To sound th' unfathom'd depths of love,
Or touch the heights thy mercies rise.
[6 Thy mercies Lord, thro' endless years,
Shall still my raptur'd pow'rs employ;
Yet endless years will still but swell
My wonder, gratitude, and joy.]
Mercy and Truth united....Psalm lxxxv. 10. 1 WIEN first the God of boundless grace Disclosed his kind design,
To rescue his apostate race
From mis'ry, shame, and sin.
2 Quick thro' the realms of light and bliss, The joyful tidings ran;
Each heart exulted at the news,
That God would dwell with man.
3 Yet 'midst their joys they paus'd awhile,
And ask'd with strange surprise,
But how can injur'd justice smile,
"Or look with pitying eyes.
[4 "Will the Almighty deign again
To visit yonder world;
"And hither bring rebellious men,
"Whence rebels once were hurl'd?
5 Their tears, and groans, and deep distress, "Aloud for mercy call;
"But ah! must truth and righteousness
"To mercy victims fall p❞
So spake the friends of God and man,
Delighted, yet surpris'd;
Eager to know the wond'rous plan
That wisdom had devis'd.]
7 The Son of God attentive heard,
And quickly thus reply'd:.
"In me let mercy be rever'd,
"And justice satisfy'd.
8 "Behold! my vital blood I pour,
"A sacrifice to God;
"Let angry justice now no more
"Demand the sinner's blood.
9 He spake, and heaven's high arches rung,
With shouts of loud applause;
"He dy'd," the friendly angels sung,
Nor cease their rapt'rous joys.
20. 11s. Whitfield's Col.
Mercy of God....Psalm lxxxix. 1.
I THY mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Has won my affections, and bound my soul fast.
2 Without thy-sweet mercy, I could not live here,
Sin soon would reduce me to utter despair;
But thro' thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And he that first made me still keeps me alive.
3 Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart:
Dissolv'd by thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I found.
4 The door of thy mercy stands open all day,
To the poor and the needy, who knock by the way;
No sinner shall ever be empty sent back,
Who comes seeking mercy for Jesus's sake.
5 Thy mercy in Jesus exempts me from hell;
Its glories I'll sing, and its wonders I'll tel:
'Twas Jesus, my friend, when he hung on the tree, That open'd the channel of mercy for me.
6 Great Father of mercies, thy goodness I own, And the covenant love of thy crucify'd Son; All praise to the Spirit whose witness divine, Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine. 21. C. M. Newton.
Omniscience of God....Psalm, cxxxix.
1 ONE glance of thine, eternal Lord,
Pierces all nature thro';
Nor heaven, nor earth, nor hell, afford
A shelter from thy view!
2 The mighty whole, each smaller part,
At once before thee lies;
And ev'ry thought of ev'ry heart
Is open to thine eyes.
3 Tho' greatly from myself conceal'd,
Thou seest my inward frame;
To thee I always stand reveal'd,
Exactly as I am.
4 Since, therefore, I can hardly bear
What in myself I see,
How vile and black must I appear,
Most holy God, to thee?
5 But since my Saviour stands between,
In garments dy'd in blood,
'Tis he, instead of me is seen
When I approach to God.
6 Thus, tho' a sinner. I am safe;
He pleads before the throne
His life and death in my
behalf,
And call my sin; his own.
7 What wondrous love, what mysteries,
In this appointment shine!
My breaches of the law are his,
And his obedience mine.
22. C. M. Blacklock.
Omniscience and Omnipresence of God....Ps. cxxxix. 1 LORD, theu, with an unerring beam, Surveyest all my pow'rs;
My rising steps are watch'd by thee,
By thee, my resting hours.
2 My thoughts, scarce struggling into birth,
Great God, are known to thee:
Abroad, at home, still I'm enclos'd
With thine immensity.
3 To thee the labyrinths of life
In open view appear;
Nor steals a whisper from my lips
Without thy list'uing ear.
4 Behind I glance, and thou art there;
Before me shines thy name;
And 'tis thy strong, Almighty hand
Sustains my tender frame.
5 Such knowledge mocks the vain essays
Of my astonish'd mind;
Nor can my reason's soaring eye
Its tow'ring summit find.
6 Where from thy spirit, shall I stretch
The pinions of my flight?
Or where, thro' nature's spacious range,
Shall I elude thy sight?
Scaled I the skies, the blaze divine
Would overwhelm my soul;
Plung'd I to hell, there should I hear
Thine awful thunders roll.
8 If on a morning's darting ray,
With matchless speed I rode,
And flew to the wild, lonely shore
That bounds the ocean's flood,
9 Thither thine hand, all-present God,
Must guide the wond'rous way,
And thine Omnipotence support
The fabric of my clay.
10 Should I involve myself around
With clouds of tenfold night,
The clouds would shine like blazing noon,
Before thy piercing sight.
11 If in thy being so enclos'd,
How vain th' attempt to fly,
Since ev'ry rising bud of thought
Is naked to thine eye.'
23. L. M. Anon.
Power of God....1 Sam. xv. 29.
1 JEHOVAH is a God of might,
He fram'd the earth, he built the sky;
And what he speaks is surely right-
"The strength of Israel will not lie".
2 Ye weary souls, with sin opprest,
To him in ev'ry trouble fly:
His promise is, "I'll give you rest".
"The strength of Israel will not lie."
3 Then why sunk down beneath despair?
To Jesu's throne of grace apply;
His promise plead-he'll hear your Pray'r; "The strength of Israel will not lie."
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