Heav'n fhut and open'd, rain withheld and giv❜n;
Fierce, pow'rful armies, foon compell'd to flee,
And glorious promises, divine, obtain’d;
The raging element of fire fubdu'd,
And hungry lions gentle made as lambs,
And mightiest kings and kingdoms overcome,
And righteousness by feeble finners wrought, Made out of weakness, ftrong, firm, valiant, bold; And fouls departed, back to life recall'd;
The moving orbs arrested in their course,
The pow'rful laws of nature quite revers'd;
All these proclaim the victories of faith.
Nor were they less triumphant, who endur'd
The tortures of the tympanum, or rack;
That would not deign deliverance to accept :
The glorious profpect of eternal life,
And better refurrection, (though remote)
Made them, with fortitude, their pangs fuftain.
Those who can cruel mockings well endure,
And all the envenom'd fhafts of flander bear,
Need never fear the pain of flames and death.
The foul that dares to fuffer, fears to fin,
And bears the cross, fhall win the crown of life.
Scourgings, imprisonments, and bonds and chains,
Hunger and thirst, and cold and nakedness,
575
Perils, and perfecutions; death, by fword,
By fawing, ftoning, strangling, and by fire
By crucifixion, famine, tee.h of beafts,
Drowning, decapitation, thousand forms
Moft painful, ling'ring, fhameful, terrible;
Fearful to fee; how dreadful then to bear!
Temptations, tribulations, racking pains ;
Have all, through faith, been borne with fortitude.
The foul, array'd in righteoufnefs divine,
Girded with truth, and fill'd with heav'nly love, 585
Shielded by faith, fupported well by hope,
With pureft gofpel-preparation fhod,
Wielding the Holy Spirit's two-edg'd fword,
Praying with perfeverance, cover'd o'er
With meek humility, refign'd to God,
And firmly trufting in his promis'd aid;
Shall conquer all his foes, however ftrong,
And need not fear the rage of earth or hell.
May find fupport in fcorned poverty:
And bear reproach, contempt and foul disgrace; 595
May wander in the defart's howling wilds,
And be with rougheft goat-fkins meanly glad :
May dwell in rocks and mountains, dens and caves,
Tormented, deftitute, afflicted fore;
May be in want of ev'ry earthly joy,
And suffer more diftrefs than tongue can tell
And yet be more than conquer'r over all !
Our Lord's Temptations, trials, griefs, and woes ;
His fore afflictions, and his deep diftrefs;
The forrows, pains, and mis'ries, he fuftain'd, 605
Through ev'ry scene of life; and in his death;
Are fruitful springs of comfort, to the fouls
Of the afflicted. who believe in him.
He learn'd obedience by the things he bore;
And, by experience taught, can fympathize
With us, and all our inmoft troubles fee!.
Compaffion dwells within his tender heart;
He knows our frame, and pities our complaints.
Draw near, ye poor, defpifed, tempted fouls;
Look up to Jefus tell him all your woes.
Ye poor-What! have ye neither houfe nor home ?
Depriv'd by ftorms, or poverty, or fire,
Hard-hearted landlords, or whatever means :
To Jefus, thus, you may your prayʼrs address→
Lord, Thou waft poor, poorer than beafts or birds;
For thofe have holes, and thefe have little nefts;
But thou hadst not a place to lay thy head:
O, look on me with kind compaffion, Lord;
My wants thou knoweft, and canft well supply :
For man no pity has, nor heart to feel.--
625
Say--are you hungry? have you nought to eat?
And disappointed, where you hop'd relief?
This was your Savior's cafe ! he hunger'd oft :
He knows the pain it brings; and how it feels
To have the expectation highly rais'd, 630
And then, by disappointment, laid quite low.
How keen the fenfe of Hunger's cruel gripe!
Who can defcribe, but fuch whofe bowels feel?
To fee, to smell, without a right to taste;
Tco modeft ftill to beg, too poor to buy!
Tempted perhaps to fteal, by hunger prefs'd!
Poor widows, with their tribes of little ones,
How oft they fuffer!--Hear a feeling tale.
In Bofton liv'd a widow, honeft, poor; While dreary winter reign'd, the fuffer'd much; 640
Nor food had she, nor fire to keep her warm.
Her tender infants languishing in sight,
So mov'd her sympathy, that the refolv'd
Somewhere to find, and bring fome fuel home.
Thus, roving up and down, at last, she lights 645
Upon a pile, where plenty feem'd to tempt
Her yet unwilling hand: The owner near,
O'erheard her tongue thus utter her fad plaint.
I'm poor, and deftitute; my fuel's gone ;
Yet cannot steal: O Lord, what fhall I do?
I have no money; yet, I cannot fteal.
Thus went away: But foon came back again,
(By hunger, cold, and pity overcome).
Repeating the fame tale; and, as before,
Departing home as empty as fhe came.
At length, the third time, doubly prefs'd with need,
She came; and thus fhe spake--What shall I do ?
My children, perifhing with want, demand
Something to keep them warm, I think I muft,
Though fore against my will, fome fuel fteal.
So faying, he begins to take-but fudden, down
The trembling faggot darts-Lord, can I take
What is another's right !--Oh guilt and fhame!
Yea, let us perish; for I cannot steal.
No more fhe came; determin'd now to die,
If no relief appear'd. But, mark the end;
The owner, who beheld her deep distress;
Who faw her virtue at this per'lous push,
And faw it triumph! he compaflion felt,
Her wants relev'd, and foften'd all her pain! 670
GOD hath prepar'd his goodnefs for the Poor : And, to encourage us to pity them,
Hath promis'd to repay, an hundred fold,
That which we give, ev'n in this prefent life,
And life eternal in the world to come.
For, not the fmalleft kindness is forgot ::
A cup of water, meets its bleft reward.
Who pities and relieves the poor distrest,
Lends to the Lord, and fhall be well repaid..
JEHOVAH binds himself by promise firm,
That none by trufting him shall lofers be.
Yet, O how many trust in banks and funds,
Who would efteem all loft, if lent to him!:
Something I fain would say, to comfort those
Whofe lot is plac'd among the humble Poor.
Your Lord was poor: In poverty he pafs'd.
His virtuous life; and thus hath made that ftate,
Which is defpis'd, most honʼrable of all.
And whofoever doth the Poor defpife,
Reproacheth God, his Maker, by that act,
And Chrift the Savior, who hath chose that life,
With its affociates, Want, Contempt, Disgrace :
That fo the Poor in him might find a friend:
And that the Rich might learn to difesteem
Those things in which they differ from the low; 695
And fix their thoughts above, where Jefus fits;
And spend their time and wealth in doing good;.
And wait the fecond coming of their Lord.
When their reward, in full, they fhall receive.
Those who are rich on earth, should hear this charge ::
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