504

Ver. All beings are his uteofils,

And creatures of his pow'r ;
Nor can they longer than he wills

In ufe or being 'dure.
14 Should he recal man's vital breath,

He did at first inspire,
All mankind, perithing by death,

Would to the grave retire. 15 All mortal flesh to mother duft,

At pleasure he remands;
Immortal fouls for judgment just,

Unto their Farber's hands

SONG LIV.

God's Omniscience, from wbich no Sin can be bid.

Job xxxiv. 21, 22.
21 JEHOVAH'S all.difcerning eye, ,

surveys;
His thoughts, soon as they rise, does spy,

And watches all his ways.
The Judge fupremie, 'tis clear from hence,

Can never, through mistake,
Be partial; nor, through ignorance,

A wrong decision make.
Shifts, therefore, or evasive arts,

In vain the wicked ule;
In vain their crimes, with cunning hearts,

They labour to excuse.
22. No darkness from his fight can fçreen,

Whose piercing eye makes way
Through mid-night shades, alike as in

The blazing noon of day.
Can lewd mens closest hiding cell,

His searching fight defy,
When darkest caves of death and hell

Lie naked to his eye?

SONG LY.

God's Power irresistible. Job xxxiv. 29.
Ver. WHEN God gives quietnefs and rest
29

From ruin and frem fin,
Who then with trouble can molest,

Or hinder peace within !
But when displeas'd he hides his face,

Or favour does withhold,
Who then can fee, or with folace,

An angry God behold?
Against a land, or single man,

Be his displeasure bent;
Nor more nor less resistance can

Resistless wrath prevent.
Not by the strength of nations whole,

Can pow'r divinę be ftay'd;
Nor smallness of one fingle foul

His cognisance evade.

SONG LVI. The afflicted Person bumbled. Job xxxiv. 29. 32. 29 'TIS surely meet thus to address

The Majesty divine,
Just are thy judgments, I confess;

“ For fin and gilt are mine,
" Nor will I now at justice? bar,

“ Commit a fresh offence,
By looking at iny sins afar,

" And pleading innocence,”
23 Lord, what I see not teach thou me,

Display thy heav'nly light;
Away like thades of darkness fice,

And day succeed to night.
Forgive my grievous wickedness;

Thy peace and joy reitore :
Lord, I have finnd? yea, but, through grace,

I'll henceforth fia no more.

SONG LVII.
God's Highnefs cannot be burt with Man's Wicked

nefs. Job xxxv. 5,-8.
Ver.
FROM carth, O mortal, to the heav'ng,

O , 5

List thy admiring eyes;
Behold the bright celestial orbs,

And view the distant skies.
They're high, yet does JEHOVAH's throne

Their to w'ring height exceed;
Far more than that bright starry frame,

Is rais'd above thy head.
6 Hence never can this glorious One,

Who fits in heav'n sublime,
Be hurt or damag'd by thy fin,

Nor by the blackest crime.
His plenitude of bliss can ne'er

Be made a whit the less,
Shvuld'It ihou, by multiply'd affonts,

Grow bold in wickednels.
7
Nor can his happy being e're

The least advantage reap, • Should'st thou devoutly him revere,

And all his precepts keep.
8 Yet hence let not thy wicked heart,

This false conclusion draw,
That thou wouldlt act a fruitless part,

Shouldīt thou obey his law.
Thy goodness gainful not above,

But to the earth may be ;
Thy wickedness may hurtful prove,

Though not to God, to thee.
God jufiified, obougb deaf to the Cry of the oppref-

sed. Job xxxv. 9,–13.
9 SOME cry aloud of violence,

Whom God does not regard;
He hears the cries of penitence,
: When pasion is not heard.

Ver. They under great opppression groan,

But ne'er remember God;
Nor notice what his hand hath done,

But wail the heavy rod.
10 None say, O where's my Maker great,

Who now can make me whole ?
But where's my healthy, wealthy state,

And where's my heartfome bowl?
They never after God enquire,

Who foon can ease bestow;
And, as he did their breath inspire,

Can moderate their woe :
Who, in the night of miseries,

Can give them fongs of joy,
And sweeten earth's calamities

With heav'n's august employ:
Who gave to man, to guide him right,

And paffion to controul,
A portion of etherial light,

A reasonable foul : 11 Which thus might argue, “ He whose care

“ Does tenderly protect
“ Beasts of the earth, birds of the air,

“ Will never man neglect.”
Yet man, 'bove these tho' honour'd high,

His reason pr stitutes,
Who does of wants and trouble cry

No otherwise than brutes.
12 These crying with their best instinet,

Their God does them sustain ;
But men their nobler reason fink,

And therefore cry in vain.
13 God proud and wicked suits denies,

He sees the inmost mind :
In vain to Heav'n they raise their cries,

Who leave their fouls behind.

SONG LIX.
God's gracious Design in bringing bis own People

under afli&tion. Job xxxvi. 8, 9, 10.
Ver. IF God in fetters of distress
8 His favour'd people bind;
If heavy loads of grief oppress

Their body or their mind : 9 He

means to shew to them their fin,
In thought, in word, and deed;
How they to excess did therein

All boundaries exceed.
He hereby causes them betimes,

With penitence, reflect
On all their base unkindly crimes

His kindly hands correct.
He likewise strikes fin's growing pow'r

Design'dly to restrain ;
That in their heart and life no more

It may victorious reign.
When faulty faints deserve a blow,

He learns them by the rod,
More clearly than before, to know

Their duty and their God. 10 Unto instuctive discipline

Their ears he opens wide,
Attentive to the laws divine,

From which they turn'd aside.
Their prosp'rous late had stopt their ear

But now their adverle lot
Commands, with loud alarms, to hear

The voice of him that fmute.
His gracę alone, that makes t'obey,

Concurring with the rod,
Excites them straight, thro' Christ the way,

To ture from sin to God.