Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

112

AN EVENING THOUGHT.

Methinks, my friend, I hear thee say, "With patience wait the coming day; 'Tis near, 'tis hast'ning on apace,. As fast as time can run his race: Soon shall the shadows flee away, And yield to bright eternal day: The sun, and moon, and stars shall fall, And one wide ruin swallow all

The works of nature; then the bless'd,
Shall enter into sacred rest :

Then shall we tune our harps, and sing
The triumphs of the heav'nly king;
Prove the rich depths of boundless grace;
Adore his love, and see his face :
Till then, let faith and patience wait,
Constant attendants at his gate;
Submissive, bow beneath his rod,

While flesh confines us from our God."

[ocr errors]

MEDITATION

ON REDEMPTION.

WISDOM divine, O aid me while I sing
The boundless wonders of redeeming love!
A theme so grand, what mortal thought can trace,
Or, unassisted, sound the mighty deep,
Where length, and depth, and breadth, are swallow'd up
In ocean fathomless? Thou, mighty love,
Surpassing knowledge; angels know thee not
In full dimension, tho' celestial beings :
How then shall I, a child of dust, a worm,
A creature of a day, explore thy wonders!
Wisdom divine, O aid my vent'rous song;
To thee I call, nor other Muse invoke ;
Thou only art sufficient to instruct,

Το purge the darksome films that cloud the sight,
And chace my native ignorance away.

Come heav'nly light, thou sun of righteousness,
With thy delightful love-inspiring beams,
Arise and shine in beauties all thine own,
Upon my ravish'd heart, that at thy feet,
In humble, awful wonder and delight,

My soul may lowly bow, and worship there,
The mystic self-existent deity.

Shine on my mind, good Spirit from on high,
And let the meditations of my heart

Be influenc'd by thee: guide thou my pen,
While I record Immanuel's precious name,
And sing of all his dying love to man.

Thou mighty Saviour! where shall I begin
To trace thy wonders! Can eternity
Spread a deep veil upon thy boundless love?
No! through eternity I look, and view
My name engrav'd upon Immanuel's breast.
I see thee thron'd in majesty sublime,
The self-existent JAH! and lo, thine heart
Glows with an ardent flame of love to me.
When thy great fiat bade a world arise !

With wond'rous beauty crown'd; and from the dust
A noble creature form'd, and call'd him man,
And on his soul stamp'd immortailty!

How burst thy glories forth, and all the God
Shone in creation's mighty work: but lo!
A greater work I sing, and wond'ring see
Redemption rise: thou monarch of the skies!
Thy greatest, noblest work. When sin had marr'd
Thy fair creation, spoil'd thy creature man

I see thee from thy lofty throne descend,
(Where burning seraphs hymn thy glorious name)
And manifest in flesh, on earth appear:
Angelic voices sung the Saviour's birth,
And hail'd Messiah, consecrated king!

Thou in my place, my room, and stead, appear'd

To bear my sin's accumulated load

Of guilt and shame, of agony and death,
In thy own body, on the cursed tree.

See, O my soul! thy bleeding Saviour see
In sad Gethsemane; bending beneath

The weight of sin and sorrow not his own:
See from the garden to the judgment-hall
Of throned Herod, where his back endures
The stripes, the chastisement, the heavy scourge
Due to thy great rebellion! see him stand
The meek and lowly lamb; nor only so,
But heaven's Almighty, everlasting king,
Bound to a pillar, smarting under strokes
By creatures' hands inflicted! trace him thence,
In sad progression on to Golgotha !

There view him hanging on th' uplifted cross,
Th' imperial ensign of the christian world!
Behold his veins out-pour a crimson flood!
Behold him sigh in anguish infinite!
Behold the flood-gates of Almighty wrath
Set open wide, and all their treasur'd stores,
Pour'd like a deluge on the Saviour's head,
In such a sea, so long, so broad, so deep,
That finite knowledge ne'er can fathom it;
But, O thou bleeding Lord! thou slaughter'd lamb !
Thro' thy rich grace, I know 'twas all for me!
The sun Asham'd to see his Maker die,
Hung his bright head in black: untimely night
Apall'd the sons of men with strange dismay.
There hung my Saviour, and my sacrifice,
A whole burnt offering offered up to God,
A righteous Saviour, such an offering,

That in the nostrils of the great I AM,
Smells infinitely sweet. Behold in him,
Jehovah is well pleas'd: no anger now

Dwells in his bosom, 'gainst the happy souls

Redeem'd by blood. Thus sav'd by boundless grace,
Lift up your eyes, ye follow'rs of the lamb:

And thou, my soul, behold thy risen Lord,
Thy righteous advocate, thy great salvation.

When sunk in fears, and doubts, and griefs, O think
He lives to plead thy cause before the throne.
Remember God hath sworn, that on the earth
No more destroying waters shall prevail;
So hath he sworn, that on the sons of grace,
No storms of wrath shall fall: at his right hand,
The rainbow of the better covenant,

Jesus, the surety stands; he spreads his hands,
His pierced hands! he points to Calvary,

And

says, "Remember Father how I died,

And shed my blood for sinners." Pleas'd he hears
And listens to the well-beloved's voice;

For righteousness and peace are sweetly join'd,
And truth and mercy reconcil'd in him.

O may we so remember him, and view

When rising storms affright us, that dear pledge,
That faithful witness; so by faith behold;

That through the storms of life, the vale of death,
We may hold fast our confidence of hope,
And as we journey through this wilderness,
Find him our guide and pilot all the way.
Till Jordan pass'd, to that good land we come,
Which flows with milk and honey, food divine.
The pilgrim's rest is there, his final rest:

« AnteriorContinuar »