4 Behold, I fall before thy face;
My only refuge is thy grace:

No outward forms can make me clean;
The leprosy lies deep within.

5 No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.
6 Jesus, my God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone :

Thy blood can make me white as snow;
No Jewish types can cleanse me so.
7 While guilt disturbs and breaks my peace,
Nor flesh nor soul hath rest or ease,
Lord, let me hear thy pardoning voice,
And make my broken bones rejoice.

51

THIRD PART.

The Backslider restored.

THOU who hear'st when sinners cry,
Though all my crimes before thee lie,

Behold them not with angry look,
But blot their memory from thy book.
2 Create my nature pure within,
And form my soul averse to sin;
Let thy good Spirit ne'er depart,
Nor hide thy presence from my heart.

3 I cannot live without thy light,
Cast out and banished from thy sight;
Thy holy joys, my God, restore,
And guard me that I fall no more.

4 Though I have grieved thy Spirit, Lord,
His help and comfort still afford;
And let a wretch come near thy throne,
To plead the merits of thy Son.

5 A broken heart, my God, my King,
Is all the sacrifice I bring;

The God of grace will ne'er despise
A broken heart for sacrifice.

6 My soul lies humbled in the dust,

And owns thy dreadful sentence just;
Look down, O Lord, with pitying eye,
And save the soul condemned to die.

L. M.

7 Then will I teach the world thy ways, Sinners shall learn thy sovereign grace; I'll lead them to my Saviour's blood,

And they shall praise the pardoning God. 8 Oh may thy love inspire my tongue; Salvation shall be all my song;

And all my powers shall join to bless
The Lord, my strength and righteousness.

51

FIRST PART.

Ver. 3-13. Sin confessed and pardoned.

1 LORD, I would spread my sore distress
And guilt before thine eyes;

Against thy laws, against thy grace,
How high my crimes arise!

2 Shouldst thou condemn my soul to hell,
And crush my flesh to dust,

Heaven would approve thy vengeance well,
And earth must own it just.

3 I from the stock of Adam came,
Unholy and unclean;

All my original is shame,

And all my nature sin.

4 Born in a world of guilt, I drew
Contagion with my breath;

And, as my days advanced, I grew
A juster prey for death.

5 Cleanse me, O Lord, and cheer my soul
With thy forgiving love;
Oh make my broken spirit whole,
And bid my pains remove.

6 Let not thy Spirit quite depart,
Nor drive me from thy face;
Create anew my vicious heart,
And fill it with thy grace.

7 Then will I make thy mercy known,
Before the sons of men;

Backsliders shall address thy throne,
And turn to God again.

C. M.

SECOND PART.

C. M.

51 Ver. 14-17. Repentance, and faith in the blood of

Christ.

GOD of mercy, hear my call,
My load of guilt remove;

Break down this separating wall,

That bears me from thy love.

2 Give me the presence of thy grace;
Then my rejoicing tongue

Shall speak aloud thy righteousness,
And make thy praise my song.

3 No blood of goats, nor heifer slain,
For sin could e'er atone;

The death of Christ shall still remain
Sufficient and alone.

4 A soul oppressed with sin's desert,
My God will ne'er despise;

A humble groan, a broken heart,
Is our best sacrifice.

52

1

The Madness and Ruin of the Wicked.

IY do the wicked boast of sin,

WHY

L. M.

And steel their hearts against the Lord? His goodness shall for ever shine

For ever stand his holy word.

2 Thy law and gospel they despise,

Vain of their taunts, of madness proud;
Too rich thy grace to seek or prize,
To bow too lofty-e'en to God.

3 Like raging fire thy wrath shall burn,
Thy besom sweep them to the grave;
Their branch, their root, thy hand o'erturn,
And not a friend be found to save.

4 Then shall their joys revive no more,
Like dreams dissolved in fleeting air;
Their flatteries and their boasts be o'er,
And hopes all vanish in despair.

5 But in thy courts will I be seen,

Growing in faith and hope and love, Like olives fair and fresh and green, And ripening for the world above.

6 There will I learn thy glory, Lord,
And songs for all thy goodness raise;
There will I wait to hear thy word,
While listening saints approve the praise.

53

1

A

Ver. 4-6.

The Foes of Zion.

RE all the foes of Zion fools,

Who thus devour her saints? Do they not know her Saviour rules, And pities her complaints?

2 They shall be seized with sad surprise;
For God's revenging arm

Scatters the bones of them that rise
To do his children harm.

3 In vain the sons of Satan boast
Of armies in array;

When God has first despised their host,
They fall an easy prey.

4 Oh for a word from Zion's King,
Her captives to restore;

Jacob with all the tribes shall sing,
And Judah weep no more.

54

1

2

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.
God, preserve my soul;
Oh make my spirit whole;
To save me let thy strength appear;
Strangers my steps surround;
Their pride and rage confound,
And bring thy great salvation near.

Those that against me rise

Are aliens from the skies;

Dwight.

They hate thy church and kingdom, Lord;

They mock thy fearful name;

They glory in their shame,

Nor heed the wonders of thy word.

My chosen friends are thine;

The men that still my soul sustain:
Wilt thou my foes subdue,

And form their hearts anew,

And snatch them from eternal pain.

C. M.

S. P. M.

4

Escaped from every wo,

Oh grant me here below

To praise thy name with those I love;
And when beyond the skies
Our souls unbodied rise,
Unite us in the realms above.

Ver. 1-8, 16, 17, 18, 22.

55 Support for the afflicted and tempted Soul.

1 GOD, my refuge, hear my cries,

10 Behold my flowing tears;

For earth and hell my hurt devise,
And triumph in my fears.

2 Their rage is levelled at my life,
My soul with guilt they load,
And fill my thoughts with inward strife,
To shake my hope in God.

Dwight.

3 With inward pain my heart-strings sound;
I groan with every breath;
Horror and fear beset me round,
Among the shades of death.

4 Oh were I like a feathered dove,
And innocence had wings,
I'd fly, and make a long remove
From all these restless things.

5 Let me to some wild desert go,
And find a peaceful home,
Where storms of malice never blow,
Temptations never come.

6 Vain hopes and vain inventions all,
To 'scape the rage of hell;
The mighty God, on whom I call,
Can save me here as well.

PAUSE.

7 By morning light I'll seek his face,

At noon repeat my cry;

The night shall hear me ask his grace,
Nor will he long deny.

8 God shall preserve my soul from fear,
Or shield me when afraid;

Ten thousand angels must appear,
If he command their aid.

C. M.