IV
The best returns for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from his gifts to draw a plea,
And ask him still for more.
V
I cannot serve him as I ought,
No works have I to boast;
Yet would I glory in the thought
That I should owe him most.
51
Dwelling in Mesech
By Newton
Psalm 120:5–7.
I
What a mournful life is mine,
Fill’d with crosses, pains, and cares!
Every work denied with sin,
Every step beset with snares.
II
If alone I pensive sit,
I myself can hardly bear;
If I pass along the street,
Sin and riot triumph there.
III
Jesus! how my heart is pain’d,
How it mourns for souls deceived—
When I hear thy name profaned,
When I see thy Spirit grieved!
IV
When thy children’s griefs I view,
Their distress becomes my own;
All I hear or see or do
Makes me tremble, weep, and groan.
V
Mourning thus I long had been
When I heard my Saviour’s voice:
“Thou hast cause to mourn for sin,
But in me thou may’st rejoice.”
VI
This kind word dispell’d my grief,
Put to silence my complaints;
Though of sinners I am chief,
He has rank’d me with his saints.
VII
Though constrain’d to dwell a while
Where the wicked strive and brawl,
Let them frown—so he but smile,
Heav’n will make amends for all.
VIII
There, believers, we shall rest,
Free from sorrow, sin, and fears;
Nothing there our peace molest
Through eternal rounds of years.
IX
Let us then the fight endure.—
See our Captain looking down:
He will make the conquest sure,
And bestow the promised crown.
52
Wisdom
By Cowper
Proverbs 7:22–31.
I
Ere God had built the mountains,
Or raised the fruitful hills,
Before he fill’d the fountains
That feed the running rills,
In me, from everlasting,
The wonderful I am
Found pleasures never wasting,
And Wisdom is my name.
II
When, like a tent to dwell in,
He spread the skies abroad,
And swathed about the swelling
Of ocean’s mighty flood,
He wrought by weight and measure;
And I was with him then;—
Myself the Father’s pleasure,
And mine the sons of men.
III
Thus Wisdom’s words discover
Thy glory and thy grace,
Thou everlasting lover
Of our unworthy race!
Thy gracious eye survey’d us
Ere stars were seen above:
In wisdom thou hast made us,
And died for us in love.
IV
And couldst thou be delighted
With creatures such as we!
Who, when we saw thee slighted
And nail’d thee to a tree!
Unfathomable wonder,
And mystery divine,
The voice that speaks in thunder,
Says, “Sinner, I am thine!”
53
A Friend That Sticketh Closer Than a Brother
By Newton
Proverbs 18:24.
I
One there is, above all others,
Well deserves the name of Friend!
His is love beyond a brother’s,
Costly, free, and knows no end:
They who once his kindness prove,
find it everlasting love!
II
Which of all our friends, to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in him to God:
This was boundless love indeed!
Jesus is a Friend in need.
III
Men, when raised to lofty stations,
Often know their friends no more;
Slight and scorn their poor relations,
Though they valued them before:
But our Saviour always owns
Those whom he redeem’d with groans.
IV
When he lived on earth abased,
Friend of sinners was his name;
Now above all glory raised,
He rejoices in the same:
Still he calls them brethren, friends,
And to all their wants attends.
V
Could we bear from one another
What he daily bears from us?
Yet this glorious Friend and Brother
Loves us though we treat him thus:
Though for good we render ill,
He accounts us brethren still.
VI
O for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love;
We, alas! forget too often
What a Friend we have above:
But when home our souls are brought,
We will love thee as we ought.
54
Vanity of Life.6
By Newton
Ecclesiastes 1:2.
I
The evils that beset our path,
Who can prevent or cure?
We stand upon the brink of death
When most we seem secure.
II
If we to-day sweet peace possess,
It soon may be withdrawn;
Some change may plunge us in distress
Before to-morrow’s dawn.
III
Disease and pain invade our health,
And find an easy prey;
And oft, when least expected, wealth
Takes wings and flies away.
IV
A fever or a blow can shake
Our wisdom’s boasted rule,
And of the brightest genius make
A madman or a fool.
V
The gourds from which we look for fruit
Produce us only pain;
A worm unseen attacks the root,
And all our hopes are vain.
VI
I pity those who seek no more
Than such a world can give;
Wretched they are and blind and poor,
And dying while they live.
VII
Since sin has fill’d the earth with woe,
And creatures fade and die,
Lord, wean our hearts from things below,
And fix our hopes on high.
55
Vanity of the World
By Cowper
I
God gives his mercies to be spent;
Your hoard will do your soul no good;
Gold is a blessing only lent,
Repaid by giving others food.
II
The world’s esteem is but a bribe;
To buy their peace you sell your own,
The slave of a vain-glorious tribe.
Who hate you while they make you known.
III
The joy that vain amusements give,
Oh, sad conclusion that it brings!
The honey of a crowded hive,
Defended by a thousand stings.
IV
’Tis thus the world rewards the fools
That live upon her treach’rous smiles:
She leads them blindfold by her rules,
And ruins all whom she beguiles.
V
God knows the thousands who go down
From pleasure into endless woe,
And with a long despairing groan
Blaspheme their Maker as they go.
VI
O fearful thought! be timely wise;
Delight but in a Saviour’s charms.
And God shall take you to the skies.
Embraced in everlasting arms.
