11. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer. xxiii. 6.

Y God, how perfect are thy ways!
But mine polluted are;

Sin twines itself about my praise,

And flides into my prayer.

When I would speak what thou hast done
To fave me from my fin,

I cannot make thy mercies known,
But self-applause creeps in.

Divine defire, that holy flame
Thy grace creates in me;
Alas! impatience is its name,
When it returns to thee.

This heart, a fountain of vile thoughts,
How does it overflow!

While felf upon the furface floats,

Still bubbling from below.

Let others in the gaudy dress
Of fancied merit shine,

The Lord shall be my righteousness,

The Lord for ever mine.

12. EPHRAIM REPENTING. Jer. xxxi. 18-20.

Y God, till I received thy ftroke,

How like a beast was I!

So unaccustom❜d to the yoke,

So backward to comply.

With grief my just reproach I bear,
Shame fills me at the thought;
How frequent my rebellions were !
What wickedness I wrought!

Thy merciful restraint I scorn'd,
And left the pleasant road;
Yet turn me, and I fhall be turn'd,
Thou art the Lord my God.

"Is Ephraim banish'd from my thoughts,
Or vile in my esteem?

No," faith the Lord, "with all his faults,
I ftill remember him.

“Is he a dear and pleasant child ?
Yes, dear and pleasant still;
Though fin his foolish heart beguiled,
And he withstood my will.

"My sharp rebuke has laid him low,
He feeks my face again;
My pity kindles at his woe,
He shall not seek in vain."

13. THE COVENANT. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-28.

HE Lord proclaims his grace abroad!
"Behold, I change your hearts of stone;
Each fhall renounce his idol-god,

And ferve, henceforth, the Lord alone.

My grace, a flowing ftream, proceeds
To wash your filthinefs away;
Ye fhall abhor your former deeds,
And learn my ftatutes to obey.

My truth the great defign enfures,
I give myself away to you;

You fhall be mine, I will be yours,
Your God unalterably true.

"Yet not unfought, or unimplored,
The plenteous grace fhall I confer; *
No-your
whole hearts fhall feek the Lord,
I'll put a praying spirit there.

"From the first breath of life divine,
Down to the last expiring hour,
The gracious work shall all be mine,
Begun and ended in my power."

* Verfe 37.

14. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH. Ezek. xlviii. 35.

S birds their infant brood protect,*

And spread their wings to shelter them,
Thus faith the Lord to his elect,

"So will I guard Jerufalem."

And what then is Jerufalem,
This darling object of his care?

Where is its worth in God's esteem?
Who built it? who inhabits there?

Jehovah founded it in blood,

The blood of his incarnate Son;

There dwell the faints, once foes to God,
The finners whom he calls his own.

There, though befieged on every fide,
Yet much beloved and guarded well,
From age to age they have defied
The utmost force of earth and hell.

Let earth repent, and hell despair,
This city has a sure defence;

Her name is call'd, "The Lord is there,"
And who has power to drive him thence ?

* Ifaiah xxxi. 5.

15. PRAISE FOR THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. Zec. xiii. 1.

HERE is a fountain fill'd with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And finners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lofe all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Wash'd all my fins away.

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood

Shall never lofe its

power,

Till all the ranfom'd church of God

Be faved to fin no more.

E'er fince, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, fweeter fong,
I'll fing thy power to save;

When this poor lifping ftammering tongue
Lies filent in the grave.

Lord, I believe thou haft prepared

(Unworthy though I be)

For me a blood-bought free reward,
A golden harp for me!