4 Then all my servile works were done
A righteousness to raise ; Now, freely chosen in the son, I freely choose his ways.
5 What shall I do, was then the word, That I may worthier grow? What shall I render to the LORD? Is my inquiry now.
6 To see the law by CHRIST fulfill'd, And hear his pard'ning voice, Changes a slave into a child,* And duty into choice.
THE HEART HEALED AND CHANGED BY MERCY.
SIN enslav'd me many years, And led me bound and blind; Till at length a thousand fears
Came swarming o'er my mind: Where, I said in deep distress, Will these sinful pleasures end? How shall I secure my peace, And make the Lord my friend?
Friends and ministers said much, The gospel to enforce ;
But my blindness still was such, I chose a legal course: Much I fasted, watch'd, and strove, Scarce would shew my face abroad, Fear'd, almost, to speak or move, A stranger still to God.
Thus afraid to trust his grace, Long time did I rebel; Till despairing of my case, Down at his feet I fell : Then my stubborn heart he broke, And subdu'd me to his sway; By a simple word he spoke, "Thy sins are done away."
1 HOLY LORD GOD! I love thy truth, Nor dare thy least commandment slight; Yet pierc'd by sin, the serpent's tooth, I mourn the anguish of the bite.
2 But though the poison lurks within, Hope bids me still with patience wait, Till death shall set me free from sin, Free from the only thing I hate.
3 Had I a throne above the rest, Where angels and archangels dwell, One sin, unslain, within my breast, Would make that heav'n as dark as hell.
4 The pris'ner, sent to breathe fresh air, And bless'd with liberty again,
Would mourn, were he condemn'd to wear One link of all his former chain.
5 But oh! no foe invades the bliss, When glory crowns the Christian's head; One view of JESUS as he is,
Will strike all sin forever dead.
THE NEW CONVERT.
1 THE new-born child of gospel-grace, Like some fair tree when summer's night, Beneath EMMANUEL'S shining face, Lifts up his blooming branch on high.
2 No fears he feels, he sees no foes,
No conflict yet his faith employs ; Nor has he learnt, to whom he owes The strength and peace his soul enjoys.
3
But sin soon darts its cruel sting, And comforts sinking day by day, What seem'd his own, a self-fed spring, Proves but a brook that glides away.
4 When Gideon arm'd his num❜rous host, The LORD soon made his numbers less; And said, lest Israel vainly boast,* "My arm procur'd me this success."
5 Thus will he bring our spirits down
And draw our ebbing comforts low, That, sav'd by grace, but not our own, We may not claim the praise we owe.
I O GOD, whose favourable eye The sin-sick soul revives, Holy and heav'nly is the joy Thy shining presence gives.
2 Not such as hypocrites suppose, Who, with a graceless heart, Taste not of thee, but drink a dose Prepar'd by Satan's art.
3 Intoxicating joys are theirs,
Who, while they boast their light, And seem to soar above the stars, Are plunging intò night.
4 Lull'd in a soft and fatal sleep, They sin and yet rejoice;
Were they indeed the Saviour's sheep, Would they not hear his voice?
5 Be mine the comforts that reclaim The soul from Satan's pow'r; That make me blush for what I am, And hate my sin the more.
6 'Tis joy enough, my All in All, At thy dear feet to lie; Thou wilt not let me lower fall, And none can higher fly.
A LIVING AND A DEAD FAITH,
I THE LORD receives his highest praise From humble minds and hearts sincere, While all the loud professor says Offends the righteous Judge's ear.
2 To walk as children of the day, To mark the precept's holy light, To wage the warfare, watch and pray, Shew who are pleasing in his sight.
3 Not words alone it cost the LORD' To purchase pardon for his own; Nor will a soul, by grace restor❜d, Return the Saviour words alone.
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