XLIII.

[Charity; worthlessness of the world and its love of God through the Saviour, the only safety. how striking the image in the third verse!]

pleasures; the

How just, yet

GOD gives his mercies to be spent ;
Your hoard will do your soul no good:
God is a blessing only lent,

Repaid by giving others food.

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.

The joy that vain amusements give,
Oh, sad conclusion that it brings!
The honey of a crowded hive,

Defended by a thousand stings.

'Tis thus the world rewards the fools
That live upon her treacherous smiles:
She leads them blindfold by her rules,
And ruins all whom she beguiles.

God knows the thousands who go down
From pleasure into endless woe;
And, with a long despairing groan,
Blaspheme their Maker as they go.

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.

XLIV.

[The rewards of faith; promises realized; peace on earth; and "God our everlasting light." A noble lyric, treating the subject in a manner at once consoling and elevated.]

HEAR What God the Lord hath spoken:

"O my people, faint and few;
Comfortless, afflicted, broken,

Fair abodes I build for you:
Thorns of heart-felt tribulation
Shall no more perplex your ways;
You shall name your walls, Salvation,
And your gates shall all be praise.

"There, like streams that feed the garden,
Pleasures without end shall flow;
For the Lord, your faith rewarding,
All his bounty shall bestow:
Still in undisturb'd possession

Peace and righteousness shall reign;

Never shall you feel oppression,
Hear the voice of war again.

"Ye no more your suns descending,
Waning moons, no more shall see;
But, your griefs for ever ending,
Find eternal noon in me:
God shall rise, and, shining o'er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He the Lord shall be your glory,
God your everlasting light."

XLV.

[Repentance. Spiritual chastisements ordained for bringing us to God; their efficacy; reception of the repentant offender.]

My God, till I received thy stroke,

How like a beast was I!

So unaccustom❜d to the yoke,

So backward to comply.

With grief my just reproach I bear,
Shame fills me at the thought;
How frequent my rebellions were!
What wickedness I wrought!

Thy merciful restraint I scorn'd,
And left the pleasant road;
Yet turn me, and I shall be turn'd:
Thou art the Lord my God.

Is Ephraim banish'd from my thoughts,
Or vile in my esteem?

No, saith the Lord, with all his faults,
I still remember him.

Is he a dear and pleasant child?
Yes, dear and pleasant still;
Though sin his foolish heart beguiled,
And he withstood my will.

My sharp rebuke has laid him low,
He seeks my face again;
My pity kindles at his woe,
He shall not seek in vain.

XLVI.

[Grace freely bestowed; yet not conferred unimplored."]

THE Lord proclaims his grace abroad:
"Behold, I change your hearts of stone;
Each shall renounce his idol-god,

And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone.

"My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds
To wash your filthiness away;
Ye shall abhor your former deeds,
And learn my statutes to obey.

"My truth the great design ensures,

I give myself away to you;
You shall be mine, I will be yours,
Your God unalterably true.

"Yet not unsought or unimplored,
The plenteous grace shall I confer ; *
No your whole heart shall seek the Lord,
I'll put a praying spirit there.

"From the first breath of life divine,
Down to the last expiring hour,
The gracious work shall all be mine,
Begun and ended in my power."

XLVII.

[The heavenly Jerusalem. "Written," (says an eminent poet, his own works not unlike Cowper's in style and feeling,)" with the confidence of inspiration and the authority of a prophet."] As birds their infant brood protect, †

And spread their wings to shelter them;

Thus saith the Lord to his elect,

"So will I guard Jerusalem."

And what then is Jerusalem,

This darling object of his care?
Where is its worth in God's esteem?
Who built it? who inhabits there?

Jehovah founded it in blood,

The blood of his incarnate Son;
There dwell the saints, once foes to God,
The sinners whom he calls his own.

There, though besieged on every side,
Yet much beloved and guarded well,

From age to age they have defied
The utmost force of earth and hell.

* Ezek. xxxvi. 37.

+ Isaiah, xxxi. 5.

Let earth repent, and hell despair,
This city has a sure defence;

Her name is call'd, "The Lord is there,"
And who has power to drive him thence?

XLVIII.

[Grace, its growth and increase. A close and happy imitation of the parable of the Sower.]

YE sons of earth, prepare the plough,

Break up your fallow ground;

The sower is gone forth to sow,
And scatter blessings round.

The seed that finds a stony soil
Shoots forth a hasty blade;
But ill repays the sower's toil,

Soon wither'd, scorch'd, and dead.

The thorny ground is sure to baulk
All hopes of harvest there:
We find a tall and sickly stalk,
But not the fruitful ear.

The beaten path and highway side
Receive the trust in vain ;
The watchful birds the spoil divide,
And pick up all the grain.

But where the Lord of grace and
Has bless'd the happy field;
How plenteous is the golden store

power

The deep-wrought furrows yield!

Father of mercies, we have need
Of thy preparing grace;

Let the same hand that gives the seed
Provide a fruitful place.