15 Sinners, awake betimes; ye fools, be wise;
Awake before this dreadful morning rise:
Change your vain thoughts, your crooked works amend,
Fly to the Saviour, make the Judge your friend:
Then join the saints: wake every cheerful passion;
When Christ returns, he comes for your salvation.
Psalm 51:1. First Part. L. M.
A penitent pleading for pardon.
1 Shew pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive,
Let a repenting rebel live:
Are not thy mercies large and free?
May not a sinner trust in thee?
2 My crimes are great, but not surpass
The power and glory of thy grace;
Great God, thy nature hath no bound,
So let thy pardoning love be found.
3 O wash my Soul from every sin,
And make my guilty conscience clean;
Here on my heart the burden lies,
And past offences pain my eyes.
4 My lips with shame my sins confess
Against thy law, against thy grace:
Lord, should thy judgment grow severe,
I am condemn'd, but thou art clear.
5 Should sudden vengeance seize my breath,
I must pronounce thee just in death;
And if my soul were sent to hell,
Thy righteous law approves it well.
6 Yet save a trembling sinner, Lord,
Whose hope, still hovering round thy word,
Would light on some sweet promise there,
Some sure support against despair.
Psalms 51:2. Second Part. L. M.
Original and actual sin confessed.
1 Lord, I am vile, conceiv'd in sin;
And born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall
Corrupts the race, and taints us all.
2 Soon as we draw our infant-breath,
The seeds of sin grow up for death;
Thy law demands a perfect heart,
But we're defil'd in every part.
3 [Great God, create my heart anew,
And form my spirit pure and true:
O make me wise betimes to spy
My danger, and my remedy.]
4 Behold I fall before thy face;
My only refuge is thy grace:
No outward forms can make me clean;
The leprosy lies deep within.
5 No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.
6 Jesus, my God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone;
Thy blood can make me white as snow;
No Jewish types could cleanse me so.
7 While guilt disturbs and breaks my peace,
Nor flesh, nor soul hath rest or ease;
Lord, let me hear thy pardoning voice,
And make my broken bones rejoice.
Psalm 51:3. Third Part. L. M.
The backslider restored; or, Repentance
and faith in the blood of Christ.
1 O thou that hear'st when sinners cry,
Tho' all my crimes before thee lie,
Behold them not with angry look,
But blot their memory from thy book.
2 Create my nature pure within,
And form my soul averse to sin;
Let thy good Spirit ne'er depart,
Nor hide thy presence from my heart.
3 I cannot live without thy light,
Cast out and banish'd from thy sight:
Thine holy joys, my God, restore,
And guard me that I fall no more.
4 Tho' I have griev'd thy Spirit, Lord,
His help and comfort still afford:
And let a wretch come near thy throne
To plead the merits of thy Son.
5 A broken heart, my God, my King,
Is all the sacrifice I bring;
The God of grace will ne'er despise
A broken heart for sacrifice.
6 My soul lies humbled in the dust,
And owns thy dreadful sentence just;
Look down, O Lord, with pitying eye,
And save the soul condemn'd to die.
7 Then will I teach the world thy ways;
Sinners shall learn thy sovereign grace;
I'll lead them to my Saviour's blood,
And they shall praise a pardoning God.
8 O may thy love inspire my tongue!
Salvation shall be all my song;
And all my powers shall join to bless
The Lord, my strength and righteousness.
Psalm 51:4. 3-13. First Part. C. M.
Original and actual sin confessed and pardoned.
1 Lord, I would spread my sore distress
And guilt before thine eyes;
Against thy laws, against thy grace,
How high my crimes arise.
2 Shouldst thou condemn my soul to hell,
And crush my flesh to dust,
Heaven would approve thy vengeance well,
And earth must own it just.
3 I from the stock of Adam came,
Unholy and unclean;
All my original is shame,
And all my nature sin.
4 Born in a world of guilt, I drew
Contagion with my breath;
And, as my days advanc'd, I grew
A juster prey for death.
5 Cleanse me, O Lord, and cheer my soul
With thy forgiving love;
O, make my broken spirit whole,
And bid my pains remove.
6 Let not thy Spirit quite depart,
Nor drive me from thy face;
Create anew my vicious heart,
And fill it with thy grace.
7 Then will I make thy mercy known
Before the sons of men;
Backsliders shall address thy throne,
And turn to God again.
Psalm 51:5. 14-17. Second Part. C. M.
Repentance and faith in the blood of Christ.
1 O God of mercy! hear my call,
My loads of guilt remove;
Break down this separating wall
That bars me from thy love.
2 Give me the presence of thy grace,
Then my rejoicing tongue
Shall speak aloud thy righteousness,
And make thy praise my song.
3 No blood of goats, nor heifers slain,
For sin could e'er atone;
The death of Christ shall still remain
Sufficient and alone.
4 A soul opprest with sin's desert,
My God will ne'er despise;
A humble groan, a broken heart
Is our best sacrifice.
Psalm 53. 4-6.
Victory and deliverance from persecution.
1 Are all the foes of Sion fools,
Who thus devour her saints?
Do they not know her Saviour rules,
And pities her complaints?
2 They shall be seiz'd with sad surprise;
For God's revenging arm
Scatters the bones of them that rise
To do his children harm.
3 In vain the sons of Satan boast
Of armies in array:
When God has first despis'd their host,
They fall an easy prey.
4 O for a word from Sion's King
Her captives to restore!
Jacob with all his tribes shall sing,
And Judah weep no more.
Psalm 55:1. 1-8 16-18 22. C. M.
Support for the afflicted and tempted soul.
1 O God, my refuge, hear my cries,
Behold my flowing tears,
For earth and hell my hurt devise,
And triumph in my fears.
2 Their rage is levell'd at my life,
My soul with guilt they load,
And fill my thoughts with inward strife
To shake my hope in God.
3 With inward pain my heart-strings sound,
I groan with every breath;
Horror and fear beset me round
Amongst the shades of death,
4 O were I like a feather'd dove,
And innocence had wings,
I'd fly, and make a long remove,
From all these restless things.
5 Let me to some wild desert go,
And find a peaceful home,
Where storms of malice never blow,
Temptations never come.
6 Vain hopes, and vain inventions all
To 'scape the rage of hell!
The mighty God on whom I call
Can save me here as well.