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Ver. If, to thy pray'r, heart-pureness cleave,
6 His favour would thee raife;

Thy profp'rous ftate he would retrieve,
And crown thy righteous ways.

7 Though thy beginning, fmall and low,
Seem but an abject state;

Thy latter end fhall not be fo,

But have an increase great.

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Time and Life fhort. Job viii. 9.

9 WE'RE but of yesterday's new mold,

II

Our life's of no regard,

When with our long-liv'd fathers old
And ancestor's compar'd.

No knowledge nor experience we
Can ever justly boaft:

Our days like fhadows are that flee,

No fooner had, than loft.

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The Hope of the Hypocrite vain and vanishing.

JUST

Job viii. 11,-14.

UST as a weak and empty rufh,,
That in a wat❜ry mead,

With hafty growth and eafy pufh,
Rears up its haughty head;

12 In moisture rich, in verdure gay,
Unmov'd and not cut down;

'Yet on a fudden wears away

Ere other plants are grown.

13 So fhall the wicked's beauty fade,
The hypocrite's fair fhew;
Who no foundation firm hath laid,
But mire in which he grew.

14 His fwelling hopes, ere he's aware,
In their high tide fhall ebb;

His groundiefs truft is weaker far
Than any spider's web

Ver. He on his tott'ring houfe fhall lean,
A falfe and fruitless prop,

Which, finking foon, fhall fail him clean,
And difappoint his hope.

SONG XIV.

GOD juft in judging. Job ix. 2, 3, 4.

WHEN

HEN juftice, out of mercy's rod,
Thoughts, words, and actions tries,
How can a man be just with God,
Or pure before his eyes?

3 Once to contend, if God begins,
Vain fhifts will have no fenfe;
Not one of all our thoufand fins
Can bear a juft defence.

4 He's wife in heart, and ftrong in might,
What arm can his repel;
Who can against him fafely fight,
Or profper that rebel?

SONG XV.

The Righteoufnefs of Words difcarded.

Job ix. 15. 20, 21.

OD's eyes efpy our aims afar,

15 GOD

And, to his clearer fight,

These very ways moft crooked are,
That we efteem'd moft right.
Then righteous though I were, yet I
To answer him would grudge;
And, laying proud pretences by,
Would fupplicate my Judge.

zo Should I my innocence aver,

21

My mouth would brand my face;
Yea, were I perfect, I'd prefer.
The way of life by grace

+ Gg

Ver.

I

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The afflicted Soul's Complaint to GOD.
Job x. 1, 2. 14, 15.

THE

HE conftant woes that load my back,
Such endless groans create ;

My prefent life's a very black

Uncomfortable state.

My reflefs weary foul abhors
This leathfome lump of clay;
Longs to be free of fin and fores,

And wings to heav'n her way. 2 I make to God my heavy moan, To give my forrow vent;

But yet upon myself alone

I'll leave my fad complaint.
I'm prefs'd, but I condemn thee not;
O Lord, condemn not me:
Why thou contends with me fo hot
Shew, Lord, and let me fee.

14 If I be wicked in thine eyes,
Then wo to me indeed;
If righteous, yet fhall never I
Lift up my haughty head.
15 Defpair and deep confufion do
My wounded foul opprefs:
O fhew thy mercy, fee my wo,
And pity my diflrefs.

SONG XVII.

GOD's Wisdom unfearchable. Job xi. 7, 8, 9. 7 CAN human reafon's utmost stretch,

Her arms fo far extend,

As fhall th' Eternal's counfel reach,
His wifdom comprehend?

8,9 What creature can, with finite hand,
The vaft dimenfion weigh!

'Tis longer than the earth or land,
And broader than the fea.

Ver. Higher than heav'n, what canft thou know,
So infinitely steep?

Deeper then hell, what canft thou do,
But awful distance keep?

SONG XVIII.

That GOD may fuffer the wicked to profper, exemplified in Beafts, Birds, and Fishes; and this refolved into bis abfolute Dominion over, and Propriety in all bis Creatures. Job xii. 6,-10.

AR

FFLICTIONS great are of the juft,
In time, the common fate;

While wicked men, that lick the duft,
Enjoy a profp'rous state.

Robbers and spoilers fee their stock
Of worldly wealth endure;
And these who moft do God provoke,
On earth live moft fecure.
Great gifts, on them he difregards,
With lavish hand he throws,
And on them multiply'd rewards,
Unmerited, bestows.

7 Afk now the beafts, and trial make,
How matters with them go;
Soon will they tell how they partake
The felf-fame kind of wo.

How bears, wolves, monfters of the wood,

That ravage and destroy,
Inur'd to rapine, fpoil, and blood,

Yet peace and pow'r enjoy.

While harmlefs flocks, on hills that browse,

And useful herds, each way,

To men their friends, or beafts their foes,

Are daily made a prey.

Afk of the fowls aloft that flee,

For anfwer they'll return,

That they, conform to their degree,
The fame difafter mourn.

Ver. They will affert their vultures rude, 8 And tyrants live fecure;

While doves and birds of mildeft brood,

A thoufand woes endure.

Then afk the fifhes what's their flate,
And question how they do ;
They'll tell that this unequal fate
Attends the ocean too.

Great whales, fea-tyrants, drunk with blood,
That profper to their wifh,
Devour controullefs, in the flood,

Whole fhoals of harmlefs fifh.

9 This ftate of things fram'd he, whose pow'r
All beings did produce;

Whofe wifdom too, in ord'ring fure,
Hath fix'd their end and ufe.

10 God's creatures are his own, their lives
He may at pleafure take;
When he refumes but what he gives,
Who can objections make?

SONG XIX.

Doctrine to be tried ere it be trufted. Job xii. 11.

11 THE ear tries words before they be

II

Receiv'd as true and good;

The mouth taftes meat ere ever we
Can judge it wholesome food.
Doctrines and fpirits thus we try,

By grace's inward guft;
Left we for truth receive a lie,
For food to poifon truft.

SONG XX.

The Wisdom of antient Men nothing to the Wisdom of the Antient of Days. Job xii. 12, 13. 12 THOUGH wifdem oft, we are assur'd, In hoary heads appears,

And understanding is matur'd

By time and num'rous years:

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