2 Eternity, tremendous sound!
To guilty souls a dreadful wound;
But O! if Christ and heaven be mine,
How sweet the accents! how divine!
3 Be this my chief, my only care,
My high pursuit, my ardent prayer,
An interest in the Saviour's blood,
My pardon seal'd, and peace with God.
4 But should my brightest hopes be vain,
The rising doubt, how sharp its pain!
My fears, O gracious God, remove,
Confirm my title to thy love.
5 Search, Lord, O search my inmost heart,
And light, and hope, and joy impart ;
From guilt and error set me free,
And guide me safe to heaven and thee.
TERNITY! tremendous word,
Home-striking point, heart-piercing Beginning without ending!
Eternity! without a shore,
Where'er thy fiery billows roar,
What is thy sight portending;
One glimpse of thine unfathom'd deep,
Would rouse a wretch from sinful sleep.
2 Eternity! how long, how long,
Thou seizest senses, heart, and tongue,
With panic, fear, and terror;
When I revolve thy dreadful chains,
In that abyss of endless pains,
I'm overwhelm'd with horror;
What's in this life of misery,
So awful as eternity?
3 Should hell endure as many years,
As many men, this world of tears,
Has seen since the creation;
As many stars adorn the sky,
As many leaves the woods supply,
You'd hope for its cessation.
This sum of ages would but be,
One moment to eternity.
4 But having spent in endless fears,
So many thousand thousand years,
Thy scene is still beginning;
When thou hast suffer'd all these times,
The just reward of wilful crimes,
Thy thread ne'er ceases spinning;
Th' eternal Now, who can unfold?
"Tis ever new, but never old.
5 Awake and rise from sinful sleep!
Bethink thyself, thou straying sheep!
Return by true repentance;
Arise, thy wicked ways amend,
The glass of life runs to its end;
Then dread the fatal sentence:
Perhaps within few minutes breath,
Thou'rt snatch'd away by sudden death.
PERFECTIONS AND WORKS OF GOD.
YREAT is the Lord; his works of might,
Demand our noblest
songs;
Let his assembled saints unite,
Their harmony of tongues.
2, Great is the mercy of the Lord;
He gives his children food;
And ever mindful of his word,
He makes his promise good.
3 His Son, the great Redeemer, came,
To seal his cov'nant sure;
Holy and reverend is his name,
His ways are just and pure.
4 They that would grow divinely wise,
Must with his fear begin;
Our fairest proof of knowledge lies,
In hating every sin.
306. Divine Wrath and Mercy. Nahum i. 1. (C.M.)
ADORE and tremble, for our God,
Is a consuming fire;
His jealous eyes his wrath inflame,
And raise his vengeance higher.
2 Almighty vengeance how it burns!
How bright his fury glows!
Vast magazines of plagues and storms,
Lie treasur'd for his foes.
In that abyss of endless pains,
I'm overwhelm'd with horror;
What's in this life of misery,
So awful as eternity?
3 Should hell endure as many years,
As many men, this world of tears,
Has seen since the creation ;
As many stars adorn the sky,
As many leaves the woods supply,
You'd hope for its cessation.
This sum of ages would but be,
One moment to eternity.
4 But having spent in endless fears,
So many thousand thousand years,
Thy scene is still beginning;
When thou hast suffer'd all these times,
The just reward of wilful crimes,
Thy thread ne'er ceases spinning;
Th' eternal Now, who can unfold?
"Tis ever new, but never old.
5 Awake and rise from sinful sleep!
Bethink thyself, thou straying sheep!
Return by true repentance;
Arise, thy wicked ways amend,
The glass of life runs to its end;
Then dread the fatal sentence:
Perhaps within few minutes breath,
Thou'rt snatch'd away by sudden death.
PERFECTIONS AND WORKS OF GOD.
REAT is the Lord; his works of might,
Demand our noblest songs;
Let his assembled saints unite,
Their harmony of tongues.
2, Great is the mercy of the Lord;
He gives his children food;
And ever mindful of his word,
He makes his promise good.
3 His Son, the great Redeemer, came,
To seal his cov'nant sure;
Holy and reverend is his name,
His ways are just and pure.
4 They that would grow divinely wise,
Must with his fear begin;
Our fairest proof of knowledge lies,
In hating every sin.
306. Divine Wrath and Mercy. Nahum i. 1. (C.M.)
ADORE and tremble, for our God,
Is a consuming fire;
His jealous eyes his wrath inflame,
And raise his vengeance higher.
2 Almighty vengeance how it burns!
How bright his fury glows!
Vast magazines of plagues and storms,
Lie treasur'd for his foes.
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