3 Father, if I may call thee so,
Regard my fearful heart's desire,
Remove this load of guilty woe,
Nor let me in my sins expire!

4 I tremble lest the wrath divine,

Which bruises now my sinful soul, Should bruise this wretched soul of mine Long as eternal ages roll.

5 To thee my last distress I bring,

The heightened fear of death I find; The tyrant, brandishing his sting, Appears, and hell is close behind.

6 I deprecate that death alone,

That endless banishment from thee;
O save, and give me to thy Son,
Who trembled, wept, and bled for me!

SECTION IV.

FOR BACKSLIDERS RECOVERED.

78 & 6 s.

182

I WILL hearken what the Lord

Will say concerning me:

Hast thou not a gracious word
For one who waits on thee?
Speak it to my soul, that I

May in thee have peace and power,
Never from my Saviour fly,

And never grieve thee more.

2 How have I thy Spirit grieved Since first with me he strove, Obstinately disbelieved,

And trampled on thy love!

I have sinned against the light:
I have broke from thy embrace;
No, I would not, when I might,
Be freely saved by grace.

3 After all that I have done

To drive thee from my heart,
Still thou wilt not leave thine own,
Thou wilt not yet depart;
Wilt not give the sinner o'er;
Ready art thou now to save,
Bidd'st me come, as heretofore,
That I thy life may have.
4 0 thou meek and gentle Lamb!
Fury is not in thee;

Thou continuest still the same,
And still thy grace is free;
Still thine arms are open wide,
Wretched sinners to receive;
Thou hast once for sinners died,
That all may turn and live.
5 Lo! I take thee at thy word,
My foolishness I mourn;
Unto thee, my bleeding Lord,
However late, I turn:
Yes, I yield, I yield at last,
Listen to thy speaking blood;
Me, with all my sins, I cast
On my atoning God!

183

1

JESU,

6-7 s.

ESU, Shepherd of the sheep,
Pity my unsettled soul!

Guide, and nourish me, and keep,
Till thy love shall make me whole:
Give me perfect soundness, give,
Make me steadfastly believe.

2 I am never at one stay,
Changing every hour I am;
But thou art, as yesterday,

Now and evermore the same;
Constancy to me impart,

'Stablish with thy grace my heart. 3 Give me faith to hold me up, Walking over life's rough sea, Holy, purifying hope

Still my soul's sure anchor be;
That I may be always thine,
Perfect me in love divine.

1 MY

C. M.

God, my God, to thee I cry,
Thee only would I know;

Thy purifying blood apply,

And wash me white as snow.

2 Touch me, and make the leper clean,
Purge my iniquity;

Unless thou wash my soul from sin,
I have no part in thee.

3 But art thou not already mine?
Answer, if mine thou art!
Whisper within, thou Love divine,
And cheer my drooping heart.

4 Tell me again my peace is made,
And bid the sinner live;

184

The debt's discharged, the ransom's paid,
My Father must forgive.

5 Behold, for me the victim bleeds,
His wounds are opened wide;

For me the blood of sprinkling pleads,
And speaks me justified.

6 O why did I my Saviour leave?
So soon unfaithful prove!
How could I thy good Spirit grieve,
And sin against thy love?

7 I forced thee first to disappear,
I turned thy face aside;

Ah, Lord! if thou hadst still been here,
Thy servant had not died.

8 But O, how soon thy wrath is o'er,
And pardoning love takes place!
Assist me, Saviour, to adore

The riches of thy grace.

9 O could I lose myself in thee,
Thy depth of mercy prove,
Thou vast, unfathomable sea
Of unexhausted love!

10 My humbled soul, when thou art near,
In dust and ashes lies;
How shall a sinful worm appear,
Or meet thy purer eyes?

11 I loathe myself when God I see,
And into nothing fall;

Content if thou exalted be,
And Christ be all in all.

8-78.

FTER all that I have done,
Saviour, art thou pacified?

Whither shall my vileness run?
Hide me, earth, the sinner hide!
Let me sink into the dust,
Full of holy shame, adore!
Jesus Christ, the good, the just,
Bids me go, and sin no more.

1

2 0 confirm the gracious word,
Jesus, Son of God and man!
Let me never grieve thee, Lord,
Never turn to sin again:
Till my all in all thou art,

Till thou bring thy nature in,
Keep this feeble, trembling heart,
Save me, save me, Lord, from sin!

6-8 s.

VEARY 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;
O! 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.

186