2 O let my soul to life restor'd,
Thy love in lasting hymns record,
While o'er my head its beams shall shine,
And make thy great salvation mine.

3 Thine eyes in me the sheep behold,
Whose feet have wander'd from the fold,
That guideless, helpless, strives in vain,
To find its safe retreat again:-

4 Now listens, if perchance its ear

The shepherd's well-known voice may hear;
Now, as the tempests round it blow,
In plaintive accents vents its wo.

5 Great Ruler of this earthly ball,
Do thou my erring steps recall:

O seek thou him, who thee has sought,
Nor turns from thy decrees his thought.

211.

S.M.-Hope reviving.

1 AND shall I sit alone,

2

3

Oppress'd with grief and fear;
To God my Father make my moan,
And he refuse to hear?

If he my Father be,

His pity he will shew;

From cruel bondage set me free,

And inward peace bestow.

If still he silence keep,

'Tis but my faith to try;

He knows and feels whene'er I weep,
And softens every sigh.

4

Then will I humbly wait,

Nor once indulge despair;

My sins are great, but not so great

As his compassions are,

212.

C.M.—Backsliding Israel invited to return to God. Jer. iii. 12, 13.
1 BACKSLIDING Israel, hear the voice
Of thy forgiving God,

Nor force such goodness to exert
The terrors of the rod.

2 Thus saith the Lord, "My mercy flows
"An unexhausted stream;

66

And, after all its millions sav'd,

Its sway is still supreme.

3 "Own but the follies thou hast done, "And mourn thy sins in dust, "And soon thy trembling heart shall learn "To hope, and love, and trust."

4 All-gracious God, thy voice we own;
And, prostrate at thy feet,

Our souls in humble silence wait
A pardon there to meet.

213.

C.M.-The Backslider recollecting himself in his Affliction.
Hosea ii. 6, 7.

1 THE Lord, how kind are all his ways,
When most they seem severe!

He frowns, and scourges, and rebukes,
That we may learn his fear.

2 With thorns, he fences up our path,
And builds a wall around,

To guard us from the death, that lurks
In sin's forbidden ground.

3 When other lovers, sought in vain,
Our fond address despise,

He opens his indulgent arms,
With pity in his eyes.

4 Return, ye wandering souls, return,
And seek his tender breast;

Call back the memory of the days,
When there you found your rest.

5 Behold, O Lord, we fly to thee,
Though blushes veil our face,
Constrain'd our last retreat to seek,
In thy much-injur'd grace.

214.

C.M.-The Lamentation of a Sinner.

1 O LORD, turn not thy face away
From them that lowly lie,
Lamenting sore their sinful life,
With tears and bitter cry!

2 Thy mercy-gates are open wide
To them that mourn their sin;
Oh! shut them not against us, Lord,
But let us enter in!

3 We need not to confess our fault,
For surely thou canst tell;

What we have done, and what we are,
Thou knowest very well:

4 Wherefore, to beg and to entreat,
With tears we come to thee:
As children that have done amiss
Fall at their father's knee.

5 And need we then, O Lord, repeat
The blessing which we crave!
When thou dost know, before we speak,
The thing that we would have.

6 Mercy, O Lord-mercy we seek:
This is the total sum!

For mercy, Lord, is all our prayer,
Oh! let thy mercy come!

215.

C.M.-Creatures vain, and God the Salvation of his People.
Jer. iii. 23.

1 HOW long shall dreams of creature bliss Our flattering hopes employ,

And mock our fond deluded eyes,
With visionary joy?

1

2 Why from the mountains and the hills Is our salvation sought,

While our eternal Rock's forsook,
And Israel's God forgot?

3 The living spring neglected flows
Full in our daily view,

Yet we, with anxious, fruitless toil,
Our broken cisterns hew.

4 These fatal errors, gracious God,
With gentle pity see;

To thee our roving eyes direct,
And fix our souls on thee.

216.

P.M.-The Backslider's Prayer.

1 WEARY of wandering from my God,
And now made willing to return,
I hear and bow me to the rod:

For thee, not without hope, I mourn;
I have an Advocate above,

A Friend before the Throne of Love.
2 O Jesus, full of truth and grace,
More full of grace than I of sin;
Yet once again I seek thy face,

Open thine arms, and take me in!
And freely my backslidings heal,
And love the faithless sinner still.

3 Thou know'st the way to bring me back, My fallen spirit to restore;

Oh! for thy truth and mercy's sake,
Forgive, and bid me sin no more:
The ruins of my soul repair,
And make my heart a house of

prayer.

4 The stone to flesh again convert;
The veil of sin again remove:
Sprinkle thy blood upon my heart,
And melt it by thy dying love!

This rebel heart by love subdue,
And make it soft, and make it new.
5 Give to mine eyes refreshing tears,
And kindle my relentings now;
Fill my whole soul with filial fears;
To thy sweet yoke my spirit bow:
Bend by thy grace, O bend or break
The iron sinew in my neck!

6 Ah, give me, Lord, the tender heart, That trembles at the' approach of sin: A godly fear of sin impart;

Implant and root it deep within,
That I may dread thy gracious power
And never dare to' offend thee more.

217.

C.M.-God's Complacency in his Thoughts of Peace towards his
People. Jer. xxix. 11.

1 VILER than dust, O Lord, are we;
And doth thine anger cease?

And doth thy gracious heart o'erflow
With purposes of peace.

2 And dost thou with delight reflect
On what thy grace shall do?
And with complacency of soul
Enjoy the distant view?

3 And can thy often injur'd love
So kind a message send,

That thou to all our lengthen'd woes
Wilt give the' expected end?

4 Why droop our hearts? why flow our eyes,
While such a voice we hear?
Why rise our sorrows and our fears,
While such a friend is near?

5 To all thy other favours add
A heart to trust thy word,

And death itself shall hear us sing,
While resting on the Lord.