Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/52

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
34
GRACIOUS INVITATION TO PERISHING SINNERS.
How long to streams of false delight Will ye in crowds repair?How long your strength and substance waste On trifles light as air?
My stores afford those rich supplies That health and pleasure give:Incline your ear and come to me; The soul that hears shall live.
With you a cov'nant, I will make, That ever shall endure;The hope which gladdened David's heart My mercy hath made sure.
Behold He comes! your leader comes; With might and honour crowned;A witness who shall spread my name To earth's remotest bound.
See! nations hasten to His call From ev'ry distant shore;Isles, yet unknown, shall bow to Him, And Israel's God adore.
Seek ye the Lord while yet His ear Is open to your call;While offered mercy still is near, Before His footstool fall.
Let sinners quit their evil ways, Their evil thoughts forego,And God, when they to Him return, Returning grace will show.
He pardons with o'erflowing love; For, hear the voice divine!"My nature is not like to yours, Nor like your ways are Mine:
"But far as heaven's resplendent orbs Beyond earth's spot extend,As far my thoughts, as far my ways, Your ways and thoughts transcend.
"And as the rains from heaven distil, Nor thither mount again,But swell the earth with fruitful juice, And all its tribes sustain:
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.