But Sion on my heart shall dwell
In everlasting love.

6 Full in my sight, upon my hands
I have engrav'd her name:

My hands shall build her ruin'd walls,
And raise her broken frame.

1

XXV. ISAIAH liii.

HOW

TOW few receive with cordial faith
The tidings which we bring?

How few have seen the arm reveal'd·
Of heav'n's eternal King?

2 The Saviour comes! no outward pomp
Bespeaks his presence nigh;
No earthly beauty shines in him
To draw the carnal eye.

3 Fair as a beauteous tender flow'r
Amidst the desert grows,
So slighted by a rebel race
The heav'nly Saviour rose.

4 Rejected and despis'd of men,
Behold a man of woe!

Grief was his close companion still
Through all his life below.

5 Yet all the griefs he felt were ours,
Ours were the woes he bore:

Pangs, not his own, his spotless soul,
With bitter anguish tore.

6 We held him as condemn'd by Heav'n, An outcast from his God,

While for our sins he groan'd, he bled, Beneath his Father's rod.

7 His sacred blood hath wash'd our souls From sin's polluted stain;

His stripes have heal'd us, and his death
Reviv'd our souls again.

8 We all, like sheep, had gone astray
In ruin's fatal road:

On him were our transgressions laid;
He bore the mighty load.

9 Wrong'd and oppress'd, how meekly he
In patient silence stood!
Mute, as the peaceful harmless lamb,
When brought to shed its blood.

10 Who can his generation tell?
From prison see him led!

With impious shew of law condemn'd,
And number'd with the dead.

11 'Midst sinners low in dust he lay;
The rich a grave supply'd:
Unspotted was his blameless life
Unstain'd by sin he dy'd.

12 Yet God shall raise his head on high,
Though thus he brought him low;
His sacred off'ring, when complete,
Shall terminate his woe.

13 For, saith the Lord, my pleasure then
Shall prosper in his hand;
His shall a num'rous offspring be,
And still his honours stand.
14 His soul, rejoicing, shall behold
The purchase of his pain;
And all the guilty whom he say'd
Shall bless Messiah's reign.

15 He with the great shall share the spoil, And baffle all his foes;

Though rank'd with sinners, here he fell,
A conqueror he rose.

16 He dy'd to bear the guilt of men,
That sin might be forgiv'n

1

He lives to bless them and defend,
And plead their cause in heav'n.

XXVI. ISAIAH lv.

TO! ye that thirst, approach the spring
Where living waters flow:

Free to that sacred fountain all

Without a price may go.

2 How long to streams of false delight
Will ye in crowds repair?

How long your strength and substance waste
On trifles, light as air?

3 My stores afford those rich supplies
That health and pleasure give:
Incline your ear, and come to me;
The soul that hears shall live.
4 With you a cov'nant I will make,
That ever shall endure;

The hope which gladden'd David's heart
My mercy hath made sure.

5 Behold he comes! your leader comes,
With might and honour crown'd;
A witness who shall spread my name
To earth's remotest bound.

6 See! nations hasten to his call
From ev'ry distant shore;

Isles, yet unknown, shall bow to him,
And Isr'el's God adore.

7* Seek ye the Lord while yet his ear
Is open to your call;

The 8th

* The 7th and 8th verses are very ambiguous. verse makes God show returning favour, only as sinners re

While offer'd mercy still is near,
Before his footstool fall.

8 Let sinners quit their evil ways,
Their evil thoughts forego;
And God, when they to him return,
Returning grace will show.
9 He pardons with o'erflowing love:
For, hear the voice divine!
My nature is not like to yours,
Nor like your ways are mine:
10 But far as heav'n's resplendent orbs
Beyond earth's spot extend.

As far my thoughts, as far my ways,
Your ways and thoughts transcend
11 And as the rains from heav'n distil,
Nor thither mount again.

But swell the earth with fruitful juice,
And all its tribes sustain.

12 So not a word that flows from me
Shall ineffectual fall;

not.

turn to him. Now. that such is the case with the people of God, who have gone astray from his precepts we have abundant evidence. See what is said to the Churches of his saints, Rev. ii. 4, 5; also 16, 20-23 verses; also iii. 2, 3; also 15-18; in all which cases, returning favour from God, and the returning of the sinner to the ways of God are conjoined. But while the case is so with the saints who are given to know God, it is very different with the unconverted who know him Such are incapable of returning, or of accepting of of fered mercy. The message of peace is sent to them, proclaiming pardon and acceptance through a crucified and risen Saviour. But there is no understanding or knowing of the re cord so published, till God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shine into their hearts, to give the light of 'the knowledge of it.' Then, indeed, such will seek God,' and ask of him the ordinances of justice, and delight to walk in his ways. But until such a time, no sinner will have any relish for God or his ways. See the 56th Paraphrase, which gives a just view of this subject.

But universal nature prove

Obedient to my call.

13 With joy and peace shall then be led
The glad converted lands;
"The lofty mountains then shall sing,
The forests clap their hands.

14 Where briers grew 'midst barren wilds, Shall firs and myrtles spring;

1

And nature, through its utmost bounds,
Eternal praises sing.

XXVII. `ISAIAH lvii. 15, 16.

THUS

HUS speaks the high and lofty One;
Ye tribes of earth, give ear;

The words of your Almighty King
With sacred rev'rence hear:

2 Amidst the majesty of heav'n
My throne is fix d on high;
And through eternity I hear
The praises of the sky :

3. Yet, looking down, I visit oft
The humble hallow'd cell;
And with the penitent who mourn
"Tis my delight to dwell;

4 The downcast spirit to revive,
The sad in soul to cheer;
And from the bed of dust the man
Of heart contrite to rear.

5 With me dwells no relentless wrath
Against the human race;

The souls which I have form'd shall find
A refuge in my grace.

3: