PART FOURTH.

HYMNS

FOR

MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS.

THE

CHRISTIAN PSALMIST.

PART IV.

MISCELLANEOUS HYMNS.

325.

The strife between Sin and Grace.
1 LONG I strove my God to love,
Long I strove his laws to keep;
Fain would fix my thoughts above,
Mingle with the Saviour's sheep;
But my striving all proved vain,
Still I found my heart in pain!
Yet my vileness never saw,
Till declared accursed by law.

2 Then with sense of guilt oppress'd,
All my soul was sunk in fear,
Grief and anguish fill'd my breast,
Then did Jesus Christ appear:
Not with vengeance in his eyes,
No, but as a sacrifice,
Acceptable unto God ;-

Glorious offering! precious blood!
3 He was offer'd on the tree,
Jesus the unspotted Lamb:
Worthy truth, great mystery!
By his blood salvation came.

By his stripes my wounds are heal'd,
By his death, God's love reveal'd;
We, once strangers far from God,
Are brought nigh by Jesus' blood.

326.

Formality and Ordinances.

1 LONG have I seem'd to serve Thee, Lord, With unavailing pain;

Fasted and pray'd, and read thy word,
And heard it preach'd, in vain!

2 Oft did I with the assembly join,
And near thine altar drew:
A form of godliness was mine,
The power I never knew.

3 I rested in the outward law,
Nor knew its deep design;
The length and breadth I never saw,
And height, of love divine.

4 To please Thee thus, at length I see,
Vainly I hoped and strove;
For, what are outward things to Thee,
Unless they spring from love?

5 I see the perfect law requires

Truth in the inward parts;

Our full consent, our whole desires,
Our undivided hearts.

6 But I of means have made my boast:
Of means an idol made!
The spirit in the letter lost,

The substance in the shade!

7 Where am I now, or what my hope?
What can my weakness do?

Jesus! to Thee my soul looks up;
'Tis Thou must make it new.

327.

Submission to the Grace of God.

1 STILL for thy loving-kindness, Lord,
I in thy temple wait:

I look to find Thee in thy word,
Or at thy table meet.

2 Here in thine own appointed ways,
I wait to learn thy will;
Silent I stand before thy face,

And hear Thee say, "Be still!"

3"Be still, and know that I am God!"
'Tis all I live to know;
To feel the virtue of thy blood,
And spread its praise below!

4 I wait, my vigour to renew,
Thine image to retrieve;

The veil of outward things pass through,
And gasp in Thee to live.

5 I work; and own the labour vain

;

And thus from works I cease:
I strive; and see my fruitless pain,

Till God create my peace.

6 Fruitless, till Thou thyself impart,
Must all my efforts prove;
They cannot change a sinful heart,
They cannot purchase love.

I do the thing thy laws enjoin,

And then the strife give o'er;
To Thee I then the whole resign,
I trust in means no more.

8 I trust in Him who stands between
The Father's wrath and me:
Jesu, Thou great eternal Mean,
I look for all from Thee!