Here, in the fair gospel-field, Jesus is become at length Praise ye, then, His glorious name, Still His worth your praise exceeds; Raise again the joyful sound, IX. THE CONTRITE HEART. Isaiah lvii. 15. THE Lord will happiness divine On contrite hearts bestow; I hear, but seem to hear in vain, If aught is felt, 'tis only pain, I sometimes think myself inclined My best desires are faint and few, But when I cry, "My strength renew!" Thy saints are comforted, I know, I therefore go where others go, Oh make this heart rejoice or ache; And if it be not broken, break- X. THE FUTURE PEACE AND GLORY OF THE CHURCH HEAR what God the Lord hath spoken, "There, like streams that feed the garden, For the Lord, your faith rewarding, "Ye no more your suns descending, God shall rise, and shining o'er ye, XI. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer. xxiii. 6. My God, how perfect are thy ways! But mine polluted are; Sin twines itself about my praise, And slides into my prayer. When I would speak what Thou hast done To save me from my sin, I cannot make Thy mercies known, Divine desire, that holy flame This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts, While self upon the surface floats, Still bubbling from below. Let others in the gaudy dress Of fancied merit shine; The Lord shall be my righteousness, XII. EPHRAIM REPENTING. Jer. xxxi. 18-20. My God, till I receive Thy stroke, So unaccustom'd to the yoke, With grief my just reproach I bear; Thy merciful restraint I scorn'd, "Is Ephraim banish'd from my thoughts, No," saith the Lord, "with all his faults, "Is he a dear and pleasant child? 66 And he withstood my will. "My sharp rebuke has laid him low, He seeks my face again; My pity kindles at his woe, He shall not seek in vain." XIII. THE COVENANT. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-28. THE Lord proclaims His grace abroad! Behold, I change your hearts of stone ; Each shall renounce his idol-god, And serve, henceforth, the Lord alone. "My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds 66 My truth the great design ensures, You shall be mine, I will be yours, "Yet not unsought, or unimplored, .* The plenteous grace I shall confer ;* "From the first breath of life divine XIV. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH. Ezek. xlviii. 35. As birds their infant brood protect,† And spread their wings to shelter them, "So will I guard Jerusalem." And what then is Jerusalem, This darling object of His care? Where is its worth in God's esteem ? Jehovah founded it. in blocd, The blood of His incarnate Son; There, though besieged on every side, The utmost force of earth and hell. Let earth repent, and hell despair, Her name is call'd, "The Lord is there," XV. PRAISE FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. Zech. xiii. 1. THERE is a fountain fill'd with blood, And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, * Ezek. xxxvi. 37. † Isaiah xxxi. 5. The dying thief rejoiced to see Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Till all the ransom'd church of God E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Then in a nobler, sweeter song, When this poor lisping stammering tongue Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared For me a blood-bought free reward, "Tis strung and tuned for endless years, To sound in God the Father's ears XVI. THE SOWER. Matt. xiii. 3. The seed that finds a stony soil The thorny ground is sure to balk The beaten path and highway side, |