Vanity of the Creature Sanctified
By Newton
I
Honey though the bee prepares,
An envenom’d sting he wears;
Piercing thorns a guard compose
Round the fragrant blooming rose.
II
Where we think to find a sweet,
Oft a painful sting we meet;
When the rose invites our eye,
We forget the thorn is nigh.
III
Why are thus our hopes beguiled?
Why are all our pleasures spoil’d?
Why do agony and woe
From our choicest comforts grow?
IV
Sin has been the cause of all!
’Twas not thus before the fall:
What but pain and thorn and sting
From the root of sin can spring?
V
Now with every good we find
Vanity and grief entwined;
What we feel or what we fear
All our joys embitter here.
VI
Yet, through the Redeemer’s love,
These afflictions blessings prove;
He the wounding stings and thorns
Into healing med’cines turns.
VII
From the earth our hearts they wean,
Teach us on his arm to lean;
Urge us to a throne of grace;
Make us seek a resting-place.
VIII
In the mansions of our King
Sweets abound without a sting;
Thornless there the roses blow,
And the joys unmingled flow,
57
The Name of Jesus
By Newton
Canticles 1:3.
I
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
II
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubl’d breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.
III
Dear name! the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding-place
My never-failing treas’ry, fill’d
With boundless stores of grace.
IV
By thee my pray’rs acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am own’d a child.
V
Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.
VI
Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art
I’ll praise thee as I ought.
VII
Till then I would thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath;
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death.
58
O Lord, I Will Praise Thee
By Cowper
Isaiah 12.
I
I will praise thee every day,
Now thine anger’s turn’d away!
Comfortable thoughts arise
From the bleeding sacrifice.
II
Here, in the fair gospel field,
Wells of free salvation yield
Streams of life, a plenteous store,
And my soul shall thirst no more.
III
Jesus is become at length
My salvation and my strength;
And his praises shall prolong,
While I live, my pleasant song.
IV
Praise ye then his glorious name,
Publish his exalted fame!
Still his worth your praise exceeds,
Excellent are all his deeds.
V
Raise again the joyful sound,
Let the nations roll it round!
Zion, shout, for this is he,
God the Saviour dwells in thee.
59
The Refuge, River, and Rock of the Church
By Newton
Isaiah 32:2.
I
He who on earth as man was known,
And bore our sins and pains,
Now, seated on the eternal throne,
The God of glory reigns.
II
His hands the wheels of nature guide
With an unerring skill;
And countless worlds extended wide
Obey his sovereign will.
III
While harps unnumber’d sound his praise
In yonder world above,
His saints on earth admire his ways,
And glory in his love.
IV
His righteousness to faith reveal’d,
Wrought out for guilty worms,
Affords a hiding-place and shield
From enemies and storms.
V
This land, through which his pilgrims go,
Is desolate and dry;
But streams of grace from him o’erflow,
Their thirst to satisfy.
VI
When troubles, like a burning sun,
Beat heavy on their head,
To this almighty Rock they run,
And find a pleasing shade.
VII
How glorious he! how happy they
In such a glorious Friend!
Whose love secures them all the way,
And crowns them at the end.
60
Zion; or the City of God.7
By Newton
Isaiah 33:20–21.
I
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Form’d thee for his own abode:
On the Rock of ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
II
See! the streams of living waters
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t’ assuage?
Grace, which, like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
III
Round each habitation hov’ring,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a cov’ring,
Showing that the Lord is near:
Thus deriving from their banner
Light by night, and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which he gives them when they pray.
IV
Bless’d inhabitants of Zion,
Wash’d in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God;
’Tis his love his people raises
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests his solemn praises
Each for a thank-off’ring brings.
V
Saviour, if of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity—
I will glory in thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure—
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
61
Look Unto Me, and Be Ye Saved
By Newton
Isaiah 45:22.
I
As the serpent raised by Moses
Heal’d the burning serpent’s bite,
Jesus thus himself discloses
To the wounded sinner’s sight:
Hear his gracious invitation,
“I have life and peace to give—
I have wrought out full salvation;
Sinner, look to me and live.
II
“Pore upon your sins no longer,
Well I know their mighty guilt;
But my love than death is stronger,
I my blood have freely spilt:
Though your heart has long been harden’d,
Look on me—it soft shall grow;
Past transgressions shall be pardon’d,
And I’ll wash you white as snow.
III
“I have seen what you were doing,
Though you little thought of me;
You were madly bent on ruin,
But I said—It shall not be:
You had been for ever wretched,
Had I not espoused
