V
The earth is like their wilderness,
A land of drought and sore distress,
Without one stream from pole to pole
To satify a thirsty soul.
VI
But let the Saviour’s praise resound;
In him refreshing streams are found,
Which pardon, strength, and comfort give,
And thirsty sinners drink and live.
129
My Grace Is Sufficient for Thee
By Newton
2 Corinthians 12:9.
I
Oppress’d with unbelief and sin,
Fightings without, and fears within,
While earth and hell, with force combined.
Assault and terrify my mind;
II
What strength have I against such foes,
Such hosts and legions to oppose?
Alas! I tremble, faint, and fall;
Lord, save me, or I give up all.
III
Thus sorely press’d, I sought the Lord,
To give me some sweet cheering word;
Again I sought, and yet again;
I waited long, but not in vain.
IV
Oh! ’twas a cheering word indeed!
Exactly suited to my need;
“Sufficient for thee is my grace,
Thy weakness my great power displays.”
V
Now I despond and mourn no more,
I welcome all I fear’d before:
Though weak, I’m strong, though troubled, blest,
For Christ’s own power shall on me rest.
VI
My grace would soon exhausted be,
But his is boundless as the sea;
Then let me boast with holy Paul,
That I am nothing, Christ is all.
130
The Inward Warfare
By Newton
Galatians 5:17.
I
Strange and mysterious is my life,
What opposites I feel within!
A stable peace, a constant strife;
The rule of grace, the power of sin:
Too often I am captive led,
Yet daily triumph in my Head.
II
I prize the privilege of prayer,
But oh! what backwardness to pray!
Though on the Lord I cast my care,
I feel its burden every day;
I seek his will in all I do,
Yet find my own is working too.
III
I call the promises my own,
And prize them more than mines of gold;
Yet though their sweetness I have known,
They leave me unimpress’d and cold:
One hour upon the truth I feed,
The next I know not what to read.
IV
I love the holy day of rest,
When Jesus meets his gather’d saints;
Sweet day, of all the week the best!
For its return my spirit pants:
Yet often through my unbelief,
It proves a day of guilt and grief.
V
While on the Saviour I rely,
I know my foes shall lose their aim;
And therefore dare their power defy,
Assured of conquest through his name:
But soon my confidence is slain,
And all my fears return again.
VI
Thus diff’rent powers within me strive,
And grace and sin by turns prevail;
I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,
And vict’ry hangs in doubtful scale:
But Jesus has his promise past,
That grace shall overcome at last.
131
Contentment.17
By Cowper
Philippians 4:11.
I
Fierce passions discompose the mind,
As tempests vex the sea;
But calm content and peace we find
When, Lord, we turn to thee.
II
In vain by reason and by rule
We try to bend the will;
For none but in the Saviour’s school
Can learn the heavenly skill.
III
Since at his feet my soul has sat,
His gracious words to hear;
Contented with my present state,
I cast on him my care.
IV
“Art thou a sinner, soul?” he said,
“Then how canst thou complain?
How light thy troubles here, if weigh’d
With everlasting pain?
V
If thou of murm’ring wouldst be cured,
Compare thy griefs with mine;
Think what my love for thee endured,
And thou wilt not repine.
VI
’Tis I appoint thy daily lot,
And I do all things well:
Thou soon shalt leave this wretched spot,
And rise with me to dwell.
VII
In life, my grace shall strength supply
Proportion’d to thy day;
At death, thou still shalt find me nigh,
To wipe thy tears away.”
VIII
Thus I, who once my wretched days
In vain repinings spent,
Taught in my Saviour’s school of grace,
Have learn’d to be content.
132
Old Testament Gospel
By Cowper
Hebrews 4:2.
I
Isr’el, in ancient days,
Not only had a view
Of Sinai in a blaze,
But learn’d the gospel too:
The types and figures were a glass
In which they saw a Saviour’s face.
II
The paschal sacrifice,
And blood be-sprinkled door,
Seen with enlighten’d eyes,
And once applied with power,
Would teach the need of other blood
To reconcile an angry God.
III
The Lamb, the Dove, set forth
His perfect innocence,
Whose blood of matchless worth
Should be the soul’s defence:
For He who can for sin atone
Must have no failings of his own.
IV
The scape-goat on his head
The people’s trespass bore,
And to the desert led,
Was to be seen no more:
In him our Surety seem’d to say,
“Behold! I bear your sins away.”
V
Dipt in his fellow’s blood,
The living bird went free;
The type, well understood,
Express’d the sinner’s plea;
Described a guilty soul enlarged,
And by a Saviour’s death discharged.
VI
Jesus, I love to trace
Throughout the sacred page
The footsteps of thy grace,
The same in every age!
O grant that I may faithful be
To clearer light vouchsafed to me!
133
The Word Quick and Powerful
By Newton
Hebrews 4:12–13.
I
The word of Christ our Lord,
With whom we have to do,
Is sharper than a two-edged sword
To pierce the sinner through!
II
Swift as the lightning’s blaze
When awful thunders roll,
It fills the conscience with amaze,
And penetrates the soul.
III
No heart can be conceal’d
From his all-piercing eyes:
Each thought and purpose stands reveal’d,
Naked without disguise.
IV
He sees his people’s fears,
He notes their mournful cry;
He counts their sighs and falling tears,
And helps them from on high.
V
Though feeble is their good,
It has its kind regard;
Yea, all they would do, if they could,
Shall find a sure reward.
VI
He sees the wicked too,
And will repay them soon,
For all the evil deeds they do,
And all they
