For here, O my GOD,
What a grateful abode !
An asylum of boundless
delight!
I rejoice in my state,
Tho' my lodging so strait,
Having nothing but thee
in my sight.
VI.
Let the winds roar about;
Let the storms rage without
All within is so calm and
serene! Not a cumbersome care, Not a trifling affair, Interrupting the peace of the scene!
If events then arise,
Or descend from the skies,
On thee let me singly
depend.
From the wind and the
Thou art mighty to save,
And a calm and a sun-
shine to send.
VIII.
Human wisdom and pride,
Fling your glories aside,
Nor seduce with your
sparks in the night,
Ye so slily deceive,
That men fancy they're
brave,
And refuse to their Au-
thor his right.
IX.
Ye provoke with your flames
Into furious aims,
Till wrath in confusion expires.
"Tis the ceaseless delight Of my soul to recite
The show'rs of thy love
as they flow.
My ALL is in thee;
And NOTHING to me
Are the charms of the na-
tions below.
III.
Thy presence inspires,
And crowns my desires.
Oh fill all my soul with
thy love!
My Guardian and Guide When tempted and try'd! Let our union eternally
IV. To my soul, to my sight, All is sweet, all is bright: For thy pleasure all na
ture obeys.
Here I trace all thy truth,
From my tenderest youth,
Thro' the scenes of my
earliest days.
V.
My forces had fail'd,
By sickness assail'd,
Yet health from thy hand
I regain'd.
When weigh'd to the
ground
With crosses around,
Thy hand, still attentive
The tempest and tide
With perils have ply'd,
Amid the loud threats of the seas; The heights over floods, The robbers in woods; Yet my heart was unmov'd and at ease. VII.
When of fiends and of foes Rude legions arose,
Toshock me with direful
dismay;
Full of faith, void of fear,
I repell'd their career,
Thro' the force of thy
sovereign sway.
VIII.
What can anger or pride?
Having thee on my side,
Their efforts abortive re-
bound.
The plots and the schemes
Wild phantoms and dreams
The hearts of their authors they wound. IX. How in envy combin'd, In their errors how blind, With the tenderest compassion I view. Their labour employ'd, In thy favour enjoy'd, My warmest of wishes
ON THE EXCELLENCIES OF DIVINE LOVE.
WHEN Affection abounds that is perfect and pure,
No terrors alarm, and no vices allure.
The soul, then exalted, all goodness pursues;
For honours immortal engross all her views.
Then holding her freedom, her purity bought,
Th' Infernals are vex'd at their victim uncaught.
What strains can this perfect affection declare?
What objects assemble with it to compare?
"Tis the richest of treasures, the brightest of gems;
All thrones it outshines, all the word's diadems.
"Tis the noblest of plants, as ascending it shoots
From the true pious heart, full of excellent fruits.
From the smallest of seeds it will rise and will spread
O'er the earth with its boughs, up to Heav'n with its
The storm only touches its rind as it blows;
For the more it is push'd at the firmer it grows.
So solid and lasting its virtues are seen,
Its fruits ever fine, and its leaves ever green;
In all ages and climates admir'd and renown'd,
From the love of the Highest they solely redound.
"Tis the first and finest of themes ever known,
All beside it give way-to behold it alone!
On every condition it breathes a content,
With the bless'd recollection of moments well spent.
It sweetens our bitters, it comforts our toil; -
It melts down the mountains, and softens the soil.
It lifts up the vails as it levels the hills,
Throws loftiness down, and with lowliness fills.
Each image of gold, and each idol of lead,
As they fall to the ground, lose the hands and the head.
It strengthens in weakness, in sickness it hea's,
And pleasures, rewarding, to sorrows unseals.
It brightens in trials, as gold, when refin'd,
The dross in the furnace when leaving behind.
It baffles all Malice, and balks her intent,
Full happiness flowing where misery was meant!
The Pris'ner, exulting, the wonder proclaims;
And Martyrs, with songs, in the midst of the flames.
To kindness approaching it opens a door,
Supplying all wants, and enriching the
The glory of countries, the beauty of towns!
From crosses quite transcient, to permanent crowns,
The coward turns fearless of swords and of seas;
And mortals, astonish'd works wonders with ease.
Effects of thy goodness, O Sov'REIGN DIVINE !
All the powers in the world are as nothing to thine.
Each rising desire in the heart is deny'd,
Which tends from thy kingdom to turn it aside.
The ready suppression attracts thy regards:
And sweet are the foretastes of future rewards;
The hundred-fold promis'd to them who resign
All the charms they delight in, and chuse to be thine.
Ambition and Av'rice and Envy and Lust,
An army of Giants, are stretch'd in the dust.
The mighty GoLIAH'S who vaunt on the plain,
By the hands of thy striplings are speedily slain.
Proud SELF is in ashes abas'd, and abhorr'd,
And only the Maker of all things ador'd.
To thee then adhering, wherever they go,
With how virtuous ardour thy votaries glow?
Tho' rocks in the roads, or tho' desarts are found,
Harmonious appears the creation around.
All nature looks chearful, if foul or if fair,
New fragrance diffusing throughout the mild air.
The joy that's within issues forth in their views,
And paradise, gracing all objects, renews.
Shou'd we buy it with suffering, and losses of all
The flocks in the field, and the herds in the stall,
With vollies of slander our characters torn,
Or fierce persecutions incessantly borne,
The purchase were cheap, since alone it procures
A fitness for bliss which for ever endures.
MY Sov'reign engage Every nation and age To lay hold of thy proffers of aid;
The motions of sin
To stifle within,
And ennobled in all their
designs!
III.
The fault is not thine,
If the sinner decline
To walk in the way
is right;
In virtues unspotted ar- So clear thou hast shew'd,
How its beauties are soil'd, And its fortitude foil'd, Wide over the face of
Ah the treacherous joys
Of perishing toys;
Of treasures a baneful
abuse;
Like snakes hid in flow'rs,
Or harlot's amours
Which deadly distempers
adduce!
VI.
They plunge into woes,
Which admit no repose,
Where insolent spirits
infest :
Their mirth and their wit, And their scorning, unfit To join in the joys of the blest!
Who vices refuse,
And rectitude chuse,
Cannever repent of their
choice.
True freedom, alone,
True bliss is their own,
Who hearken and fol-
low thy voice.
VIII.
Tho' so high on thy throne,
"Tis thy joy to make known
Thy secrets unseal'd, to
the wise.
In affection divine,
As in action, they shine,
And thy mercies they thankfully prize.
Thy word to fulfil,
To conform to thy will,
The permanent mark of
the mind!
With thee they converse,
And rejoice to rehearse
Thy laws, and thy love
to mankind.
X.
When these meet on high,
In a lovelier sky,
Where their Sov'reign
and Saviour appears;
All beauties are found,
All pleasures abound,
And his infinite good-
ness endears.
XI.
Their labours all o'er,
Their troubles no more,
Triumphing in lustre
improv❜d,
What joys will they know,
From the fountain to flow,
Ever loving, and ever
belov'd!
XII.
Who can cease to admire,
O Sov'reign and Sire,
How thy Greatness and
Goodness unite? Then depriv'd of his crown Busy SELF is thrown down,
When we come to behold things aright.
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