Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

Ver. Yet knowledge pure, no where we fee
But in th' eternal Mind.

13

In God, and him alone, can we

Confummate knowledge find.
The wife on earth derive from him,
The wisdom which we praife;
Their tapers only fhine with dim
And delegated rays.

SONG XXI.

Proofs of God's Power in doing bis Pleafure in Earth and Heaven, and ferving his own Purpofes among Men. Job xii. 14, 15, 16.

14 GOD's pow'r, with wifdom join'd, we must With equal fear adore:

Proud towns he levels with the duft,

To be rebuilt no more.

When flaves in prifon he reftrains,

Shut up in death or hell,

Who then can loose their pond'rous chains,
Or pow'r divine repel?

15 He binds the watery cloud, and ftops
The bottles of the fkies;

And to the earth's fore withered crops
His heav'nly dew denies.

Again, the rains, at his command,
Make all the rivers fwell,

O'erflow their borders, drench the land,
And fears of drought difpel.
16 Wisdom and firength are his, he rules
O'er ftrong and crafty foes;
Deceiving and deceived fools
Are both at his difpofe.

SONG XXII.

Proofs of God's Wifdom and Power in the Revolution of States and Kingdoms. Job xii. 17,-25. 17 FROM judges judgment God withdraws;

From counfellors of ftate

Detracting wisdom and applaufe,
With fools he does them rate.

Ver. Proud monarchs cruel bonds he breaks,
Tears their engines of pain;

18

And binds, on tort'ring tyrants necks,
The tortur'd pris'ner's chain.

19 He overturns the mighty peers,

And princes in their pride;

Thefe that abafh'd the world with fears,
He makes the world deride.

20 He takes their wifdom from the wife,
And knowledge from the fage,

And makes their former friends despise
Their oracles and age.

21 On princes great he pours contempt,
On kings of wide command,

He wrefts, what feem'd from wo exempt,
Their fceptres from their hand.

22 To his all-penetrating eye,

The darkest fhades of night,
And deepest'hellish plots do ly
As ope as noon-day light.

23 By him all nations high or low,
And kingdoms wax and wean;
By him their numbers ebb or flow,
And fhare the blifs or bane.

24 Great chiefs, like cowards, thro' heartless fright He makes in defarts ftray,

25 As drunkards groping in the night, And reeling lofe their way.

SONG XXIII.

Strong Faith in the bot Furnace. Job xiii. 15, 16.

15 LET God upon me frown or smile;
I'll reft upon his name;

He knows, if of approved guile
My heart does me condemn.

Should he even double my diftrefs,

In hotter fires to try;

Yet I'll adore his righteoufnefs,
And on his word rely.

Ver. Yea, though he hew me to the root,

16

With lifted hand to kill,

Yet, through his grace, I'm refolute,

That in him truft I will.

SONG XXIV.

The Origin, Nature and Iffue of human Life; it is Short, forrowful, finful, and limited; Death puts a final Period to it, and frees from the Calamities thereof. Job xiv. 1,-15.

I

SECT. I.

Man frail and filthy, the Object of divine Pity.
Ver. 1,-4.

FRA

'RAIL man, as foon as born, decays,
Like flow'rs that quickly fade;

2 He counts a few and troublous days,
Then paffes like a fhade.

3 Will God regard fo bafe a wight,
Contend with fuch a moth,

The spawn of hell, an ugly fight,
So frail and filthy both!

4 Who can clean things from unclean bring,
Pure ftreams from in pure mud,

But he that came to clear the spring
By water and by blood!

SECT. II.

Our Days are numbered, and the Time of Life fixed.

Ver. 5, 6.

5 O Lord, the days of man are all

Inroll'd in thy decree;

And of the months that to him fall
The number is with thee.

The bounds of time he cannot pafs
In which thou doft him clofe:
Let this fuffice, nor add a mafs
Of more uncommon woes.

Ver. O grant him the refpite and ease,
His torments made him afk,

[ocr errors]

And let him finifh, by degrees,

His life's appointed task.

SECT. III.

Life natural, being gone, returns not; or, the dead never awaked till the laft Day. Ver. 7,-12.

7,8 Life vegetive when loft in roots, With rains may be reviv'd;

9 Life animal in certain brutes,
With folar beams retriev'd.

10 But Spirits rational, when gone,
Too great for nature's fcent,
Have no restoratives but one,
That is omnipotent.

Ere death man daily waftes away;
In death gives up the ghoft;
But after death, where is he, pray,
When to the living loft?

II High floods and feas that left the fhore,
Will at their times return;

12 But man refumes his life no more,
Whom death does once in urn.
Death to the grave his duft conveys,
There fleeps the hidden prey;
Nor wakes till with a mighty noife.
The heavens fhall pass away.

J3

SECT. IV.

Defire to die may confift with a waiting till the change come. Ver. 13, 14, 15.

Lord, in the filent grave I'd reft,

There let me fafely ly,

Till fhades of fin and wrath be chas'd,

And glory deck the fky.

14 Since wrath will each man, for his crime,
From prefent life eftrange,

All days of my appointed time
I'll wait my future change.

Ver. Though thou prolong this mournful fcene,
In hope I'll patient stay,

Till thou revive my joys amain,

And chafe my woes away.

15 Thy call both to and from the grave
I'll gladly hear, and go;

And thou my ftrong defire to fave
Thy handy-work wilt show.

SONG XXV.

Self-juftification extremely odious. Jobxv. 14, 15, 16.

14 A

H! what's vain man that feems fo pure,
As not his fpots to spy,

When faireft feraphs can't endure

JEHOVAH'S piercing eye!

15 He fees his faints not whole upright,
What can in flaves be feen?

How vile's the earth, when in his fight
The heav'ns are but unclean!

16 Their hoft before the boly thrice,
Do blush and hide their fmuts;
How odious then is man, who vice
Like water daily gluts!

SONG XXVI.

The Ruin of those who bid Defiance to God and bis
Power. Job xv. 24, 25, 26. 30.

24 CONFUSION, anguish, and distress,

The wicked fhall affail,

To give them battle, with difgrace,
And o'er their strength prevail.

25 Because against th' almighty Lord
They boldly take the field;

Yea, run upon his flaming fword,
And on his blazing fhield.

26 Mad wretches! they defy their God,
And void of holy fear,

Deride his darts that fly abroad,
And rufh upon his fpear.

« PoprzedniaDalej »