For mercy knows th' appointed bound,
And turns to vengeance there.
5 Amazing love, that yet will call,
And yet prolong our days!
Our hearts, subdu'd by goodness, fall,
And weep, and love, and praise.
HYMN 64. C. M.
PROSTRATE, dear Jesus, at thy feet,
guilty rebel lies;
And upwards to thy mercy seat
Presumes to lift his eyes.
2 Oh, let not justice frown me hence;
Stay, stay the vengeful storm:
Forbid it, that omnipotence
Should crush a feeble worm.
3 If tears of sorrow would suffice To pay the debt I owe,
Tears should from both my weeping eyes, In ceaseless currents flow.
4 But no such sacrifice I plead
To expiate my guilt;
No tears, but those which thou hast shed, No blood, but thou hast spilt.
The Repenting Prodigal. Luke xv. 32.
O! what a rapt'rous joy possest
The tender parent's throbbing breast,
To see his spendthrift son return,
And hear him his past follies mourn.
2 Thus our bless'd Saviour won't despise,
The contrite heart for sacrifice;
The deep fetch'd sigh, the secret groan
Rises accepted to the throne.
3 He meets with tokens of his grace,
The trembling lip, the blushing face;
His bowels yearn when sinners pray,
And mercy bears their sins away.
4 When fill'd with grief, o'erwhelm'd with
He pitying, heals their broken frame;
He hears their sad complaint, and spies
His image in their weeping eyes.
The Ministry of Christ. Luke iv. 18, 19.
H The Saviour promis'd long!
ARK, the glad sound, the Saviour comès,
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
2 On him the Spirit, largely pour'd,
Exerts his sacred fire;
Wisdom and might, and zeal, and love,
His holy breast inspire.
3 He comes, the prison'rs to release,
In Satan's bondage held,
The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
4 He comes, from thickest films of vice,
To clear the mental ray ;
And on the eyes opprest with night,
To pour celestial day.
5 He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure;
And with the treasures of his grace,
T'enrich the humble poor.
6 Our glad Hosannas, Prince of peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
And heaven's eternal arches ring,
With thy beloved name.
HYMN 67. C. M.
The Attraction of the Cross. John xii. 32.
ONDER-amazing sight '—I see
Expiring on th' accursed tree,
And welt'ring in his blood.
2 Behold a purple torrent run,
Down from his hands and head:
The crimson tide puts out the sun;
His groans awake the dead.
3 The trembling earth, the darken'd sky
Proclaim the truth aloud;
And with the amaz'd centurion cry,
"This is the Son of God."
4 So great, so vast a sacrifice
May well my hope revive:
If God's own Son thus bleeds and dies,
The sinner sure may live.
5 Oh, that these cords of love divine,
Might draw me, Lord, to thee!
Thou hast my heart, it shall be thine-
Thine it shall ever be !
HYMN 68. L. M.
A Dying Saviour.
TRETCH'D on the cross the Saviour dies;
Hark! his expiring groans
arise;
See from his hands, his feet, his side,
Runs down the sacred crimson tide.
2 But life attends the deathful sound,
And flows from ev'ry bleeding wound;
The vital stream, how free it flows,
To save and cleanse his rebel foes!
3 Can I survey this scene of woe,
Where mingling grief and wonder flow;
And yet my heart unmov'd remain,
Insensible to love or pain?
4 Come, dearest Lord, thy grace impart,
To warm this cold, this stupid heart!
'Till all its powers and passions move,
In melting grief, and ardent love.
HYMN 69. Sevens.
Christ's Resurrection and Ascension.
ANGELS, roll the rock away,
Death, yield up thy mighty prey;
See! He rises from the tomb,
Glowing with immortal bloom.
2 'Tis the Saviour, angels, raise
Fame's eternal trump of praise;
Let the earth's remotest bound
Hear the joy-inspiring sound.
3 Now, ye saints, lift up your eyes,
Now to glory see him rise,
In long triumph up the sky,
Up to waiting worlds on high.
4 Heaven displays her portals wide,
Glorious Saviour, thro' them ride;
King of Glory, mount thy throne,
Thy great Father's and thine own.
5 Praise him all ye heavenly quoirs,
Praise and sweep your golden lyres;
Shout, O earth, in rapt'rous song,
Let the strains be sweet and strong. Hallelujah.
6 Ev'ry note with wonders swell,
Sin o'erthrown and captiv'd hell;
Where is hell's once dreaded king!
Where, O death, thy mortal sting!
Christ's Resurrection a pledge of ours.
HEN I the holy grave survey,
Where once my Saviour deign'd to lie ;
I see fulfil'd what prophets say,
And all the pow'r of death defy.
2 This empty tomb shall now proclaim,
How weak the bands of conquer'd death;
Sweet pledge, that all who trust his name
Shall rise, and draw immortal breath.
3 Jesus, once number'd with the dead,
Unseals his eyes to sleep no more;
And ever lives, their cause to plead,
For whom the pains of death he bore.
4 Thy risen Lord, my soul, behold;
See the rich diadem he wears!
Thou too shalt bear an harp of gold,
To crown thy joy when he appears.
5 Though in the dust I lay my head,
Yet, gracious God, thou wilt not leave
My flesh for ever with the dead,
Nor lose thy children in the grave.
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