CLXXXVII. The final Sentence, and Happiness of the Righteous.
ATTEND mine ear; my heart rejoice;
While Jesus from his throne,
Begirt with all the angelic hosts,
Makes his last sentence known!
2 When sinners, cursed from his face,
To raging flames are driven,
His voice, with melody divine,
Thus calls his saints to heaven.
3"Blest of my Father, all draw near,
"Receive the large reward;
"And rise with raptures to possess
"The kingdom love prepar'd.
4" Ere earth's foundations first were laid,
"This sovereign purpose wrought,
"And rear'd those palaces divine,
"To which you now are brought.
5 "There shall you reign unnumber'd years,
"Protected by my power,
"While sin and hell, and pains and cares
"Shall vex your souls no more."
6 Come, dear majestic Saviour, come,
This jubilee proclaim,
And teach us accents fit to praise
So great, so dear a name.
CLXXXVIII. Relieving Christ in his poor Saints. Matthew xxv. 40.
1 JESUS, my Lord, how rich thy grace!
Thy bounties how complete!
How shall I count the matchless sum?
How pay the mighty debt?
2 High on a throne of radiant light
Dost thou exalted shine;
What can my poverty bestow,
When all the worlds are thine?
3 But thou hast brethren here below,
The partners of thy grace,
And wilt confess their humble names
Before thy Father's face.
4 In them thou may'st be cloath'd, and fed,
And visited, and cheer'd;
And in their accents of distress
My Saviour's voice is heard.
5 Thy face with reverence and with love
I in thy poor would see;
O rather let me beg my bread,
Than hold it back from thee!
CLXXXIX. The final Sentence and Misery of the Wicked.
Matthew xxv. 41.
ND will the Judge descend?
And must the dead arise?
And not a single soul escape
His all-discerning eyes?
And from his righteous lips
Shall such a sentence sound?
And through the millions of the damn'd
Spread black despair around?
Depart from me, accurs'd,
"To everlasting flame,
"For rebel-angels first prepar'd,
"Where mercy never came."
When earth and heaven before his face
Astonish'd shrink away?
But ere that trumpet shakes
The mansions of the dead,
Hark from the gospel's gentle voice
What joyful tidings spread!
Ye sinners, seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear ;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there.
7 So shall that curse remove
By which the Saviour bled,
And the last awful day shall pour
His blessings on your head,
CXC. Christ's Submission to his Father's Will. Matthew xxvi. 42.
1 FATHER divine," the Saviour cried,
While horrors press'd on every side,
And prostrate on the ground he lay,
"Remove this bitter cup away.
2" But if these pangs must still be borne,
"Or helpless man be left forlorn,
"I bow my soul before thy throne,
"And say, Thy will, not mine be done."
3 Thus our submissive souls would bow,
And, taught by Jesus, lie as low;
Our hearts, and not our lips alone,
Would say, Thy will, not ours be done.
4 Then, though like him in dust we lie,,
We'll view the blissful moment nigh,
Which, from our portion in his pains,
Calls to the joy in which he reigns.
CXCI. Reflections on the Disciples forsaking Christ, when he was betrayed. Matthew xxvi. 56.
1 BEHOLD the Son of God's delight;
His smiles how sweet! his rays how bright!
A friend of tenderness unknown:
To the last breath he lov'd his own.
2 But lo, his friends, his brethren dear
Fled, when they saw his danger near ;
And not one generous heart remains
To shield his life, or share his pains.
3 So frail is man; so frail are we,
When unsupported, Lord, by thee;
Thus shrinks our faith; thus droops our love,
And thus our vows abortive
4 Blest Jesus, thy own power impart,
And bind in cords of love my heart:
The fugitive no more shall fice,
But keep through death its hold on thee.
CXCII. Christ's Complaint of his Father's forsaking him on the Cross. Matthew xxvii. 46.
WHAT doleful accents do I hear?
What piercing cry invades mine ear?
Loaded with shame, and bath'd in blood,
Who calls to a forsaking God?
2 Amazing and heart-rending sight!
"Tis his own darling and delight,
Who once in his embraces lay,
Dearer than all the sons of day!
3 Yet when this Jesus died for me,
Distended on the cursed tree,
God stood afar, nor would afford
One pitying look, one cheering word.
4 What then, my soul, must thou have felt,
If press'd with all thy load of guilt,
Beneath whose weight the Saviour cries,
Who form'd the earth, and built the skies?
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5 But in that dark tremendous hour
Unconquer'd faith exerts its power;
My God, my Father, cried aloud,
And heaven the endearing name avow'd.
6 From death, from earth, he rais'd his Son,
And gave him for his cross a throne;
Triumphant there the sufferer reigns,
And reaps the harvest of his pains.
7 Eternal raptures there are known;
Nor flows the joy on him alone,
But for his sake the Lord hath swore,
To leave the meanest saint no more.
CXCIII. The same. Matthew xxvii. 46.
1 MY Saviour, didst thou die for me?
For me send forth that bitter cry?
With bleeding heart thy wounds I see,
Prepar'd at thy command to die.
2 By all thine anguish on the cross,
When God thy Father stood afar,
Rich in thy temporary loss,
Thy church is brought for ever near.
3 From far the beamings of thy throne
Reviv'd my sympathizing heart;
Thy love made sinner's griefs thy own,
Mine in thy joys must take its part.
4 'Midst all the splendors of thy reign,
Think on the sorrows thou hast felt;
Nor let a mourner weep in vain,
For whom thy precious blood was spilt.
5 While through earth's darkest gloom I tread,
Dart to my soul a cheering ray;
And on the confines of the dead,
Thy power, as Lord of life, display.
CXCIV. The Angel's Reply to the Women, that sought Christ.
Matthew xxviii. 5, 6.
IYE humble souls, that seek the Lord,
Chase all your fears away:
And bow with pleasure down to see
The place where Jesus lay.
2 Thus low the Lord of life was brought;
Such wonders love can do ;
Thus cold in death that bosom lay,
Which throbb'd, and bled for you.
3 A moment give a loose to grief;
Let grateful sorrows rise,
And wash the bloody stains away
With torrents from your eyes.
4 Then raise your eyes, and tune your songs,
The Saviour lives again;
Not all the bolts and bars of death
The conqueror could detain.
5 High o'er the angelic bands he rears
His once dishonour'd head;
And through unnumber'd years he reigns,
Who dwelt among the dead.
6 With joy like his shall every saint
His empty tomb survey;
Then rise with his ascending Lord
Through all his shining way.
CXCV. Christ ever present with his Ministers and Churches.
Matthew xxviii. 20.
I WIDE o'er all worlds the Saviour reigns;
Unmov'd his power and love remains;
And on his arm his church shall rest.
Fair Zion, joyful in her King,
Through every changing age shall sing,
With his perpetual presence blest.
2 Tyrannic death, in vain thy rage,
Thy triumphs new in every age,
O'er the first heroes of his host;
Conscious of more than mortal aid,
Our bleeding hearts are not dismay'd,
But an immortal leader boast.
3 Though buried deep in dust they lie,
Whose tuneful voices rais'd on high
Led the sweet anthems to his name;
The children learn the fathers song,
And unform'd tongues shall still prolong
The ever-present Saviour's fame.
4 The present Saviour, he shall give
Millions of future saints to live,
And croud the temples of his grace:
The present Saviour, lo, he comes
To call whole legions from their tombs,
And teach their dust sublimer praise.
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