great Physician's skill,
What He prescribes can ne'er be ill :
For each disease He knows what's fit,
He's wise and good, and I'll submit:
No longer will I grieve or pine;
Thy pleasure 'tis, it shall be mine.
3 Thy med'cine puts me to great smart,
Thou wound'st me in the tenderest part;
But 'tis with a design to cure;
I must and will Thy touch endure:
All that I prized below is gone ;
Yet still, Father, Thy will be done.
4 Since 'tis Thy sentence I should part
With what was nearest to my heart,
I freely that and more resign;
Behold, my heart itself is Thine :
My little all I give to Thee;
Thou hast bestow'd Thy Son on me.
5 He left true bliss and joy above,
Emptied Himself of all but love;
For me He freely did forsake
More than from me He e'er can take :
A mortal life for a divine
He took, and did even that resign.
6 Take all, Great God, I will not grieve,
But still wish I had still to give.
I hear Thy voice, Thou bidd'st me quit
My paradise, and I submit ;
I will not murmur at Thy word,
Nor beg Thee yet to sheathe Thy sword.
A PRAYER FOR THE LIGHT OF LIFE.
I O SUN of Righteousness, arise,
With healing in Thy wing!
To my diseased, my fainting soul
Life and salvation bring.
2 These clouds of pride and sin dispel
By Thy all-piercing beam;
Lighten mine eyes with faith, my heart
With holy hope inflame.
3 My mind by Thy all-quickening power
From low desires set free;
Unite my scatter'd thoughts, and fix
My love entire on Thee.
4 Father, Thy long-lost son receive;
Saviour, thy purchase own;
Blest Comforter, with peace and joy
Thy new-made creature crown!
5 Eternal, undivided Lord,
Co-equal One and Three!
On Thee all faith, all hope be placed,
All love be paid to Thee!
SUBMISSION.
[Altered from Herbert.]
BUT that Thou art my wisdom, Lord,
And both my eyes are Thine,
My soul would be extremely stirr'd
At missing my design.
2 Were it not better to bestow
Some place or power on me?
Then should Thy praises with me grow,
And share in my degree.
3 But while I thus dispute and grieve,
I do resume my sight;
And pilfering what I once did give,
Disseize Thee of Thy right.
4 How know I, if Thou shouldst me raise,
That I should then raise Thee?
Perhaps my wishes and Thy praise
Do not so well agree.
5 Therefore unto my gift I stand,
I will no more advise :
Only do Thou lend me a hand,
Since Thou hast both mine eyes.
A PRAYER FOR FAITH.
I FATHER, I stretch my hands to Thee,
No other help I know:
If Thou withdraw Thyself from me,
Ah! whither shall I go?
2 What did Thy only Son endure
Before I drew my breath!
What pain, what labour to secure
My soul from endless death!
3 O Jesu, could I this believe,
I now should feel Thy power;
Now my poor soul Thou wouldst retrieve,
Nor let me wait one hour.
4 Author of faith, to Thee I lift
My weary, longing eyes;
O, let me now receive that gift!
My soul without it dies.
5 Surely Thou canst not let me die!
O, speak, and I shall live!
And here I will unwearied lie,
Till Thou Thy Spirit give.
6 The worst of sinners would rejoice,
Could they but see Thy face:
O, let me hear Thy quickening voice,
And taste Thy pardoning grace.
A HYMN TO CHRIST.*
I MEEK, patient Lamb of God, to Thee
I fly; Thy meekness give to me:
I choose Thee for my life, my crown,
I pant to have Thee all my own:
Thou seest my heart, Thou know'st my love,
From Thee I never will remove;
No shame I fear, no pain, or loss,
But gladly follow to the cross.
2 Make clean as wool my filthy heart,
Wash white as snow my every part:
Give me in stillness to sustain
Whate'er Thy wisdom shall ordain.
Carve for Thyself in me, and make
My heart Thy lamb-like image take:
* Probably altered from an older translation of O Stilles Gottes Lamm, Hernhuth Collection, No. 412, ascribed by some to Gottfried Arnold. (1666-1714.) The next hymn is most likely a translation also, but has not been traced to its original.
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