2 O let my soul to life restor’d,

Thy love in lasting hymns record,
While o'er my head its beams shall shine,

And make thy great salvation mine. 3 Thine eyes in me the sheep behold,

Whose feet have wander'd from the fold,
Thạt guideless, helpless, strives in vain,

To find its safe retreat again:-
4 Now listens, if perchance its ear

The shepherd's well-known voice may hear; Now, as the tempests round it blow,

In plaintive accents vents its wo. 5 Great Ruler of this earthly ball,

Do thou my erring steps recall:
O seek thou him, who thee has sought,
Nor turns from thy decrees his thought,

211.

S.M.-Hope reviving. 1 AND shall I sit alone,

Oppress'd with grief and fear;
To God my Father make my moan,

And he refuse to hear? 2 If he my Father be,

His pity he will shew;
From cruel bondage set me free,

And inward peace bestow. 3 If still he silence keep,

'Tis but my faith to try;
He knows and feels whene'er I weep,

And softens every sigh,
4 Then will I humbly wait,

Nor once indulge despair;
My sins are great, but not so great

As his compassions are,

212. C.M.- Backsliding Israel invited to return to God. Jer. iii. 12, 13. 1 BACKSLIDING Israel, hear the voice

Of thy forgiving God,
Nor force such goodness to exert

The terrors of the rod.
2 Thus saith the Lord, “ My mercy flows

" An unexhausted stream;
And, after all its millions sav’d,

“ Its sway is still supreme.
3 “ Own but the follies thou hast done,

ss And mourn thy sins in dust, “ And soon thy trembling heart shall learn

“ To hope, and love, and trust.”
4 All-gracious God, thy voice we own;

And, prostrate at thy feet,
Our souls in humble silence wait

A pardon there to meet.

213.

C.M.- The Backslider recollecting himself in his Affliction.

Hosea ii. 6, 7.
1 THE Lord, how kind are all his

ways,
When most they seem severe!
He frowns, and scourges, and rebukes,

That we may learn his fear.
2 With thorns, he fences up our path,

And builds a wall around,
To guard us from the death, that lurks

In sin's forbidden ground.
3 When other lovers, sought in vain,

Our fond address despise,
He opens his indulgent arms,

With pity in his eyes.
4 Return, ye wandering souls, return,

And seek his tender breast;
Call back the memory of the days,

When there you found your rest.

5 Behold, O Lord, we fly to thee,

Though blushes veil our face, Constrain'd our last retreat to seek, In thy much-injur'd grace.

214. C.M.- The Lamentation of a Sinner, 1 O LORD, turn not thy face away

From them that lowly lie, Lamenting sore their sinful life,

With tears and bitter cry!
2 Thy mercy-gates are open wide

To them that mourn their sin;
Oh! shut them not against us, Lord,

But let us enter in!
3 We need not to confess our fault,

For surely thou canst tell;
What we have done, and what we are,

Thou knowest very well:
4 Wherefore, to beg and to entreat,

With tears we come to thee:
As children that have done amiss

Fall at their father's knee.
5 And need we then, O Lord, repeat

The blessing which we crave! When thou dost know, before we speak,

The thing that we would have. 6 Mercy, O Lord—mercy we seek:

This is the total sum!
For mercy, Lord, is all our prayer,
Oh! let thy mercy come!

215. C.M.-Creatures vain, and God the Salvation of his People. 1 HOW long shall dreams of creature bliss

Our flattering hopes employ,
And mock our fond deluded eyes,

With visionary joy?

Jer. ii, 23.

2 Why from the mountains and the hills

Is our salvation sought,
While our eternal Rock's forsook,

And Israel's God forgot?
3 The living spring neglected flows

Full in our daily view,
Yet we, with anxious, fruitless toil,

Our broken cisterns hew.
4 These fatal errors, gracious God,

With gentle pity see;
To thee our roving eyes direct,

And fix our souls on thee.

216.

P.M.- The Backslider's Prayer.
1 WEARY of wandering from my God,

And now made willing to return,
I hear and bow me to the rod:

For thee, not without hope, I mourn;
I have an Advocate above,

A Friend before the Throne of Love. 2 O Jesus, full of truth and grace,

More full of grace than I of sin;
Yet once again I seek thy face,

Open thine arms, and take me in!
And freely my backslidings heal,

And love the faithless sinner still. 3 Thou know'st the way to bring me back,

My fallen spirit to restore;
Oh! 'for thy truth and mercy's sake,

Forgive, and bid me sin no more:
The ruins of my soul repair,

And make my heart a house of prayer. 4 The stone to flesh again convert;

The veil of sin again remove:
Sprinkle thy blood upon my heart,

And melt it by thy dying love!

This rebel heart by love subdue,

And make it soft, and make it new. 5 Give to mine eyes refreshing tears,

And kindle my relentings now; ;
Fill my whole soul with filial fears;

To thy sweet yoke my spirit bow:
Bend by thy grace, O bend or break

The iron sinew in my neck!
6 Ah, give me, Lord, the tender heart,

That trembles at the approach of sin:
A godly fear of sin impart;

Implant and root it deep within,
That I

may

dread thy gracious power And never dare to' offend thee more.

217. C.M.-God's Complucency in his Thoughts of Peace towards his

People. Jer. xxix. 11.
1 VILER than dust, O Lord, are we;

And doth thine anger cease?
And doth thy gracious heart o'erflow
With purposes of peace.

.
2 And dost thou with delight reflect

On what thy grace shall do?
And with complacency of soul

Enjoy the distant view?
3 And can thy often injur'd love

So kind a message send,
That thou to all our lengthen'd woes

Wilt give the expected end? 4 Why droop our hearts? why flow our eyes,

While such a voice we hear? Why rise our sorrows and our fears,

While such a friend is near? 5 To all thy other favours add

A heart to trust thy word,
And death itself shall hear us sing,

While resting on the Lord.