7 No blood of beasts on altars shed
Could wash the conscience clean,
But the rich sacrifice he paid
Atones for all our sin.
8 Then was the great salvation spread,
And Satan's kingdom shook;
Thus by the woman's promis'd seed
The serpent's head was broke.
Psalm 40:3. 5-10. L. M.
Christ our sacrifice.
1 The wonders, Lord, thy love has wrought,
Exceed our praise, surmount our thought;
Should I attempt the long detail,
My speech would faint, my numbers fail.
2 No blood of beasts on altars spilt,
Can cleanse the souls of men from guilt,
But thou hast set before our eyes
An all-sufficient sacrifice.
3 Lo! thine eternal Son appears,
To thy designs he bows his ears,
Assumes a body, well prepar'd,
And well performs a work so hard.
4 "Behold, I come," (the Saviour cries,
With love and duty in his eyes)
"I come to bear the heavy load
"Of sins, and do thy will, my God.
5 "'Tis written in thy great decree,
"'Tis in thy book foretold of me,
"I must fulfil the Saviour's part,
"And, lo! thy law is in my heart!
6 "I'll magnify thy holy law,
"And rebels to obedience draw,
"'When on my cross I'm lifted high,
"Or to my crown above the sky.
7 "The Spirit shall descend, and show
"What thou hast done, and what I do;
"The wond'ring world shall learn thy grace,
"Thy wisdom and thy righteousness."
Psalm 41. 1 2 3.
Charity to the poor; or, Pity to the afflicted.
1 Blest is the man whose bowels move,
And melt with pity to the poor,
Whose soul, by sympathising love,
Feels what his fellow-saints endure.
2 His heart contrives for their relief
More good than his own hands can do;
He, in the time of general grief,
Shall find the Lord has bowels too.
3 His soul shall live secure on earth,
With secret blessings on his head,
When drought, and pestilence, and dearth
Around him multiply their dead.
4 Or if he languish on his couch,
God will pronounce his sins forgiv'n,
Will save him with a healing touch,
Or take his willing soul to heaven.
Psalm 42:1. 1-5. First Part.
Desertion and hope; or, Complaint
of absence from public worship.
1 With earnest longings of the mind,
My God, to thee I look;
So pants the hunted hart to find
And taste the cooling brook.
2 When shall I see thy courts of grace,
And meet my God again?
So long an absence from thy face
My heart endures with pain.
3 Temptations vex my weary soul,
And tears are my repast;
The foe insults without control,
"And where's your God at last?"
4 'Tis with a mournful pleasure now
I think on ancient days;
Then to thy house did numbers go,
And all our work was praise.
5 But why, my soul, sunk down so far
Beneath this heavy load?
Why do my thoughts indulge despair,
And sin against my God?
6 Hope in the Lord, whose mighty hand
Can all thy woes remove;
For I shall yet before him stand,
And sing restoring love.
Psalm 42:2. 6-11. Second Part.
Melancholy thoughts reproved;
or, Hope in afflictions.
1 My spirit sinks within me, Lord,
But I will call thy name to mind,
And times of past distress record,
When I have found my God was kind.
2 Huge troubles, with tumultuous noise,
Swell like a sea, and round me spread;
Thy water-spouts drown all my joys,
And rising waves roll o'er my head.
3 Yet will the Lord command his love,
When I address his throne by day,
Nor in the night his grace remove;
The night shall hear me sing and pray.
4 I'll cast myself before his feet,
And say "My God, my heavenly Rock,
"Why doth thy love so long forget
"The soul that groans beneath thy stroke?"
5 I'll chide my heart that sinks so low,
Why should my soul indulge her grief?
Hope in the Lord, and praise him too,
He is my rest, my sure relief.
6 Thy light and truth shall guide me still,
Thy word shall my best thoughts employ,
And lead me to thine heavenly hill,
My God, my most exceeding Joy.
Psalm 44. 1 2 3 8 15-26.
The church's complaint in persecution.
1 Lord, we have heard thy works of old,
Thy works of power and grace,
When to our ears our fathers told
The wonders of their days:
2 How thou didst build thy churches here,
And make thy gospel known;
Amongst them did thine arm appear,
Thy light and glory shone.
3 In God they boasted all the day,
And in a cheerful throng
Did thousands meet to praise and pray,
And grace was all their song.
4 But now our souls are seiz'd with shame,
Confusion fills our face,
To hear the enemy blaspheme,
And fools reproach thy grace.
5 Yet have we not forgot our God,
Nor falsely dealt with heaven,
Nor have our steps declin'd the road
Of duty thou hast given.
6 Tho' dragons all around us roar
With their destructive breath,
And thine own hand has bruis'd us sore
Hard by the gates of death.