O mercy! ignorant of bounds!
Which all created thought confounds;
He ran outright a saving race
For them that unto death him chase.
O sin! how heavy is thy weight,
That press'd the glorious God of might,
Till prostrate on the freezing ground,
He sweat his clotted blood around!
His hand the pond'rous globe does prop,
This weight ne'er made him sweat a drop:
But when sin's load upon him lies,
He falls and sweats, and groans and dies.
Alas! if God sink under sin,
How shall the man that dies therein
How deeply down, when to the load
He adds the slighted blood of God?
Lord let thy fall my rise obtain,
Thy grievous shame my glory gain;
Thy cross my lasting crown procure,
Thy death my endless life insure.
O send me down a draught of love,
Or take me hence to drink above:
Here Marah's water fills my cup,
But there all griefs are swallow'd up.
Love here is scarce a faint desire;
But there the spark's a flaming fire.
Joys here are drops that passing flee,
But there an ever-flowing sea.
My faith, that sees so darkly here,
Will there resign to vision clear;
My hope, that's here a weary groan,
Will to fruition yield the throne.
Here fetters hamper freedom's wing,
But there the captive is a king:
And grace is like a buri'd seed,
But sinners there are saints indeed.
Thy portion's here a crumb at best,
But there the Lamb's eternal feast :
My praise is now a smother'd fire,
But then I'll sing and never tire.
Now dusky shadows cloud my day,
But then the shades will flee away:
My Lord will break the dimming glass,
And show his glory face to face.
My num'rous foes now beat me down,
. But then I'll wear the victor's crown;
Yet all the revenues I'll bring
To Zion's everlasting King.
THE DESERTED BELIEVER'S PRAYER UNDER COMPLAINTS OF UN-
BELIEF, DARKNESS, DEADNESS, AND HARDNESS.
WHAT means this wicked, wand'ring heart?
This trembling ague of my soul?
Would Jesus but a look impart,
One look from him would make me whole.
But will he turn to me his face,
From whom he justly did withdraw ?
To me who slighted all that grace
I in my past experience saw?
Lord, for thy promise' sake, return,
Apply thy pard'ning, cleansing blood;
Look down with pity on a worm,
With cov❜nant mercy do me good.
When thy free Sp'rit the word applies,
And kindly tells me thou art mine,
My faithless sinking heart replies,
Ah, Lord! I wish I could be thine.
My faith's so 'nighted in my doubts,
I cast the offer'd good away;
And lose, by raising vain disputes,
The wonted blessings of the day.
Was e'er one press'd with such a load,
Or pierc'd with such an unseen dart:
To find at once an absent God,
And yet, alas! a careless heart?
Such grief as mine, a griefless grief,
Did ever any mortal share?
A hopeless hope, a lifeless life,
Or such unwonted careless care?
'Tis sad, Lord! when for night's solace,
Nor moon, nor starry gleams appear:
Yet worse, when in this dismal case
My heart is harden'd from thy fear.
"T was not because no show'rs did flow
Of heav'nly manna at my door;
But by my folly I'm into
A worse condition than before.
Come, Lord, with greater pow'r; for why, Mine, sure, is not a common case; Thou offer'st to unvail; yet I
Do scarce incline to see thy face.
Such languid, faint desires I feel
Within this wicked, stupid heart:
I should, I would, but that I will
I hardly dare with truth assert.
O to be free of that vile wrack
That basely keeps me from my God!
I flee from thee, Lord; bring me back
By tender love, or by thy rod.
In paths of righteousness direct,
New proofs of thy remission give;
Then of thy name I'll mention make
With grateful praises while I live.
On banks of mercy's boundless deep,
With sweeter ease I'll soar and sing,
Than kings of feather'd hosts, that sweep
The oozy shore with easy wing.
But if thy mind omniscient know
I'm for this absent bliss unfit,
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