11 Thy power, thy wisdom, both have been
In this thy grand creation seen
And both unbounded prov'd;
Thy mercy in redemption too,
Is not less ample, nor less true,
Nor thou more fear'd than lov'd.
12 Thou art not God in power alone,
Nor wisdom only; no, we own
Thee God, in
That only boundless mercy can,
With patience bear the rebel man,
All mankind feel it true.
13 Man finds it true indeed full well,
Who is not yet compell'd to dwell
In everlasting flame;
Tho' he, provoking wretch! proceeds
To brave thee with atrocious deeds,
Too foul to bear a name.
14 Repentance, even yet propos'd,
Keeps pity's folding door unclos'd,
For this abandon'd wretch;
'He is but dust,' his Saviour cries;
I'll spare him yet,' his God replies.
Of mercy what a stretch!
15 Now let thy power creation boast,
And tell thy wisdom to the host
Of hymning sprites above;
A louder lay may mankind raise,
To sing thy patience, and to praise
Thy mercy and thy love.
16 From heaven's high throne the Saviour comes, Secures of all our debts the sums.
By boundless mercy drawn ;
He pledges for us his own blood,
To make our cause in justice good;
How infinite the pawn!
17 Christ all the prophecies fulfils,
And executes whate'er he wills;-
Nature it's God obeys.
The chains of darkness he unbinds,
And pours true daylight on our minds,
In a full tide of rays.
18 The angels saw him quit the throne, And make our nature all his own,
But doubted to what end;
And when they saw his vital breath
Forsake him in the throes of death,
Beheld us slay our friend;
19 Beheld us in his blood imbru'd,
And Satan by that blood subdu'd,
And all our sins aton'd;
They then the mystery understood,
Saw life eternal in his blood,
And his salvation owned.
20 Triumphant in the bloody strife,
They saw him rise again to life,
And take his kingly crown;
The crown that decks the King of kings,
And with it sole dominion brings,
And hymns of loud renown.
21 But when they saw us take the field,
Arm'd with his conquering sword and shield,
And by his Spirit fir'd;
Then were their golden harps new strung,
Then heaven with their hosannas rung,
With songs anew inspir'd.
22 Christ is to God the upward way,
The truth, the life, the perfect day,
The beauteous path of peace;
If faith unshaken in the soul,
If virtue steadfast as the pole,
Thro' him their course shall trace.
23 Behold an open road to heaven!
And if repented, sin forgiven
Thro' Christ's atoning blood!
Arise thou drooping heart, with tears
Of joy cry out, adieu my fears,
Adieu to all, but good,
24 True good alone I hence shall know,
Altho' in penitential woe
The harbinger of bliss ;
My soul dissolves in gratitude,
While I receive the heavenly food,
And while the Son I kiss.
25 To hope of heaven from deep despair, My soaring spirits now repair,
In strong distaste of vice;
The blood of Christ hath bought my soul, (In that red laver let me roll),
My God, at what a price!
26 My soul, devoted to thy praise,
O Lord, in these my feeble lays
Attempts a weak return,
But, O cherubic choir above,
What love shall I return for love!
My heart, how should it burn!
27 O for your raptur'd soul of fire!
The loud acclaim of such a choir!
That I like you might sing;
Yet, tho' I could, my song sublime
Would only stammer out, in rhyme
The tribute I should bring.
28 Had I a voice, so loud and shrill
That it could space unbounded fill,
And make all nature hear;
Too far I could not make it fly,
Nor sound the praise of Christ too high,
Who died my debt to clear.
29 From sin to sin I headlong fell,
And trembled on the brink of hell,
When Christ to save me ran;
From joy to death the Saviour came
To snatch me from th' infernal flame,
Adjudg'd to sinful man.
30 When the last trumpet shall resound,
And call the universe around
The tribunitial throne;
Canst thou, O man, in judgment stand,
And glory of thy God demand
On righteousness thy own?
31 If not, a saviour thou must find
Of wealth sufficient, and so kind,
To make up thy account;
To spunge thy debtor side away,
Of his own funds thy fines to pay,
And clear the full amount.
32 But all the creatures, high and low, The arduous office must forego,
And let this work alone.
Thro' none, but God, the soul can live,
The creature hath not ought to give,
Hath nothing of his own.
33 When God in Jesus once is felt,
The heart with gratitude must melt
Before his fire of love.
Thus is the Saviour born in man;
This lengthens out our little span
To endless life above.
34 Thus love for love, now flaming high,
From us to him shall upward fly,
Expelling sins and fears;
Away with guilt! away its chain
Of boding horrors! and its train
Of anxious doubts and tears!
35 Lo now the dancing spirits rise!
We breathe not air, but purer skies,
And heaven is felt within!
The soul now sees its smiling God!
And now no longer dreads his rod;
Now endless joys begin!
36 With what an horror would it damp,
With what a mark infernal stamp
The soul, that Christ should sell
For wealth, and on that blood should tread
(Which for this very wretch was shed),
And league again with hell!
37 Can we be led by fiends or flesh
To crucify our Lord afresh,
Expos'd to open shame ?
Again, like Judas, Christ betray,
On a new cross, like Pilot, slay,
And carry still his name?
38 A Judas surely is that wretch,
Who with a conscience on the stretch,
Can Christ's religion kiss;
And yet renounce it in his deeds,
And at its principles and creeds
With scorn affected hiss.
39 The devil, who down from heaven fell,
Down to the dark abyss of hell,
Had not a fall so sore,
As he who Christ the Saviour sells, Tho' here in consequence, he dwells 'Midst worldly pomp and store. 40 I will not, Judas, with thee share Thy price of blood, nor thy despair, Thy silver nor thy rope;
No, rather, Stephen, let my head,
Receive the stone that struck thee dead!
And thus expire in hope.
41 Hail glorious deacon! who first trod
Thy Saviour's bloody path to God,
And pour'd the crimson flood
Of life for him, who from the tree
Discharg'd the blood of God for thee;
In thine was blood for blood.
42 This sacrifice, so great, so good,
To pay thy debt of gratitude,
In thy account too small;
Yet for his righteous cause to die,
Was by the Saviour reckon'd high,
Because it was thy all.
43 To give thee courage in this fight,
And furnish with sufficient might,
The curtains of the sky
Aside are drawn, and lo! the throne,
The empyreal throne is shewn
To thy admiring eye.
44 There sits your Saviour, King of kings! There round him hallelujah rings, Almost unheeded, while
He eyes the stones that o'er thee pour,
And, thro' the fierce, the deadly shower,
Looks on thee with a smile.
45 That smile converts thy keenest pains
To raptures, and what then remains,
But triumph to thy soul?
He beckons thee above the skies;
He points to thee the glorious prize,
The Christian racer's goal.
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