XV.

[Pardoning, sanctifying, and sustaining love, constrain to obedience by changing " duty into choice."]

No strength of nature can suffice
To serve the Lord aright;
And what she has she misapplies,
For want of clearer light.

How long beneath the law I lay
In bondage and distress!
I toil'd the precept to obey,
But toil'd without success.

Then, to abstain from outward sin,
Was more than I could do;
Now, if I feel its power within,
I feel I hate it too.

Then all my servile works were done

A righteousness to raise ;

Now, freely chosen in the Son,

I freely choose his ways.

What shall I do, was then the word,
That I may worthier grow?
What shall I render to the Lord?

Is my inquiry now.

To see the law by Christ fulfill'd,
And hear his pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,*
And duty into choice.

* Romans, iii. 31.

XVI.

[All comforts, temporal as well as spiritual, come from God. The contrasts which the hymn presents between the condescending providence of God towards his creatures, and his own infinite exaltation, are well calculated to warm devotion; and the fourth stanza is sweetly adapted to tranquillize the heart, amid painful misgivings.]

ALMIGHTY King! whose wondrous hand
Supports the weight of sea and land,
Whose grace is such a boundless store,
No heart shall break that sighs for more.

Thy providence supplies my food,
And 'tis thy blessing makes it good;
My soul is nourish'd by thy word.
Let soul and body praise the Lord.

My streams of outward comfort came
From him who built this earthly frame;
Whate'er I want his bounty gives,
By whom my soul for ever lives.

Either his hand preserves from pain,
Or, if I feel it, heals again;

From Satan's malice shields my breast,
Or overrules it for the best.

Forgive the song that falls so low
Beneath the gratitude I owe!
It means thy praise, however poor,
An angel's song can do no more.

XVII.

[Praise for spiritual truth. The sentiments are reproduced in a different form in one of the most splendid passages in the Task, where God is justly represented as the best of his own gracious gifts.]

Of all the gifts thine hand bestows,

Thou Giver of all good!
Not heaven itself a richer knows,
Than my Redeemer's blood.

Faith, too, the blood-receiving grace,
From the same hand we gain ;
Else, sweetly as it suits our case,
That gift had been in vain.

Till thou thy teaching power apply
Our hearts refuse to see,
And weak, as a distemper'd eye,
Shut out the view of thee.

Blind to the merits of thy Son,

What misery we endure!

Yet fly that hand, from which alone

We could expect a cure.

We praise thee, and would praise thee more,
To thee our all we owe;

The precious Saviour, and the power

That makes him precious too.

XVIII.

[Praise due from man at all seasons: a delightful composition, in the very harmony of which there is a glad movement inspiring cheerful gratitude and love. The fifth and sixth verses have a solemn tenderness which comes over the mind with the purity and calm of the seasons and imagery which they describe.]

WINTER has a joy for me,

While the Saviour's charms I read,
Lowly, meek, from blemish free,

In the snow-drop's pensive head.

Spring returns, and brings along
Life-invigorating suns:

Hark! the turtle's plaintive song
Seems to speak his dying groans!

Summer has a thousand charms,
All expressive of his worth;
'Tis his sun that lights and warms,
His the air that cools the earth.

What! has autumn left to say
Nothing of a Saviour's grace?
Yes, the beams of milder day
Tell me of his smiling face.

Light appears with early dawn;
While the sun makes haste to rise,
See his bleeding beauties drawn
On the blushes of the skies.

Evening with a silent pace,
Slowly moving in the west,

Shews an emblem of his grace,
Points to an eternal rest.

II. PRAYER.

XIX.

[The duty, the comforts, and the effects of prayer: a truly scriptural exposition of this ordinance.]

WHAT Various hindrances we meet

In coming to a mercy-seat!

Yet who that knows the worth of

prayer,

But wishes to be often there?

Prayer makes the darken'd cloud withdraw,

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,

Gives exercise to faith and love,

Brings every blessing from above.

Restraining prayer, we cease to fight;
Prayer makes the Christian's armour bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees

The weakest saint upon his knees.

While Moses stood with arms spread wide,
Success was found on Israel's side;
But when through weariness they fail'd,
That moment Amalek prevail'd.

Have you no words? Ah! think again,
Words flow apace when you complain,
And fill your fellow-creature's ear
With the sad tale of all your care.

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To Heaven in supplication sent,

Your cheerful song would oftener be,
"Hear what the Lord has done for me."

XX.

[Mourning the withdrawal of heavenly communion, and imploring a renewal of that peace which passeth all understanding. An aspiration affecting in reference to its author, and coming home to the personal experience of all humble and sincere Christians, for all such have at times felt as if the Lord had forgotten to be gracious.]

OH! for a closer walk with God,

A calm and heavenly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew,
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus, and his word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.