WHEN Hagar found the bottle spent, And wept o'er Ishmael, A message from the Lord was sent Should not Elijah's cake and cruse + A gracious God will not refuse His saints and servants shall be fed, The promise is secure; "Bread shall be given them," as he said, Repasts far richer they shall prove, To Jesus then your trouble bring, While you are poor and he is King, You shall not be forgot. LIII. MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD. I THIRST, but not as once I did The vain delights of earth to share ; * Gen. xxi. 19. † 1 Kings xvii. 14. Isa. xxxiii. 16. It was the sight of thy dear cross First wean'd my soul from earthly things; And taught me to esteem as dross The mirth of fools and pomp of kings. I want that grace that springs from thee, Dear fountain of delight unknown! For sure, of all the plants that share LIV. LOVE CONSTRAINING TO OBEDIENCE. No strength of nature can suffice How long beneath the law I lay LV. Then, to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do; Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise ; "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, THE HEART HEALED AND CHANGED BY MERCY. SIN enslaved me many years, And led me bound and blind; Friends and ministers said much But my blindness still was such, Much I fasted, watch'd, and strove, Scarce would show my face abroad, Thus afraid to trust his grace, Till despairing of my case, Then my stubborn heart he broke, And subdued me to his sway; By a simple word he spoke, "Thy sins are done away." LVI. HATRED OF SIN. HOLY Lord God! I love thy truth, Nor dare thy least commandment slight; Yet pierced by sin, the serpent's tooth, But though the poison lurks within, Free from the only thing I hate. Had I a throne above the rest, Where angels and archangels dwell, One sin, unslain, within my breast, Would make that heaven as dark as hell. The prisoner sent to breathe fresh air, Would mourn, were he condemn'd to wear But, oh! no foe invades the bliss, When glory crowns the Christian's head; One view of Jesus as he is Will strike all sin for ever dead. LVII. THE NEW CONVERT. THE new-born child of gospel grace, Lifts up his blooming branch on high. No fears he feels, he sees no foes, Nor has he learnt to whom he owes But sin soon darts its cruel sting, And comforts sinking day by day : What seem'd his own, a self-fed spring, Proves but a brook that glides away. |