Mourning and Longing
The Saviour hides His face; My spirit thirsts to prove Renew’d supplies of pardoning grace, And never-fading love. The favor’d souls who know What glories shine in Him, Pant for His presence as the
Self-Acquaintance
Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart, Which of itself complains, And mourns, with much and frequent smart, The evil it contains. There fiery seeds of anger lurk, Which often hurt my frame; And wait
Jehovah-Shalom. The Lord Send Peace
(Judges, vi.25) Jesus! whose blood so freely stream’d To satisfy the law’s demand; By Thee from guilt and wrath redeem’d, Before the Father’s face I stand. To reconcile offending man, Make Justice drop her
The Task: Book V, The Winter Morning Walk (excerpts)
‘Tis morning; and the sun, with ruddy orb Ascending, fires th’ horizon: while the clouds, That crowd away before the driving wind, More ardent as the disk emerges more, Resemble most some city in
The Sower
(Matthew, xiii.3) Ye sons of earth prepare the plough, Break up your fallow ground; The sower is gone forth to sow, And scatter blessings round. The seed that finds a stony soil Shoots forth
Praise for the Fountain Opened
(Zecheriah, xiii.1) There is a fountain fill’d with blood, Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his
Dependence
To keep the lamp alive, With oil we fill the bowl; ‘Tis water makes the willow thrive, And grace that feeds the soul. The Lord’s unsparing hand Supplies the living stream; It is not
Afflictions Sanctified by the Word
Oh 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 shining wealth, The
The Narrow Way
What thousands never knew the road! What thousands hate it when ’tis known! None but the chosen tribes of God Will seek or choose it for their own. A thousand ways in ruin end,
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
My soul is sad, and much dismay’d; See, Lord, what legions of my foes, With fierce Apollyon at their head, My heavenly pilgrimage oppose. See, from the ever-burning lake, How like a smoky cloud
The Covenant
(Ezekiel, xxxvi. 25-28) The Lord proclaims His grace abroad! “Behold, I change your hearts of stone; Each shall renounce his idol-god, And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone. “My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds To
True Pleasures
Lord, my soul with pleasure springs When Jesu’s name I hear: And when God the Spirit brings The word of promise near: Beauties too, in holiness, Still delighted I perceive; Nor have words that
The Contrite Heart
(Isaiah, lvii.15) The Lord will happiness divine On contrite hearts bestow; Then tell me, gracious God, is mine A contrite heart or no? I hear, but seem to hear in vain, Insensible as steel;
Abuse of the Gospel
Too many, Lord, abuse Thy grace In this licentious day, And while they boast they see Thy face, They turn their own away. Thy book displays a gracious light That can the blind restore;
For the Poor
When Hagar found the bottle spent And wept o’er Ishmael, A message from the Lord was sent To guide her to a well. Should not Elijah’s cake and cruse Convince us at this day,