William Cowper- Collected Poetical Works

by William Cowper

  Let my faithful servants hear,

  And woe be to the rest!”

  XXII. PRAYER FOR A BLESSING ON THE YOUNG.

  Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth

  The gift of saving grace;

  And let the seed of sacred truth

  Fall in a fruitful place.

  Grace is a plant, where’er it grows,

  Of pure and heavenly root;

  But fairest in the youngest shows,

  And yields the sweetest fruit.

  Ye careless ones, O hear betimes

  The voice of sovereign love!

  Your youth is stain’d with many crimes,

  But mercy reigns above.

  True, you are young, but there’s a stone

  Within the youngest breast;

  Or half the crimes which you have done

  Would rob you of your rest.

  For you the public prayer is made,

  Oh! join the public prayer!

  For you the secret tear is shed,

  Oh! shed yourselves a tear!

  We pray that you may early prove

  The Spirit’s power to teach;

  You cannot be too young to love

  That Jesus whom we preach.

  XXIII. PLEADING FOR AND WITH YOUTH.

  Sin has undone our wretched race,

  But Jesus has restored,

  And brought the sinner face to face

  With his forgiving Lord.

  This we repeat, from year to year,

  And press upon our youth;

  Lord, give them an attentive ear,

  Lord, save them by thy truth.

  Blessings upon the rising race!

  Make this a happy hour,

  According to thy richest grace,

  And thine almighty power.

  We feel for your unhappy state

  (May you regard it too),

  And would awhile ourselves forge

  To pour out prayer for you.

  We see, though you perceive it not,

  The approaching awful doom;

  O tremble at the solemn thought,

  And flee the wrath to come!

  Dear Saviour, let this new-born year

  Spread an alarm abroad;

  And cry in every careless ear,

  “Prepare to meet thy God!”

  XXIV. PRAYER FOR CHILDREN.

  Gracious Lord, our children see,

  By thy mercy we are free;

  But shall these, alas! remain

  Subjects still of Satan’s reign?

  Israel’s young ones, when of old

  Pharaoh threaten’d to withhold,

  Then thy messenger said, “No;

  Let the children also go.”

  When the angel of the Lord,

  Drawing forth his dreadful sword,

  Slew, with an avenging hand,

  All the first-born of the land;

  Then thy people’s doors he pass’d,

  Where the bloody sign was placed;

  Hear us, now, upon our knees,

  Plead the blood of Christ for these!

  Lord, we tremble, for we know

  How the fierce malicious foe,

  Wheeling round his watchful flight,

  Keeps them ever in his sight:

  Spread thy pinions, King of kings!

  Hide them safe beneath thy wings;

  Lest the ravenous bird of prey

  Stoop, and bear the brood away.

  XXV. JEHOVAH JESUS.

  My song shall bless the Lord of all,

  My praise shall climb to his abode;

  Thee, Saviour, by that name I call,

  The great Supreme, the mighty God.

  Without beginning or decline,

  Object of faith, and not of sense;

  Eternal ages saw him shine,

  He shines eternal ages hence.

  As much, when in the manger laid,

  Almighty ruler of the sky,

  As when the six days’ works he made

  Fill’d all the morning stars with joy.

  Of all the crowns Jehovah bears,

  Salvation is his dearest claim;

  That gracious sound well pleased he hears,

  And owns Emmanuel for his name.

  A cheerful confidence I feel,

  My well-placed hopes with joy I see;

  My bosom glows with heavenly zeal,

  To worship him who died for me.

  As man, he pities my complaint,

  His power and truth are all divine;

  He will not fail, he cannot faint,

  Salvation’s sure, and must be mine.

  XXVI. ON OPENING A PLACE FOR SOCIAL PRAYER.

  Jesus! where’er thy people meet,

  There they behold thy mercy seat;

  Where’er thy seek thee, thou art found,

  And every place is hallow’d ground.

  For thou, within no walls confined,

  Inhabitest the humble mind;

  Such ever bring thee where they come,

  And going, take thee to their home.

  Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few!

  Thy former mercies here renew;

  Here to our waiting hearts proclaim

  The sweetness of thy saving name.

  Here may we prove the power of prayer,

  To strengthen faith and sweeten care;

  To teach our faint desires to rise,

  And bring all heaven before our eyes.

  Behold, at thy commanding word

  We stretch the curtain and the cord;

  Come thou and fill this wider space,

  And bless us with a large increase.

  Lord, we are few, but thou art near;

  Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear;

  Oh rend the heavens, come quickly down,

  And make a thousand hearts thine own!

  XXVII. WELCOME TO THE TABLE.

  This is the feast of heavenly wine,

  And God invites to sup;

  The juices of the living vine

  Were press’d to fill the cup.

  Oh! bless the Saviour, ye that eat,

  With royal dainties fed;

  Not heaven affords a costlier treat,

  For Jesus is the bread.

  The vile, the lost, he calls to them,

  Ye trembling souls, appear!

  The righteous in their own esteem

  Have no acceptance here.

  Approach, ye poor, nor dare refuse

  The banquet spread for you;

  Dear Saviour, this is welcome news,

  Then I may venture too.

  If guilt and sin afford a plea,

  And may obtain a place,

  Surely the Lord will welcome me,

  And I shall see his face.

  XXVIII. JESUS HASTING TO SUFFER.

  The Saviour, what a noble flame

  Was kindled in his breast,

  When hasting to Jerusalem,

  He march’d before the rest.

  Good-will to men and zeal for God

  His every thought engross;

  He longs to be baptized with blood,

  He pants to reach the cross!

  With all his sufferings full in view,

  And woes to us unknown,

  Forth to the task his spirit flew;

  ’Twas love that urged him on.

  Lord, we return thee what we can:

  Our hearts shall sound abroad

  Salvation to the dying Man,

  And to the rising God!

  And while thy bleeding glories here

  Engage our wondering eyes,

  We learn our lighter cross to bear,

  And hasten to the skies.

  XXIX. EXHORTATION TO PRAYER.

  What various hindrances we meet

  In coming to a mercy-seat!

  Yet who that knows the worth of prayer,

  But wishes to be often there?

  Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw,

&
nbsp; Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw,

  Gives exercise to faith and love,

  Brings every blessing from above.

  Restraining prayer, we cease to fight,

  Prayer makes the Christian’s armour bright;

  And Satan trembles when he sees

  The weakest saint upon his knees.

  While Moses stood with arms spread wide,

  Success was found on Israel’s side;

  But when through weariness they fail’d,

  That moment Amalek prevail’d.

  Have you no words? Ah! think again,

  Words flow apace when you complain,

  And fill your fellow-creature’s ear

  With the sad tale of all your care.

  Were half the breath thus vainly spent

  To Heaven in supplication sent,

  Your cheerful song would oftener be,

  “Hear what the Lord has done for me.”

  XXX. THE LIGHT AND GLORY OF THE WORD.

  The Spirit breathes upon the Word,

  And brings the truth to sight;

  Precepts and promises afford

  A sanctifying light.

  A glory gilds the sacred page,

  Majestic like the sun;

  It gives a light to every age,

  It gives, but borrows none.

  The hand that gave it still supplies

  The gracious light and heat:

  His truths upon the nations rise,

  They rise, but never set.

  Let everlasting thanks be thine,

  For such a bright display,

  As makes a world of darkness shine

  With beams of heavenly day.

  My soul rejoices to pursue

  The steps of him I love,

  Till glory breaks upon my view

  In brighter worlds above.

  XXXI. ON THE DEATH OF A MINISTER.

  His master taken from his head,

  Elisha saw him go;

  And in desponding accents said,

  “Ah, what must Israel do?”

  But he forgot the Lord who lifts

  The beggar to the throne;

  Nor knew, that all Elijah’s gifts

  Will soon be made his own.

  What! when a Paul has run his course,

  Or when Apollos dies,

  Is Israel left without resource?

  And have we no supplies?

  Yes, while the dear Redeemer lives

  We have a boundless store,

  And shall be fed with what he gives,

  Who lives for evermore.

  XXXII. THE SHINING LIGHT.

  My former hopes are fled,

  My terror now begins;

  I feel, alas! that I am dead

  In trespasses and sins.

  Ah, whither shall I fly?

  I hear the thunder roar;

  The law proclaims destruction nigh,

  And vengeance at the door.

  When I review my ways,

  I dread impending doom:

  But sure a friendly whisper says,

  “Flee from the wrath to come.”

  I see, or think I see,

  A glimmering from afar;

  A beam of day, that shines for me,

  To save me from despair.

  Forerunner of the sun,

  It marks the pilgrim’s way;

  I’ll gaze upon it while I run,

  And watch the rising day.

  XXXIII. SEEKING THE BELOVED.

  To those who know the Lord I speak,

  Is my beloved near?

  The bridegroom of my soul I seek,

  Oh! when will he appear?

  Though once a man of grief and shame,

  Yet now he fills a throne,

  And bears the greatest, sweetest name,

  That earth or heaven has known.

  Grace flies before, and love attends

  His steps where’er he goes;

  Though none can see him but his friends,

  And they were once his foes.

  He speaks — obedient to his call,

  Our warm affections move:

  Did he but shine alike on all,

  Then all alike would love.

  Then love in every heart would reign,

  And war would cease to roar;

  And cruel and bloodthirsty men

  Would thirst for blood no more.

  Such Jesus is, and such his grace,

  Oh, may he shine on you!

  And tell him, when you see his face,

  I long to see him too.

  XXXIV. THE WAITING SOUL.

  Breathe from the gentle south, O Lord,

  And cheer me from the north;

  Blow on the treasures of thy word,

  And call the spices forth!

  I wish, thou know’st, to be resign’d,

  And wait with patient hope;

  But hope delay’d fatigues the mind,

  And drinks the spirit up.

  Help me to reach the distant goal,

  Confirm my feeble knee;

  Pity the sickness of a soul

  That faints for love of thee.

  Cold as I feel this heart of mine,

  Yet, since I feel it so,

  It yields some hope of life divine

  Within, however low.

  I seem forsaken and alone,

  I hear the lion roar;

  And ev’ry door is shut but one,

  And that is mercy’s door.

  There, till the dear Deliv’rer come,

  I’ll wait with humble pray’r;

  An when he calls his exile home,

  The Lord shall find me there.

  XXXV. WELCOME CROSS.

  ’Tis my happiness below

  Not to live without the cross,

  But the Saviour’s power to know,

  Sanctifying every loss:

  Trials must and will befall;

  But with humble faith to see

  Love inscribed upon them all,

  This is happiness to me.

  God in Israel sows the seeds

  Of affliction, pain, and toil;

  These spring up and choke the weeds

  Which would else o’erspread the soil:

  Trials make the promise sweet,

  Trials give new life to prayer;

  Trials bring me to his feet,

  Lay me low, and keep me there.

  Did I meet no trials here,

  No chastisement by the way:

  Might I not, with reason, fear

  I should prove a castaway?

  Bastards may escape the rod,

  Sunk in earthly, vain delight;

  But the true born child of God

  Must not, would not, if he might.

  XXXVI. AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD.

  O how I love thy holy word,

  Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!

  It guides me in the peaceful way;

  I think upon it all the day.

  What are the mines of shining wealth,

  The strength of youth, the bloom of health!

  What are all joys compared with those

  Thine everlasting word bestows!

  Long unafflicted, undismay’d,

  In pleasure’s path secure I stray’d;

  Thou madest me feel thy chastening rod,

  And straight I turn’d unto my God.

  What though it pierced my fainting heart,

  I bless thine hand that caused the smart;

  It taught my tears awhile to flow,

  But saved me from eternal woe.

  Oh! hadst thou left me unchastised,

  Thy precept I had still despised;

  And still the snare in secret laid,

  Had my unwary feet betray’d.

  I love thee, therefore, O my God,

  And breathe towards thy dear abode;

  Where, in thy presence fully blest,

  Thy chosen saints for ever rest.

  X
XXVII. TEMPTATION.

  The billows swell, the winds are high,

  Clouds overcast my wintry sky;

  Out of the depths to thee I call, —

  My fears are great, my strength is small.

  O Lord, the pilot’s part perform,

  And guard and guide me through the storm,

  Defend me from each threatening ill,

  Control the waves, — say, “Peace, be still.”

  Amidst the roaring of the sea,

  My soul still hangs her hope on thee;

  Thy constant love, thy faithful care,

  Is all that saves me from despair.

  Dangers of every shape and name

  Attend the followers of the Lamb,

  Who leave the world’s deceitful shore,

  And leave it to return no more.

  Though tempest-toss’d and half a wreck,

  My Saviour through the floods I seek;

  Let neither winds nor stormy main

  Force back my shatter’d bark again.

  XXXVIII. LOOKING UPWARDS IN A STORM.

  God of my life, to thee I call,

  Afflicted at thy feet I fall;

  When the great water-floods prevail,

  Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

  Friend of the friendless and the faint!

  Where should I lodge my deep complaint?

  Where but with thee, whose open door

  Invites the helpless and the poor!

  Did ever mourner plead with thee,

  And thou refuse that mourner’s plea?