Ye fearful faints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye fo much dread
Are big with mercy, and fhall break
head.
In bleffings on your
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But truft him for his grace:
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But fweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is fure to err,*
And scan his work in vain :
God is his own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
36. WELCOME CROSS.
IS my happiness below
Not to live without the cross, But the Saviour's power to know,
Sanctifying every loss :
Trials muft and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love infcribed upon them all,
This is happiness to me.
God in Ifrael fows the feeds
Of affliction, pain, and toil;
These spring up and choke the weeds
Which would elfe o'erfpread the foil:
Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet,
Lay me low, and keep me there.
Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way:
Might I not, with reason, fear
I fhould prove a caft-away.
Baftards may escape the rod,*
Sunk in earthly vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not, would not, if he might.
37. AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED BY THE
HOW I love thy holy word,
Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
It guides me in the peaceful way ;
I think upon it all the day.
What are the mines of fhining wealth,
The ftrength of youth, the bloom of health!
What are all joys compared with those
Thine everlasting Word bestows!
Long unafflicted, undifmay'd,
In pleasure's path secure I stray'd;
Thou madeft me feel thy chaftening rod,*
And straight I turn'd unto my God.
What though it pierced my fainting heart,
I bleff'd thine hand that caused the smart ;
It taught my tears awhile to flow,
But faved me from eternal woe.
Oh! hadft thou left me unchastised,
Thy precepts I had ftill defpifed;
And ftill the fnare in fecret laid
Had my unwary feet betray'd.
I love thee, therefore, O my God,
And breathe towards thy dear abode;
Where, in thy prefence fully bleft,
Thy chofen faints for ever reft.
38. TEMPTATION.
HE billows fwell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcaft my wintry sky;
Out of the depths to thee I call,— My fears are great, my strength is small.
O Lord, the pilot's part perform,
And guard and guide me through the storm, Defend me from each threatening ill, Control the waves,-fay, " Peace, be still."
Amidst the roaring of the fea
My foul still hangs her hope on thee;
Thy conftant love, thy faithful care,
Is all that faves me from despair.
Dangers of every fhape and name
Attend the followers of the Lamb,
Who leave the world's deceitful shore,
And leave it to return no more.
Though tempeft-tofs'd and half a wreck,
My Saviour through the floods I feek;
Let neither winds nor ftormy main
Force back my fhatter'd bark again.
39. LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM.
OD of my life, to thee I call,
Afflicted at thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!
Friend of the friendless and the faint!
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with Thee, whofe open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!
Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And Thou refuse that mourner's plea?
Does not the word ftill fix'd remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain!
That were a grief I could not bear,
Didft thou not hear and answer
prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.
Fair is the lot that's caft for me;
I have an Advocate with thee;
They whom the world careffes most
Have no fuch privilege to boast.
Poor though I am, despised, forgot,*
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must fucceed,
For whom the Lord vouchfafes to plead.
40. THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH.
Y foul is fad, and much dismay'd,
See, Lord, what legions of my foes,
With fierce Apollyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppofe!
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