THE BLESSINGS AND INVITATIONS
A Blessed Gospel. (C.M.)
LEST are the souls that hear and know
1 B The gospel's joyful sound;
Peace shall attend the path they go,
And light their steps surround.
2 Their joy shall bear their spirits up,
Thro' their Redeemer's name;
His righteousness exalts their hope,
Nor Satan dares condemn.
3 The Lord, our glory and defence,
Strength and salvation gives;
Isr'el, thy King for ever reigns,
Thy God for ever lives.
523. The Invitation of the Gospel. Isaiah lv. 1.
IET ev'ry mortal ear attend,
And ev'ry heart rejoice;
The trumpet of the gospel sounds,
With an inviting voice.
2 Ho! all ye hungry starving souls,
That feed upon the wind,
And vainly strive with earthly toys,
To fill an empty mind.
3 Eternal Wisdom has prepar'd
A soul reviving feast,
And bids your longing appetite
The rich provision taste.
4 Ho! ye that pant for living streams,
And pine away and die;
Here you may quench your raging thirst,
With springs that never dry.
5 Rivers of love and mercy here,
In a rich ocean join ;
Salvation in abundance flows,
Like floods of milk and wine.
6 Ye perishing and naked poor,
Who work with mighty pain,
To weave a garment of your own,
That will not hide your sin.
7 Come naked, and adorn your souls
In robes prepar'd by God,
Wrought by the labours of his Son,
And dy'd in his own blood.
8 Dear God! the treasures of thy love,
Are everlasting mines,
Deep as our helpless mis'ries are,
And boundless as our sins!
9 The happy gates of gospel grace,
Stand open night and day;
Lord, we are come to seek supplies,
And drive our wants away.
The Promises of the Covenant of Grace. (C.M.)
N vain we lavish out our lives,
To gather empty wind;
The choicest blessings earth can yield,
Will starve a hungry mind.
2 Come, and the Lord shall feed our souls
With more substantial meat;
With such as saints in glory love,
With such as angels eat.
3 Our God will ev'ry want supply,
And fill our hearts with peace;
He gives by cov'nant, and by oath,
The riches of his grace.
4 Come, and he'll cleanse our spotted souls,
And wash away our stains,
In the dear fountain that his Son
Pour'd from his dying veins.
5 Our guilt shall vanish all away,
Though black as hell before;
Our sins shall sink beneath the sea,
And shall be found no more.
6 And lest pollution should o'erspread
Our inward pow'rs again,
His Spirit shall bedew our souls,
Like purifying rain.
7 Our heart, that flinty stubborn thing,
That terrors cannot move,
That fears no threat'nings of his wrath,
Shall be dissolved by love.
8 Or he can take the flint away,
That would not be refin'd,
And from the treasures of his grace,
Bestow a softer mind.
9 There shall his Sacred Spirit dwell,
And deep engrave his law,
And ev'ry motion of our souls,
To swift obedience draw.
10 Thus will he pour salvation down,
And we shall render praise;
We the dear people of his love,
And he our God of grace.
525. The Beatitudes. Matt. v. 3-12. (L. M.)
BLESS'D are the humble souls that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are giv'n,
And crowns of joy laid up in heav'n.
2 Bless'd are the men of broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of Christ divinely flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.
3 Bless'd are the meek who stand afar,
From rage and passion, noise and war:
God will secure their happy state,
And plead their cause against the great.
4 Bless'd are the souls that thirst for grace,
Hunger and long for righteousness;
They shall be well supply'd and fed
With living streams and living bread.
5 Bless'd are the men whose bowels move,
And melt with sympathy and love;
From Christ the Lord, shall they obtain
Like sympathy and love again.
6 Bless'd are the pure, whose hearts are clean, From the defiling pow'r of sin :
With endless pleasure they shall see
A God of spotless purity.
7 Bless'd are the men of peaceful life,
Who quench the coals of growing strife;
They shall be call'd the heirs of bliss,
The sons of God, the God of peace.
8 Bless'd are the suff'rers who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesu's sake;
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord,
Glory and joy are their reward.
526. Christ's Commission. John iii. 16, 17.
NOME, happy souls, approach your God,
With new melodious songs;
Come, render to almighty grace,
The tribute of your tongues.
2 So strange, so boundless was the love, That pity'd dying men,
The Father sent his equal Son,
To give them life again.
3 Thy hands, dear Jesus, were not arm'd
With a revenging rod :
No hard commission to perform
The vengeance of a God.
4 But all was mercy, all was mild,
And wrath forsook the throne,
When Christ on the kind errand came,
And brought salvation down.
5 Here, sinners, you may heal your wounds, And wipe your sorrows dry;
Trust in the mighty Saviour's name,
And you shall never die.
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