Page images
PDF
EPUB

When I survey creation round, thy tender care I see,
In all thy works thy hand is found, and thine immensity;
Thy matchless power still protects the orphan of thy care,
In vain the fiend my soul attacks, when thou art present here.

ON THE DEW.

"I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily," Hos. xiv. 5. "As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore," Psalm cxxxiii. 3.

THE gentle rain and nightly dew attend to nature's cry,
And both proclaim the promise true, that I shall never die :
Each spreading cloud some favour shows, when they their drops distil,
The benediction God bestows on favour'd Zion's hill.

'Tis here the Holy Ghost descends, and joyful tidings brings,
Among Jehovah's chosen friends his boundless mercy springs..
Here David's blessing richly fell, with all her promis'd store,
And here eternal life shall dwell, when time shall be no more.

ON THE RAINBOW, ROCKS, AND HILLS.

"For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee," Isa. liv. 9, 10.

"And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved let us have grace," Heb. xii. 27, 28.

THE promis'd bow doth still endure, the world no deluge hath;
So doth that bow my soul secure from everlasting wrath:
Its yellow cast, its crimson dye, and lasting azure blue,
All shine with unbelief to vie, and prove the promise true.

The stable rocks and rising hills, shew my exalted state,

More firm my soul on Jesus dwells, as fixed there by fate;

The rocks shall rend and mountains quake, and all the globe shall

move,

But God has sworn he'll never shake his kingdom rear'd in love.

What tho' the foe should dare assail Jehovah's plighted troth,
Shall fiends of hell with God prevail, to break his solemn oath ?
Nay! sun and moon their circuits run, to shew my state secure,
Revolving planets each in turn proclaim salvation sure.

ON THE LUMINARIES OF HEAVEN.

"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordi nances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." Jer. xxxi. 35, 36. "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity," Isa. xiii. 10, 11.

"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear," Matt. xiii. 43.

THE stars that in their orbits shine, this solid joy afford,
That they their glory must resign, when saints shall be restor❜d;
Such from his sphere is doom'd to fall, bereft of all his pride,
Before the great eternal All, and his illustrious bride.

The fickle moon, in borrow'd rays, reproves my moral spots,
Her liquid light to all displays the spouse's secret blots:
But she must take her final wane, and yield her bright array,
Nor must she dare be seen again in everlasting day.

The burning sun shall then assume his long predicted vail,
To shew his face shall ne'er presume, when brighter lights prevail;
Thus all created lights retire, and all their rays resign,

While in the glory of the Sire, the saints shall ever shine.

O God, the earth, the sea, and skies, proclaim my state secure,
And thou art bound by numerous ties, to make my standing sure;
Be still my guide, my sure defence, let love be still display'd,
And when thou take my spirit hence, be thou my present aid.

Lord, what is man! or what am I, that thou should'st thus engage,
To draw my wavering mind on high, in spite of Satan's rage?
The self-complete Eternal now, to draw my thoughts above,
Hath deign'd to promise, swear, and vow, to win a mortal's lov

LETTER XXVII.

To the Rev. Mr. HUNTINGTON, Paddington.

REV. AND DEAR SIR,

HAVING, on many former occasions, experienced your willingness to become eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame; like a bold beggar, whose courage increases with his prosperity, I once more presume to solicit your charity; nor am I altogether without hope of success, since I find self encouraged thereunto both by my Lord himself and his servants the prophets. "Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out."

my

The occasion of my troubling you at present is in consequence of reading and meditating on the parable of the merciless servant, in the eighteenth of Matthew, from the twenty-third to the thirty-fifth verse; who, it appears, owed much, had nothing to pay with, met with compassion from the king, and was frankly forgiven the debt: but is afterwards brought to account, arraigned, called a wicked servant, and delivered to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to his lord, he being wroth with him.

« PreviousContinue »