A SONG OF MERCY AND JUDGMENT
LORD, I love the habitation
Where the Saviour's honour dwells.
At the sound of Thy salvation
With delight my bosom swells.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace that I have found.
Me thro' waves of deep affliction
Dearest Saviour! Thou has brought,
Fiery deeps of sharp conviction
Hard to bear and passing thought.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
From the cheerful beams of morning
Sad I turned mine eyes away:
And the shades of night returning
Filled my soul with new dismay.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace that I have found.
Food I loathed, nor ever tasted
But by violence constrained,
Strength decayed and body wasted
Spoke the terrors I sustained.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
Bound and watched, lest, life abhorring,
I should my own death procure,
For to me the pit of roaring
Seemed more easy to endure.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace which I have found.
Fear of Thee with gloomy sadness
Overwhelmed Thy guilty worm,
Till, reduced to moping madness,
Reason sank beneath the storm.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
Then what soul-distressing noises
Seemed to reach me from below,
Visionary scenes and voices,
Flames of Hell and screams of woe!
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace which I have found.
But at length a word of healing,
Sweeter than an angel's note,
From the Saviour's lips distilling,
Chased despair and changed my lot.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
'Twas a word well-timed and suited
To the need of such an hour,
Sweet to one like me polluted,
Spoke in love and sealed with power.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace which I have found.
"I," He said, "have seen thee grieving, Loved thee as I passed thee by,
Be not faithless, but believing,
Look and live and never die.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
"Take the bloody seal I give thee
Deep impressed upon thy soul;
God, thy God, will now receive thee,
Faith hath saved thee, thou art whole."
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace which I have found.
All at once my chains were broken,
From my feet my fetters fell,
And that word, in pity spoken,
Snatched me from the gates of Hell.
Grace Divine, how sweet the sound!
Sweet the grace which I have found.
Since that hour, in hope of glory,
With Thy followers I am found,
And relate the wondrous story
To Thy listening saints around.
Sweet the sound of grace Divine,
Sweet the grace which makes me Thine.
HEU! quam remotus vescor ab omnibus
Quibus fruebar sub lare patrio,
Quam nescius jucunda quondam
Arva, domum, socios reliqui!
Et praeter omnes te mihi flebilem,
Te cariorem luce vel artubus,
Te vinculo nostram jugali,
Deserui tremulam sub ense.
Sed nec ferocem me genuit pater,
Nec vagientem nutriit ubere
Leæna dumoso sub antro,
Fata sed hoc voluere nostra.
Et, fluctuosum ceu mare volvitur,
Dum commovebar mille timoribus,
Coactus in fauces Averni,
Totus atro perii sub amne.
FROM AN ENGRAVING BY FINDEN AFTER A DRAWING BY J. D. HARDING
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