Lest life's young golden beams should die,
In sudden, endless night.
The Sinner arrested.
1 MY former hopes are fled,
My terror now begins;
My guilty soul, alas! is "dead
In trespasses and sins."
2 Ah! whither shall I fly ?—
Where seek for mercy's door?
The law proclaims destruction nigh,
And justice armed with power.
3 When I review my ways,
I dread th' impending doom; While yet some friendly whisper says,"Flee from the wrath to come!"
4 Oh! that I now might see
Some glimmering from afar,-
Some beam of hope to dawn on me,
And save me from despair.
The Sinner disquieted.
1 WHY sinks my soul desponding?
Why fill my eyes with tears?
While nature all-surrounding
The smile of beauty wears:
Why, burdened now with sorrow,
Is every lab'ring thought?
Each vision that I borrow,
With gloom and sadness fraught?
2 The pleasures that deceived me
My soul no more can charm;
Of rest they oft bereaved me,
And filled me with alarm;
The objects, I have cherished,
Are empty as the wind;
My earthly joys have perished ;-
What comfort shall I find 1
3 If inward, still enquiring,
I turn my searching eye,
Or upward, now aspiring,
I raise my feeble cry,
No heavenly light is beaming
To cheer my troubled breast,
No ray of comfort gleaming
To give my spirit rest.
4 My soul! from this dread anguish,
Is there no refuge nigh?
'Tis guilt that makes thee languish,
And leaves thee thus to die:
Renounce thy sin and folly
Before the throne of grace;
And make the Lord, most holy,
Thy strength and righteousness.
Conviction by the Law.
1 LORD! how secure my conscience was, And felt no inward dread!
I was alive withont the law,
And thought my sins were dead.
2 My hopes of heaven were firm and bright; But since the precept came,
With a convincing power and light,
I find how vile I am.
3 My guilt appeared but small before,
Till terribly I saw-
How perfect, holy, just, and pure,
Is thine eternal law.
4 Then felt my soul the heavy load,
My sins revived again:-
I have provoked a dreadful God,
And all my hopes are slain.
5 My God! I cry with every breath
For some kind power to save,-
To break the yoke of sin and death
And thus redeem the slave.
The Strivings of the Spirit. 1 SAY, sinner! hath a voice within Oft whispered to thy secret soul,
Urged thee to leave the ways of sin,
And yield thy heart to God's control?
2 Sinner! it was a heavenly voice,-
It was the Spirit's gracious call;
It bade thee make the better choice,
And haste to seek in Christ thine all.
3 Spurn not the call to life and light;
Regard, in time, the warning kind;
That call thou may'st not always slight,
And yet the gate of mercy find.
4 God's Spirit will not always strive
With hardened, self-destroying man;
Ye, who persist his love to grieve,
May never hear his voice again.
5 Sinner! perhaps, this very day.
Thy last accepted time may be:
Oh! should'st thou grieve him now away,
Then hope may never beam on thee.
Man condemned before God.
1 AH! how shall fallen man
Be just before his God?
If he contend in righteousness,
We fall beneath his rod.
2 If he our ways should mark,
With strict enquiring eyes,
Could we, for one of thousand faults,
A just excuse dévise?
3 All-seeing, powerful God!
Who can with thee contend?
Or who, that tries th' unequal strife,
Shall prosper in the end?
4 The mountains, in thy wrath,
Their ancient seats försakė;
The trembling earth deserts her place,
Her rooted pillars shake.
5 Ah! how shall guilty man
Contend with such a God?
None-none can meet him, and escape,
But through the Saviour's blood.
1 ASTONISHED and distressed,
I turn mine eyes within ;
My heart with loads of guilt oppressed,
The seat of every sin.
2 What crowds of evil thoughts,
What vile affections there!
Distrust, presumption, artful guile,
Pride, envy, slavish fear!
3 Almighty King of saints!
These hateful sins subdue;
Dispel the darkness from my mind,
And all my powers renew.
4 This done, my cheerful voice
Shall loud hosannas raise;
My soul shall glow with gratitude,-
My lips pronounce thy praise.
The Saviour's Invitation.
1 THE Saviour calls-let every ear
Attend the heavenly sound;
Ye doubting souls! dismiss your fear,
Hope smiles reviving round.
2 For every thirsty, longing heart,
Here streams of bounty flow,
And life, and health, and bliss impart,
To banish mortal wo.
3 Ye sinners! come; 't is mercy's voice; The gracious call obey;
Mercy invites to heavenly joys,
And can you yet delay?
4 Dear Saviour! draw reluctant hearts; To thee let sinners fly,
And take the bliss thy love imparts,
And drink, and never die.
Rest for the weary Penitent.
1 COME, weary souls! with sin distressed,
Come, and accept the promised rest;
The Saviour's gracious call obey,
And cast your gloomy fears away.
2 Here mercy's boundless ocean flows,
To cleanse your guilt and heal your woes;
Pardon and life, and endless peace,-
How rich the gift, how free the grace!
3 Lord! we accept, with thankful heart,
The hope thy gracious words impart;
We come, with trembling; yet rejoice,
And bless the kind inviting voice.
4 Dear Saviour! let thy powerful love
Confirm our faith,-our fears remove;
Oh! sweetly reign in every breast,
And guide us to eternal rest.
The Gospel-Trumpet.
1 LET every mortal ear attend,
And every heart rejoice;
The trumpet of the gospel sounds,
With an inviting voice.
2 Ho! all ye hungry, starving souls,
That feed upon the wind,
And vainly strive with earthly toils
To fill th' immortal mind!-
3 Eternal wisdom has prepared
A soul-reviving feast,
And bids your longing appetites
The rich provision taste.
4 Ho! ye that pant for living streams,
And pine away and die!
Here you may quench your raging thirst
With springs that never dry.
5 Rivers of love and mercy, here,
In a rich ocean join;
Salvation in abundance flows,
Like floods of milk and wine.
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