ON THE INCARNATION OF OUR LORD.
And suddenly there was with the Angel a Multitude of the heavenly Host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth Peace, good Will towards men.-Luke ii 13, 14.
How did the heavenly multitude rejoice,
When JESUS, clad with zeal, and wing'd with love, Descended from the bright abodes of bliss,
To save a world of sinners quite undone!
How did they shout and triumph, and ascribe
Glory to God, in high exalted strains;
While peace on earth they eagerly proclaim'd,
And sung the pure good-will of God to men!
Why then, my soul, art thou so silent found?
Why so averse to sing IMMANUEL's love?
Come, join their song, and shew thy gratitude
For grace so rich, so boundless, and so free!
Rise, and to Bethlehem flee without delay,
Go, seek the new-born Saviour with delight,
And join in humble worship at his feet.
Enter the stable, and behold him there;
Where oxen feed the lovely Infant lies,
Because the inn would not afford him room.
But why, O man! why didst thou not receive The heavenly Stranger, and with honors crown His sov'reign and supreme, though infant, head?
No room for JESUS!-O amazing thought!—
No entertainment for the King of kings
But what the brute creation could afford!-
How did the brutes reprove their masters here,
In making way for CHRIST!-the Prince of Peace!
Methinks I see them nestle to and fro,
And leave for him the most commodious place;
They made him welcome to a bed of hay,
While man refus'd him where to lay his head.-
Let human nature blush, and sink with shame!
O most ungrateful man!-thou dost appear Worse than the beasts which perish from the earth, O strange reception for the Lord of life!
Was JESUS treated with such high disdain,
And did he not resent the vile affront?
Not so:-in him was no resentment found;
All passive, he resisted not his foes,
Although he could destroy them with a word,
Till death, their cruel insolence he bore,
And even then,-"FORGIVE THEM"-was his prayer.
Learn then, my soul, with meekness to receive
Thy share of scorn and shame, for JESUS' sake;
And meditate, how wonderful that love
Which cloath'd thy Maker in mortality,
And made him subject to its numerous woes!
O vast, stupendous, boundless love, indeed!
Too vast for finite minds to comprehend ;-
Glory to God;-let every mortal sing,
And hail the happy day which gave him birth—
Most happy day for Adam's guilty race,
Whom from the deepest hell of endless woe
There's none can ransom but th' INCARNATE GOD.
THE YEAR CLOSED, DEC. 31, 1778.
WHY am I not consign'd to endless woe? Why am I spar'd to close another year? Surpriz'd, I ask, why this forbearance, Lord, To such an useless cumb'rer of the ground? O let thy condescending goodness lead
My soul with deep repentance to thy throne!
How art thou following me with mercy still,
Still exercising thy long-suffering grace,
And waiting to be gracious to a worm!
By thee, from year to year, I stand preserv'd,
With ample blessings on my guilty head,
Though all unworthy of the air I breathe;
Although the cry of my provoking sins
Have so repeatedly displeas'd thine ear.—
What rich provision has sustain❜d my soul!
How many favors from indulgent heaven!
What peace, what consolation have I found!
How am I lost in admiration here!
How infinite the patience of my God!
How rich, how free, how boundless is his love!
Forgive, O Lord, my vile ingratitude;
Forgive, forgive the sins of all my days,
Nor let my youthful follies ever prove
A wall to separate my soul from thee.-
With humble praise to thee I close this year, With ardent prayer for wisdom from above, And grace to guide my entrance on the new.
ENTERING ON THE NEW YEAR, JAN. 1, 1779.
I THANK thee, O my Father and my God,
For every single mercy I receive.
Yes for to thee, and thee alone, I owe
My preservation and my existence here.—
On man all blessings wait at thy command:-
I'm fed by thee, and cloath'd from day to day;
On thee I am dependent every hour
For the supply of each returning want;
And, O how kind, how lib'ral is thy hand!
How great is thy compassion and thy care!
By thee my every want has been supplied,
By thee my every woe has been redress'd.
My Ebenezer here again I raise,
And here record the goodness of the Lord,
Who hitherto hath help'd me and sustain'd.
To him I waft a song of grateful praise,
With him my covenant again renew,
In whose delightful service I rejoice,
And bind myself to him for evermore.—
'Twas God that gave me entrance on this year; To him I give myself without reserve,
And solemnly avouch him for my own:
The time which he allows me here on earth.
I set apart for him, and him alone;
All that I have, and am, 1 here resign
And consecrate to him for holy use.
Witness, ye angels! while my soul engage
To love and fear that God whom you adore:
Before the face of heaven I now resolve
Upon a life of faith and holiness:
Let heaven reprove me if I ever stray,
Or once attempt to break these sacred vows!-
Jesus, to thee I strongly stand engag'd,
And 'tis on thee alone my faith depends
For the performance of each solemn vow:
O keep me as the apple of thine eye;
Let no temptation overcome my soul;
Hide me beneath the shadow of thy wings,
And earth and hell shall seek my hurt in vain.-
Prepare me for the trials of this year;
Direct and counsel me in all my ways;
Bless what my feeble hands may undertake,
And crown my weak endeavors with success.
THOUGHTS ON DEATH.
SOLEMN thought!-weak man is born to die.Jehovah has the awful sentence pass'd,
Nor can that awful sentence be revers'd:
No-man has sinn'd,—and man shall surely die:
Death like a tyrant reigns, and conquers all;
By him there's no respect of persons shewn;
The rich, the poor, the evil and the good,
The old and young, must yield alike to him:
To him the wise, the rev'rend head must bow;
Princes and kings are subject to his pow'r,
Nor can their glittering crowns insure their breath.
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